Gold prospecting in South Carolina

[Cstyle00]

Hey fellow prospectors and treasure hunters. I started this thread to see what people had to say about gold still in South Carolina. I aq'uired a small tract of land in Smyrna, York County. Land has been untouched since the California rush (except the little old lady that lived there since 1912). Basically I'm wondering has anyone ever picked up a nug in SC. I understand that it would be rare and would be quartz, not like a nug found in the west. If anyone knows of the Dixon Mine, Martin Mine, Horn Mine, or Southern Gold Mine which all closed in 1939 I think by Roosevelt because of the war. I'm near there. They were pulling some good size nugs from the myths. So let me know of your stories of gold found in SC.

Using a White's GMT. So far about 20 hrs. prospecting. Digging everything under 85% iron somtimes I dig targets anyway off of fence lines. Slow going lots of nails and .22 cal. bullets in rocky soil. Found a few buttons with no markings and some worn down axe heads about 14" down under large roots. Makes you wonder what happened to make someone be so careless with such a valuable asset of the time. I'm going to search it all of course, consentrating on the tickest areas of the forest first since the leaves are down and try to hit as many ridges and hillsides before summer slows things even worse. I'm detecting the area first then I'll dig some prostpecting pits. What gold have you guys seen in SC?

 

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[Dain8404]

Smitty, i could be wrong, but id try at the end of that stream just before the bend. Looks like an elevation in the bedrock where thoes cobbles are pileing up before what it looks like a hard left turn in the stream. On smaller streams, gold can be about anywhere. Looks to me with the gathering of cobbles there, it could be a low pressure zone at flood stage. it also has a slight drop right at the turn directly after the "cobble bar" ends. Might be a good place to poke around.

 

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[Smittytwins2]

Guys I think I need some help with this location. I know it's got to have good gold From the pictures you can see in earlier post. The location is not all that far from some of the mines, and a lot of black sand, waterfalls, silver/grey clay, and a lot of big quartz. I just don't think I know what I need to be looking for. I have found some flakes there, But the rocks are even wilder to look at. I don't know what I'm really doing I guess. Would love to have someone with some experience maybe to come out and help out. I was thinking of getting a turbo sluice box. Then just sampling the area.

 

[MadeinAmericaSC]

Thanks for posting this Link

here is some more good reading material about history of the Carolina's gold

http://nationalregister.sc.gov/SurveyReports/HC29003.pdf

enjoy!!

Thanks Jason for posting this link to the History of Carolina's Gold. This is an outstanding introduction to gold in the Carolinas and it might just get me out looking. I plan to retire in a few years, probably go out to do placer mining in a variety of California Federal lands. It would be nice to gather equipment, and practice using it for real prior to making that plunge. I grew up in California so have fond memories of panning in various rivers there with my Father.

 

[djpitr]

Little gold from todays trip in creek

 

[sideshowmick]

Dug this out of the creek bed.

 

[sluicelee]

A lot going on in that specimen :-)
Super find, thanks for sharing it.

 

[sideshowmick]

Not sure what it is exactly. Its shiny and yellow but it looks like sand stone up close.

 

[behappyjason]

Been a while how's everyone been doing this year. School been keeping me busy so I haven't got out much. That nice looking mick you still digging the creek.

 

[behappyjason]

Got this out of a 5 gallon bucket of dirt that I got from my stream to pan because the stream is dried up.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Good sign Jason...dig deeper'

 

[behappyjason]

Deeper was the plan. I usually get gold in the clay all over the stream and until now with water in it I could not really get down to bedrock. Since the stream is dried up I decide to try. The picture shows what I got from just ontop the bedrock and was from a spot no bigger then the bucket. It's cool because the local gold mine is after micro gold and I didn't think I would find anything that was pan able. What I am trying to figure out now is the source. When looking at the gold magnified it is rough so this tells me it has not traveled far. The gold is mostly on the west side of the stream and is found in all the clay on the bank and in the stream it's self. It is looking more and more that the gold is in the bedrock and being freed as it decays. So I will have to find some bedrock and have it assayed to be sure.

 

[sluicelee]

Nice color behappyjason, I hope you find the source. That clay can be hard to work with.
Here's some gold from a recent SC prospecting trip. Got off work early one day and decided to hit the creek.
Done some panning and found some nice color. Worked the creek bed and got on a clay layer.

