Crabtree Emerald Mine, Grassy Creek Township, North
Carolina. 11th - 12th oct. 2008. My good friend and
rock hound Joe and I made a visit to one of our favorite spots in the
North Carolina mountains. The weather was great and we made
out with some pretty neat specimens.
Here's a view from the
top of the ridge before heading down into the mine.
The small island of
grass and weeds was once the entrance to the old mine shaft.
The mine workers struck water which filled the mine quickly with
water. It was at this time that the mine was last
operational. Since it is unaccessable visitors can only
search the tailings. And there is much material to search
through.
Different hues of green
and yellow beryl can be found here in various sizes. Here are
some of my finds from this trip. As you can see some of the
beryl was much more gemier than others. The matrix rock you
see in the upper left contains tourmaline. As a matter of
fact, almost all the rock at Crabtree contains tourmaline. A
rock with emerald, tourmaline, and the white feldspar or quartz can
make some spectacular jewelry.
The one
above was one of my better finds. It always reminds
me of an apple Jolly Rancher.
The specimen above is
the stuff everyone wants to find at the Crabtree. It's got
dark green gemmy emerald throughout the matrix. It can be
kept as a specimen or cabbed and made into very beautiful jewelry.
