Any Gold in N.C.?
 

Was just wondering if there was any history or areas with gold in North Carolina? Might be fun to look. :)

Re: Any Gold in N.C.?
 

Until the California fields opened, North Carolina was the largest gold producing State in the Union. There was even a branch of the US Mint located in Rutherfordton at one time to facilitate coinage. I believe NC still holds the US record for largest gold nugget ever found.....17lbs !

So, yes....there is a fair amount still there. Buddy of mine has recovered a lot of ounces near Thermal City.....wife and I went down one Saturday and we washed a couple cubic yards of sand/gravel thru his high banker and got about 1/4 ounce of flakes/small nuggets....she has in a plastic bezel necklace deal you can shake around.....kinda cool !

Re: Any Gold in N.C.?
 

Where in NC are you? I'm from Georgia. The northeastern Georgia town of Dahlonega was the center of one of the nations' first gold rushes. Dahlonega, in Cherokee means "yellow money". How about that, the first GIMmers? :bear_w00t:

There was a US Mint located there that made some of the most sought after coins ever minted in the US.

Dahlonega is on the Georgia end of the Appalachian mountain chain, only about 25-30 miles from the NC border. I understand that gold was found in varying amounts all along the mountains.

Re: Any Gold in N.C.?
 

There's a lot of gold in the mountian and piedmont regions of NC; it's not hard to find. The state has a history filled with many hardrock and placer mining operations. A U.S. mint was constructed in Charlotte to convert NC and SC gold to government coins. Charlotte struck coins are highly sought by collectors...and comparatively quite valuable.

NC colors are usually very high quality: 22-23 Karat = roughly 92 to 96% pure.

The best place to look for gold is where it's been found before. Gold's still there. The challenge is in finding concentrations that make it economically feasible to recover.

In NC gold has been found in the Counties of Allegheny, Anson, Ashe, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham, Cherokee, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Franklin, Gaston, Granville, Guilford, Halifax, Henderson, Jackson, Johnson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, Orange, Person, Polk, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanley, Swain, Transylvania, Union, Warren, Watauga, Wilks, Wilson, and Yadkin.

I've done pretty well around Marion east of Ashville and in Stanley, Montgomery, Cabarrus, and Mechlenburg Counties. Many of the creeks from the NE to the SW around Charlotte produce colors...tons of trash is the problem in most of these creeks.

National forests have recreational gold prospecting programs...generally restricted to use of non-mechanized equipment: shovel, gold pan, hand sluice, rocker box, hand-suction (PVC) tubes, sniping, crevicing, etc. No signifcant disturbance permitted; stay in the waterways & no digging into the banks. Also metal detecting is allowed in some NF areas; a permit is required that details a VERY limited area to be prospected....and again no significant disturbance and fill in any small hole you excavate and be sure to check with forest rangers re regulations/restrictions in the area before doing any prospecting.

Re: Any Gold in N.C.?
 

Awesome! Big thanks to all those that posted such great info.
I am in Raleigh, NC, but I have family in both Rockingham and Ashville. Do you think the gold still in NC I could find it with a good detector?
or is it too deep for that?

Re: Any Gold in N.C.?
 

A nugget can occasionally be found in & along waterways but it is a far exception rather then the rule. The reason is that here in the east the mountains and surrounding geographical areas are very old compared with the rockies & other areas in the west.

The result of old earth age is that natural forces have severely worn down the surface so that there is an inordinate amount of what we call "overburden". This is soils and rocks that have accumulated in low elevation areas as a result of wind, rain, freezing, thawing, heaving, etc.

An idea of how much erosion has occurred is shown in the Uwarrie Mountains in the Piedmont area of NC. Geologists believe the Uwarries are the oldest mountains in north America. If you look at topographical maps of the Uwarrie range you will find that they are now actually big hills. 800-850 feet above sea leval are the highest elevations. Geologists believe that areas of these mountains used to be more than 20,000 ft. in elevation.

The best way to find colors (each partical of gold is a "color" regardless of size) is to prospect and wash auriferous (gold bearing) gravels in waterways where gold has been found in the past. It's still there - bet on it. The gold is scattered but not at all hard to find. The challenge is in locating deposits that are rich enough to make it economically feasible to excavate (mine).

You have much to learn which is important to success. The gold's there but it won't jump out of the ground & into your pocket. A person has to move some "dirt" (gold bearing materials: soil, debris, sand, gravel, and sometimes rocks). One thing a smart "greenhorn" does is hook up with knowledgable prospectors. If you don't know any then join the Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA...they have excellent educational shows on the Outdoor Channel...in fact they developed and own the channel. Watch "Gold Fever" and "Prospecting America" presentations) and get involved with one or more GPAA chapters. There are no dues...just folks with a common interest and goals: learn, grow in knowledge, be successful, and teach others.

Most "weekenders" or Recreational prospectors will be glad to tell/show you everthing they know, but don't expect that they can tell you where to find a good deposit of gold. If they knew where one was they'd already have or currently would be mining the location = digging it up and washing the materials to separate out heavier gold from the other stuff in company.

Pull up the GPAA and other prospecting websites. A wealth of knowledge is available on the web. Google search "gold prospecting".

Metal detectors are best suited for use in areas of the western states which are geogologically comparatively new = not nearly as much "overburden" that has to be removed. If you plan to get a detector to prospect & recover gold make sure you get one specifically designed to do that task, and get the best one you can afford. Minelabs' are probably the best but can run a few thousand dollars. Next best in my opinion is a Fisher Gold Bug II that sells for about $750-$800. Do NOT buy a detector that is designed to perform multi-tasks: find iron relics, coins, etc. If you want to search for coins or relics down the road then get a second detector that is electronically designed to locate the type of items you want to find.

Re: Any Gold in N.C.?
 

Yes, like the folks noted here, NC has produced some nice gold.

It also has produced some nice large nuggets, but it certainly does not hold the record for largest nugget in the US. California produced a number of them over 50 pounds in weight.

There are several places in NC where one can pay a fee and hunt gold on their property. They are all old historic mining properties and look like interesting places to visit. Their visitors do find some nice gold.

Chris

Re: Any Gold in N.C.?
 

There's plenty of prospecting in the western part of the sate where I live.

Re: Any Gold in N.C.?
 

Treasurenet.com click on forums, the go to N.C. page should be alot of interesting stories there.