I love the attitude of this video. I just made my first trip to Crabtree after relocating to NC. Your comparison to a scratch-off lotto ticket is a great analogy. It totally is a place where you get out what you put in... I'm one that likes to dig, personally! Thanks for the great narration.
Glad you mentioned the MAGMA ownership. Rick is a good dude and you don't want people flooding this site and getting in trouble for not having their waiver on private property. I have a few emeralds from this place, tons of yellow beryl, and yes... i have been a-whackin on that big boulder myself. It used to be quite a bit bigger lol. Here's an interesting geology note: There is some debate about the heliodore grading into emerald. Some folks think the yellow-green crystals aren't emerald at all and rather are just green beryl because the chromophore could also be iron ions which are common all over the western mountains (for example you can find gemmy green beryl at the Ray Mine, and it's not truly emerald). Folks also say the REAL emerald (The stuff that forms on the contact-zone of the biotite and feldspar matrix) has a "bluer-green" color than the heliodore grading into green and therefore it isn't true emerald (beryl with a vanadium or chromium ions as the chromophore in the crystal lattice) unless it's found on the contact zone. I don't particularly buy this argument because the Crabtree occurance (or rather that particular pegmatite intrusion) is very small, and to me, its unlikely the circumstances and minerology for BOTH gemmy green common beryl AND precious emerald formed in the same little peg. But then again, I dont have a geology masters or anything like that. But to make myself feel better, I tell myself I found lots of emeralds there. To be fair though, some of them are a little more yellow-ey, whereas others I've found have that perfect blue-green flash that is unmistakable. So who really knows. LOL. Happy hunting. (P.S. Skip all the tourist trap mines on the way to the Crabtree. Totally different pegmatites and NONE of them are emerald bearing... hell, I've never even found beryl at either of them and the owners will tell you all day they're both "loaded with aquamarine" and then try to sell you some bunk amethyst from Brazil they imported by the ton... Hard Pass... If I dont pull it from the Earth myself, it's no fun.
Thanks for the tour. I love mineral collection. I mostly metal detect for gold here in NV, but when I lived on the east coast, I enjoyed hunting fossils and minerals.
Bin to Crabtree many times have family down that way but did not no about collecting there thanks for sharing will try my luck next time down here from pa
There is a Crabtree area and a Crabtree Falls on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Mt. Mitchell. The collecting are Crabtree Mine is near Little Switzerland in North Carolina. I hope you get the opportunity to check it out.
When i was a kid my family went gem mining somewhere in North Carolina and i still have a good bit of the gems we found, plenty of emeralds garnets amethyst sapphire ruby, i have this one emerald its very very deep beautiful green color ive been slowly polishing it into a cabochon but i hope one day to take it to someone and see if a proper cut can be done on it and confirm if its "true emerald" or not. Great video it looks like a fun hike!
That's beautiful, I accidentally found a mother lode of gold in terminated with emeralds in north Carolina when I was hitchhiking in 1981 and never returned. But I never forgot the landmark and immediate area.
It's a fun trip. Low expectations helps but the possibility of finding a world class specimen is still possible. I am about to do some digging out there soon. More effort more the reward. Thanks for the comment. I think winter is on its way out.
Actually, the adit is in the center of the pond. You can see the rails to it some times. The entrance looks like a square gate with a hole in it. Also, they did not flood it for safety. They hit the aquifer and it flooded itself is what I have been told. Also, the emeralds form in the quartz and biotite. The tourmaline forms in the same, but looking for the biotite mica meeting quartz is the best place to look. You will find emeralds fully in the biotite. So look hard there too.
Great video we should get together I do gold prospecting and gemstones throughout SC and NC. Happy hunting. I will be going to Ray mine sometime this week.
We went there quite a while ago. We disavowed it. But looking at your video, qe may have done it wrong. We were digging in clay and filled buckets. Id hump those things all the way back to the sluice where wife sluiced through them. Found absolutely nothing and were miserable. But i see you were looking through the rubble on top of the ground (which we didnt see). Perhaps its time to gime them another chance.
The actual mine is flooded out, where that lake is. In terms of finding emeralds, however, the Crabtree is still worth it. The truth of the matter is the vast majority of rockhounding is like this- not going into any actual like underground mine, but rather on the surface at either tailings piles or rock outcrops.
Most of the emeralds from here are used in making jewelry with the matrix included. That is when they become valuable at a small size with the proper color. Specimen Emeralds are very rare to find and when you do they are definitely valuable due to the location and rarity. I have found a few none have changed my life but enjoyed the moment of collecting them.
As someone who cut and mined gems for over 40 years, I can tell you now that even if you do get a valuable emerald they are hard to sell and even harder to get a fair price unless you own the jewelry store and it is set. I berried a near flawless 13 carat columbian emerald on my old land for safety , they just don't sell.
Yes I know here we have natural deep green emerald mountain much better then Zambia in south Asia including ruby from Afghanistan . I can check to let you know about your products. Kind regards
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