There's something in our lizard brains that cannot resist shiny things. Humans are constantly drawn to precious metals and gemstones. We also relish in telling stories and tall tales, “That fish was THIS big!”, “ I found a gold nugget as big as my fist!”. Our drive to find more shiny things and our ability to spread stories around like wildfire led to the second significant gold rush in US history and the largest up to that point. The Georgia Gold Rush saw thousands of prospectors from all over the young country flock to the North Georgia Mountains, after tales of a local hunter tripped over a large stone made mostly of gold, while tracking down a deer path.
In the early days of the Rush, it's said that you could just stroll down the creek beds and find nuggets just laying around on the surface, but days like that went quick and more industrious measures had to be taken. Hydraulic methods were used for most of the mid-1800s where gravity fed pressure hoses washed away sides of the mountains and the runoff was ran though sluices to extract the gold.
By the late 1800s this method of mining was exhausted as well. Once the land was down to hard rock, stamp mills were built to extract gold from quartz ore. The largest of these Stamp Mill Mines was the Consolidated Gold Mine. In the last decade of the 17th century, a vein of quartz ore was discovered and mined by the Consolidated Gold Mine. Dubbed the “Glory Hole” the 22ft thick vein of quartz is still counts as one of the largest deposits in the world. The huge stamp mills located above the mine would smash the ore down to workable material, which would then be ran though sluice boxes or used in other extraction methods. The Mine would close in 1906 after the price of gold dropped below what would be profitable to mine the ore. Which means there are still deposits of gold in the mine, it’s just not profitable to extract it currently. It stayed abandoned and under water for 75 years until it came under new management , and now the upper portions of the mine can be visited by the public.
The Consolidated Gold Mine is one of my favorite places to visit in in the mountains of Northeast Georgia. Besides being a really fun place to spend a few hours, as a photographer having an easily accessible place to photograph underground tunnels is just invaluable to me. While taking some promotional shots for the mine, I had the opportunity to explore the tunnels by myself for a couple hours and beyond the beauty of the stone walls and the constant sound of ground water flowing through the old paths, I found myself thinking about the miners who worked those tunnels. Using only the light of torches and lanterns, while hearing the sounds of hydraulic chisels thundering all around them, they must have felt like they were walking down a pathway into Hell, while searching for their fortunes. Luckily today we get to explore a well lit upper section of the mine, no touches required. However being down there by yourself, especially near the dark barriers that block off the lower parts of the mine, it can be a bit spooky. Maybe its because I grew up watching Scooby-Doo, but I could easily imagine haunted miners walking around the dark tunnels that lead further underground.
Back above ground, the Consolidated Gold Mine offers chances to pan for gold using concentrates from the local area, and buckets of sand and gemstones for you to sift though, and possibly find some treasure. You will, and should, succumb to your lizard brain and find some shiny souvenirs. Who knows, you might find some quality gems, and the professional gem cutters at the mine would be happy to polish and cut your stones into jewelry quality pieces. On my recent trip I found a few emeralds, rubies, garnets, and several crystals of quartz and amethyst. Score.
North Georgia offers many diverse options for day trips and attractions, there are many hidden treasures all throughout the mountains. But few offer the option to find actual treasure. I highly recommend spending the day in Dahlonega and to try your hand prospecting at the site of the largest hard rock gold mine east of the Mississippi, Consolidated Gold Mine. Keep Adventuring.
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