Consolidated Gold Mine, Dahlonega, Georgia.

In about 1880, hard rock was reached on what is now called the Consolidated Gold Mine Property. After several years of testing by Capt. Ingersoll, Antonio, and others it was then determined what was providing the gold to the outside world, not veins of gold but veins of quartz containing gold. Solid rock is layered by weight when still in a molten state. The heavier metals like gold and iron stayed with the heaviest rock of the area- quartz. Most quartz veins containing gold run an average of 2-3 inches thick, if that big. The largest can be at around 8" thick. On the Dahlonega side of the mountain a man named Knight found an area where several extremely large veins were running together forming one giant vein. One so huge that it wasn't measured in inches but in feet- 22ft. thick -which is still today one of the largest veins of quartz discovered in the world containing gold. Soon the huge vein system was found to be going down-hill at a 45 degree angle heading deeper underground and below the water table. After a brief hiatus, mining of the Knight or "Glory Hole" vein continued when a group of northern investors bought up 7,000 acres of land around the discovery site, and all the smaller mines with it, forming the Dahlonega Consolidated Gold Mining Co. in 1895. Out of business in 1906, the Consolidated has been reported to be the very first attempt at systematic, deep underground mining in the east and quickly became a legend even in its own time.

Whatever the reason: price of gold too low; being below the water-table the gold stuck inside the iron making it too expensive to mine; material not produced fast enough for the 120-stamp mill; or scamming among the investors, the tunnel system was totally abandoned for 75 years until new life was instilled by a coal mining family from Kentucky wishing to change occupations after several generations.

Today the mine runs under a Wal-Mart just outside of downtown Dahlonega. The town still retains a frontier feel and many old buildings remain standing from as far back as the 1830s. Dahlonega, Georgia was the site of the 1839 gold rush, the first gold rush in the United States. The gold rush prompted the bitter Cherokee removal and prepared the masses for the California gold rush of '49. Dahlonega became a boom town on the edge of civilized Georgia land overnight, and the creation of the mint in Dahlonega led to the eventual creation of North Georgia Agricultural College, now North Georgia College and State University, the premier military college of Georgia.

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[dkhargroves]

i plan on visiting this upcoming summer, read some reviews and i hear the "bucket panning" isn't all that great. nice video

[gestalt100]

@dkhargroves i thought i knew how to bucket pan until they taught me some more tricks. i've gotten gold out of the upper chattahoochee in white county after hours of work, i wouldn't be surprised if i get more the next time around. bucket panning is a joke at a place like that though, they just have seeded sand, but it'll teach you if you ask for help.

[kaysonfired]

im going on a field trip there

[jmerrife]

Cool video! I live in Dahlonega. Ive been on that tour, too. : )