 

[behappyjason]

This is the hole I have been working. Pulled 4 buckets out from the crevices and stuff. I'm excited to see what's in this.

 

[behappyjason]

Nice stuff sluice lee to bad I'm way south from where your at.

 

[sluicelee]

Thanks Jason, hope you find some nice gold in those 4 buckets you pulled.
Yeah, Kershaw is a good bit southeast from where I usually prospect, but it looks like your finding some nice color and your close to the beach, that's a win, win in my book :-)

 

[behappyjason]

This is what panned out. Most of it was from -100 mesh but a couple pieces where 50 mesh. Not bad for this area where it's supposed to be microscopic.

 

[Patrick.Peake]

Just started this hobby since I got stationed in Fort Jackson. I'm an off-and-on Columbia native (military family on both sides) and of course I'm keeping the family tradition.

I live in Blythewood and I was driving to see my uncle who is in a hospital in ridgeway off of 34. As I was driving I passed by the old Ridgeway mine and I had no idea gold could be found around here. I tried to find accessable creeks near the mine but all of them are fenced off or signs posted, I was going to wait until winter to start but it's tough if all the creeks are private property.

Anyone else in my area (Blythewood/Ridgeway) that would like to not only teach a novice but have a buddy to dig holes who is an expert at such a task?

 

[Stand Watie]

Dang Jason, looks like you are digging a regular mine there. You make that mine/hole any bigger and you're going to have to add rafter logs to support the ceiling.

You SC guys don't get too disheartened by the size of the gold you are finding. We have potential here and sooner or later someone is going to find a nugget that makes the news. I'd heard a tale that long ago a kid found a 2 pound nugget in a stream in Greenville County. Not knowing whether it was true or just a tall tale, cause prospecting is like fishing, prospectors have been known to exaggerate the size of other peoples finds, just like it's always the big fish that get away.

So I decided to do a search online for nuggets found in SC. When I saw this it about blew my socks off my feet!

Most of South Carolina's early production was from placer deposits, with the most productive being the Tanyard Pit and Brewer Mine (1.5 miles west of Jefferson). The Martin Mine (1 mile west of Smyrna) has also produced a considerable amount of placer gold. In fact, a gold nugget weighing 27 pounds was recovered in a field just north of this mine in the 1890s.

South Carolina Gold Prospecting and Panning

Needless to say, if there was one there's got to be more out there somewhere. It, or they, are probably deep down in the dirt sitting on the bedrock waiting for one of us to dig it out. In the meantime I'll keep panning the flour stuff. With enough flour you can make some dough$$!

 

[behappyjason]

Dang Jason, looks like you are digging a regular mine there. You make that mine/hole any bigger and you're going to have to add rafter logs to support the ceiling. You SC guys don't get too disheartened by the size of the gold you are finding. We have potential here and sooner or later someone is going to find a nugget that makes the news. I'd heard a tale that long ago a kid found a 2 pound nugget in a stream in Greenville County. Not knowing whether it was true or just a tall tale, cause prospecting is like fishing, prospectors have been known to exaggerate the size of other peoples finds, just like it's always the big fish that get away. So I decided to do a search online for nuggets found in SC. When I saw this it about blew my socks off my feet! Needless to say, if there was one there's got to be more out there somewhere. It, or they, are probably deep down in the dirt sitting on the bedrock waiting for one of us to dig it out. In the meantime I'll keep panning the flour stuff. With enough flour you can make some dough$$!

Stand
You are right there is great possibilities in sc and nc. A lot does depend on where u are located though. The geology of the Carolina's is very different to the geology in the west. The gold is bigger as u move towards the mountains and away from the coastal plains. The big difference that i am noticing is the economical gold deposits are from the small stuff. Haile gold mine is going to be mining an approximate of 3 mil ounces of gold over the next 15 years or so. The deposits are mostly microscopic gold but there is a lot of it. But you never know it may be connected to a something even bigger.

And about the hole. Lol it's only 3 to 4 ft deep.

 

[behappyjason]

More form the hole. Looks like I got my first tiny picker. Lol not bad for 5 buckets. Gonna keep on diggin!