Gold was mined continuously in Georgia from the 1820’s through l933. Have gully-washing rains, freeze-thaw cycles and other acts of nature uncovered more gold? Recreational gold panners, prospectors, treasure hunters, dredgers, divers, campers, backpackers, geologists, gold-smart natives, and recreational vehicle owners think so. Maybe you would like to try your hand at it.

Georgia Gold Nugget

Big Ten’s Georgia Gold Map shows 500 gold mines and prospecting locations from official geological records of the State of Georgia and the federal government. Gold mines and prospects are shown in these 37 Georgia counties:

Bartow    Carroll    Cherokee    Cobb    Coweta    Dawson    Douglas    Elbert    Fannin    Forsyth    Franklin    Fulton    Gilmer    Greene    Gwinnett    Habersham    Hall    Haralson    Hart    Henry    Lincoln    Lumpkin    Madison    McDuffie    Meriwether    Morgan    Murray    Oglethorpe    Paulding    Rabun    Spaulding    Towns  Union    Walton     Warren    White    Wilkes.
Gold sites continue on the Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina Maps.

Of the 500 gold mining and prospecting sites shown in the geological records, there are 12 sites southwest of Atlanta near Newnan, 26 gold locations just off Interstate 20 which connects Atlanta with Birmingham, 26 sites within 35 miles of Augusta, 16 sites in Rabun County near North Carolina and many sites near the Alabama and South Carolina state lines. A band of gold mines and prospecting sites runs northeast from Tallapoosa and Villa Rica past Atlanta, Marietta, Cartersville, Gainesville, Clarkesville, Helen and Clayton. Off to the side of this streak of gold, numerous mining and prospecting sites are seen east of Athens and in the area of the Chattahoochee National Forest near Blairsville.

Portions of the following paragraphs about gold mines, gold prospecting and panning are from an article entitled "Georgia Gold" by Charles A. Overbey in Gems and Minerals magazine and is reprinted by permission of Gems and Minerals. Prior work by Robert G. Cook is acknowledged.

Gold was discovered in North Carolina in 1799; then came discoveries in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Virginia. The gold-bearing strip was traced by pioneers from the North Carolina Piedmont into the Cherokee Territory. But, not until 1828 or 1829 did the major gold boom start - when news spread that gold had been discovered in North Georgia on Cherokee land.

Dahlonega Gold Museum, Dahlonega, Georgia

In 1837, the U.S. Government established a gold coin mint at Dahlonega, Georgia, about 60 miles north of Atlanta. Gold from Georgia mines and mines in surrounding states flowed to this mint. Private gold mints also turned out gold coins that were widely accepted in trade. Notable was the gold mint of Templeton Reid at Gainesville, Georgia. Gold coins from the Reid mint are now in great demand by collectors and command premium prices in the rare coin market, as do coins from the Dahlonega Gold Mint. Coins from the Dahlonega Gold Mint may be seen at the Dahlonega Gold Museum.

Many Georgia miners went west in the great California Gold Rush. On a Saturday in 1849, a crowd gathered in front of the Lumpkin County courthouse to hear Matthew F. Stephenson, assayer of the Dahlonega mint. From the balcony of the courthouse he pointed to Findley Ridge in front of him and implored the miners to stay in Dahlonega, saying "There’s millions in it." Not deterred by his entreaty, the "Forty-Niners" left for California, but they carried his words with them. Mark Twain, hearing them from a friend, William Sellers, wrote in Gilded Age his famous version of Dr. Stephenson’s expression: "There’s gold in them thar hills."

Green Russell, an Auraria, Georgia (Auraria is about 5 miles from Dahlonega) gold miner, returned from California and later, with his two brothers, led a gold party to the Kansas Territory, starting the "Pikes Peak or Bust" gold stampede that gave birth to Colorado. He helped found a small village in Colorado, naming it Auraria. It is today a part of the City of Denver.

SOME IMPORTANT GEORGIA GOLD FINDS

Gold has been reported from virtually every county in Georgia that is underlain by "chrystalline" rocks. Commercial mining was done by hydraulics, dredging and by conventional lode mining means. Individual small mining operations were carried on by panning and by use of sluice boxes.

Georgia Geologic Survey Bulletin 92, by Robert G. Cook, lists nuggets of 54, 40, and 35 troy ounces from Gilmer County; 42 and 11 ounces from Habersham County; 26, 25, 19, 18, 15, 5, 4, 3 and 2 ounces from White County; 15, 6, and 4 ounces from Lumpkin County and 4, and 3 ounces from Cherokee County. A number of interesting finds of crystalline, wire and leaf gold are also mentioned, some of which were gleaned from earlier geological documents by Yeates, McCallie and King (1896) and Jones (1909). A few of these are: 

The Potosi Gold Mine, in Hall County about 11 miles northwest of Gainesville, was the source of numerous very fine examples of crystalline gold. One superb example from this location is preserved in the museum of the Georgia State Capitol.

Samples taken from the Wellborn Gold Mine in Union County contained beautifully clean, bright gold in distinct crystals and in leaf-like aggregates. An assay of this ore indicated that it contained 4.47 ounces of gold per ton.

The Loud Mine in White County produced magnificent specimens of crystallized and wire gold that were exhibited in this country and abroad.

Jones (1909) mentions a discovery of pocket gold at the Latimer Gold Mine in Wilkes County that yielded 180 troy ounces of wire and cystalline gold from 2,500 pounds of pocket material.

Several years ago interesting gold samples were found beside a spring in southeast Atlanta. The gold was in white quartz.

Outstanding specimens of native gold in quartz came from the Norrell Mine in Lumpkin County. A single pocket, at the base of what was known locally as Reservoir Hill produced approximately 700 ounces.

The gold sites continue on the adjoining maps of Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina.

RECREATIONAL GOLD PROSPECTING, GOLD PANNING, TREASURE HUNTING AND ROCKHOUNDING ARE FUN!