Hiddenite Gems Welcomes You to Mine at Emerald Hollow

Last week me and my sister went to Hiddenite in Alexander County, North Carolina, to dig for gems at the Emerald Hollow, the only emerald mine open to the public in the entire United States. If you have kids its a wonderful place to take them on a trip. When we first got there there was a bunch of children there on a field trip and one of the little boys found something and was like, 'Wow, look at this! This is soo neat! Look at this!" He was having a blast. Even as an adult I had a great time. You're out in the woods with trees and flowers all around, and it wasn't to crowded, even with all those little ones running around. It really was beautiful, not how you would picture an old mining cave. Hiddenitegems.com says that it's location, "snuggled in the foothills of the beautiful Brushy Mountains," is recognized as "one of the most unique and interesting geological locations on the North American continent."

Once we got inside we got the 'Digging' permit which cost us $15.00 dollars and gave us access to everything the mine had to offer; a combination all the activities that can be done there, sluicing, creaking, and digging. Alone, a sluicing permit cost $5.00 dollars and allows you to sit on there covered 'sluice way' and wash buckets of ore (brought out from the mine) to find gemstones. They will give you your first bucket filled with ore for free (with the admission fee) and then you can buy additional buckets ranging from $2.00 to $100.00 dollars depending on the bucket size and, I'm guessing, the area of the mine they were taken from. A creaking permit cost $8.00 dollars and allows you to walk, or sift through, the sand and rocks in the creek that flows under the mine, but also buys you admission to the sluicing area. Our permit got us access to both sluicing and creaking and allowed us to dig at the actual mine in there permitted areas.

Our first activity was sluicing, which was really easy but very dirty. At the sluicing table you dump out your bucket into a wooden box that has a screened bottom and as water runs down the table it washes away the dirt, leaving gems behind. This was all fun and interesting, especially when you find something, but I wanted to really 'dig in' and find things for myself so we headed over to the mine. I was expecting a dark cave, lit up with lights and such, but it was pretty much just a hill where you pick a spot and start digging. I bet if you're determined and with a little bit of luck you could find some nice gems, but after a while of finding just a bunch of quarts I gave up and went down to the creek. I think that creaking was my favorite activity. I found lots of different gems in it. Especially where the small rapids are, the bigger gems get caught under the current and if you reach your hand down there you'll come up with a bunch of stuff.

While digging you may find emeralds, aquamarine, sapphire, garnet, topaz, amethyst, citrine, rutile, tourmaline along with an abundance of world class smoky and clear quartz crystals. Hiddenite is also famous as the only place on earth where the very rare gemstone "Hiddenite" can be found, though while there our guide said that a few weeks before a man found two little pieces of some hiddenite and it was the first time anyone had found some in almost ten years! We were also told that just a week before a woman found an emerald that she sold for six thousand dollars! Unfortunately, I wasn't that lucky. I found a bunch of quarts and emeralds, some amethyst (probably my highest quality finds) sapphire, topaz, and some cool looking stones, like blood stone. They have all kinds of services for cleaning and turning your rough rocks into polished gems, and they'll tell you what you found and how much it's worth, but I passed that up. I did stop in at my local jewelers and he said that the emeralds that are translucent are the ones you want. He also said that if your finding amethyst... the more purple the better. So keep that in mind if your headed that way. I came home with a nice little bag though, filled to over-flowing with all my little treasures.

Over-all it was a fun experience, not one to pass up if you ever get the chance to try it. A few tips... if you decide to go, wear some old clothes and take along your own tools so you don't have to rent any. Your own screen and shovel should do nicely. A good idea would be to stop by at your local jeweler's, or do a quick search on-line or at the library, and print a small guide of what you should look for while your there; familiarize yourself with what you'll be seeing, so you wont pass up any good finds. For complete, up-to-date information and pricing visit hiddenitegems.com.