Crabtree Emerald Mine
North Carolina
Find: Emerald, heliodor, aquamarine, black tourmaline
GPS: 35.87437, -82.12037
Nearest city: Asheville, NC
Recommended Vehicle: Any
Season: The associated Emerald Village mine is open April through October, unclear if the Crabtree Mine itself follows that schedule.
Summary:
North Carolina is home to the only 2 commercial emerald mines not just in the United States, but in North America. The Crabtree Emerald mine was operated commercially in various stints from the late 1800s to 1990s. Today, it can still be accessed by the public for $25/day through the M.A.G.M.A. rock club.
You’ll be looking for Emerald in-matrix here, meaning it will still be encased in the surrounding rock. The vein in which the emerald was initially found has been dug out and the mine has flooded.
Digging here is not glamorous. You won’t be digging through crystal pockets or seams. Instead, to find emerald you’ll be digging in the tailings. Aim for areas that appear undisturbed and try to move as much rock as possible.
Many say it’s best to target the material that has black tourmalines within the quartz and feldspar matrix. However, we found our clearest emerald in chunks of the pure mica schist (the black glittery material).
To dig at Crabtree, I visited the Emerald Village shop to sign a waiver and get directions to the mine.
Important: While the coordinates listed on this page lead to the mine itself, do not go directly to the mine without paying and signing your slip at Emerald Village.
Emerald Village webpage with additional information: https://www.emeraldvillage.com/mines-activities/crabtree-emerald-mine/
Address to Emerald Village: 331 McKinney Mine Road
Spruce Pine, NC 28777
Video
Check out the video to best see what can be found when exploring this spot.
3 Helpful Tools
D-Handle Shovel
A short handle shovel will help quickly dig holes to look for rocks leftover in the tailings. There is a lot of vegetation here.
Spray Bottle
A spray bottle will help you remove layers of tacky dirt on the rocks so you can see if you’ve got chunks of mica schist, quartz/feldspar matrix, etc.
Flat Chisel
I used a chisel to actually dig and poke around. It sounds odd, but it allowed rocks to be felt underneath leaves and roots.
Here's what were looking for. I did not find this one myself.
This is what a lot of the rock out here looks like.
It was repeatedly mentioned that this place rewards digging
You're digging through tailings here. It will often be covered in mud.
I used this old chisel to split apart a couple large boulders I brought home. The holes were drilled using a rotary hammer.
We had no idea what these would be like until getting them home and cleaned up.
This is some scratchy emerald we found. Photo is under a 15x zoom lens, so you can imagine how small this is. About 1/8 the size of a dime.
These crystals were about the same size, but much more clear. They were inside the round chunk of mica schist 2 photos earlier.
The black tourmaline was pretty neat too, and an unexpected surprise.