Total Pageviews

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Gold Occurrences in Georgia

Gold-mining begin in Georgia during the 1830s or so much gold was found the United States government actually opened a branch meant in Dahlonego that remained in operation until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. The gold belt in Georgia extends across the state from South Carolina to Alabama and is part of the Southern gold-pyrite belt that is found in the Piedmont and the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Southern states. Small amounts of gold are also found in the beach sends along the coast of Georgia, and in the outer islands.

This is the Glory Hole at the Consolidated Mine in Dahlonego, Georgia
Photo by Kudzovine

One of the places that is included in this gold belt is Atlanta where is conceivably possible for a resonance to find gold in their backyards. Placer gold is also found in the vicinity of Fort Benning where it is a wonder some sergeant hasn't had the bright idea of having his men panning for gold in the area.

Throughout the gold belt in Georgia to minors have produced both placer and lode gold where the placer gold was found along the creeks and rivers of the state and lode gold is to be found in the hard crystalline rocks.

The placer gold is found in the creeks and rivers of the state with most of the gold being found close to bedrock. Another place where it is possible to find placer gold is in a particular type of deposits called a saprolite that is formed by the deep weathering of crystalline rocks turning them into a mixture of clay and quartz grains. It is from deposits of this sort that we get the name, “Sweet red Georgia clay.” During the period of active mining in Georgia the saprolites deposits produced a considerable quantity of gold. In many places the bedrock was turned saprolites to a depth of more than 100 feet.

Although most lode gold is found in quartz veins where the gold is precipitated out of solution in the formation of a deposit. This is the primary way in which lode gold is found, but there are also lode deposits that are associated with pyrite in this case the gold is either dissolved into the pyrite as an impurity, or forms as thin films between the crystal faces. In the same way gold was also found as impurities with over massive sulfide deposits where they are being mined for other metals gold was often a byproduct.

The stone of the Southern gold belt ranges from Slate to gneiss with the quartz veins, we following the grain of the rock although the few cases it will deviate from the grain by a few degrees cutting across the layers of strata. In many cases gold found fault zones where gold and quartz are often found in veins in the fracture zones.

16 comments:

  1. I found several football sized quartz rocks in west middle Georgia. There is some staining in small veins against the white quartz(red and brown). Any gold? How could I test it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Found what I have learned definitely have a sample tested. Gold veins can be found in quartz. One can preform different home test google it. Do you have a picture? If so in box me.

      Delete
  2. Well that's in the right place for gold. Grind the rock up into sand sized particles and pan the results for recovering any gold. If you don't know how to pan for gold there is a description in my blog how to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You mentioned gold being associated with pyrite as an impurity, can gold be a brittle as pyrite? Also, any tips on disguishing between the two?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it is Chemically bound in the Pyrite it will be brittle until it is crushed and liberated .

      Delete
    2. If it is Chemically bound in the Pyrite it will be brittle until it is crushed and liberated .

      Delete
  4. Gold is always soft and malleable that leaves a golden streak on a small piece of black slate. Pyrite is always brittle, not soft or malleable.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I found a weird rock face deep in the north mid Georgia woods. It stands about 15 feet tall and about 30 feet wide. The rock on the outside appears to be burnt, almost like volcanic rock. It is black, orange, purple, and yellow. About a 12" in, start huge quartz deposits. Some are big, solid, "wet glass" looking pieces, and some are very crystallized, almost looking as if they were formed from crystal powder. Some are big chunks, some are small pieces suspended in material, almost mosaic looking. They all have large veins of a yellow glittery substance, and a purple or brown matte substance. They are very dense, and very hard to crack open, yet they chip off the face fairly easy. I took off material from about 7 feet up, 3 feet over from the left, and within 12" from the surface. I've crushed and panned a couple pieces, and have yet to find anything. My question is, am I crazy, or is it a little odd to find a volcanic looking structure in Georgia. Is this worth digging into deeper? If so, should I go up, down, left, right? I have pictures of the material I took off.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi,
    I found some small nuggets, which a gold buying place checked with a digital detector and said they contained gold. There is a silver metal as well. It came out of what you describe as saprolite, heavy Georgia clay near a river. I have some video on you tube under Georgia Gold. I also found an almost two pound nugget of a specifically silver color, no gold. I came from a few hundred feet away from the other nuggets. It is in sheets and is metallic with a shiny luster that is silver in color. I have done a nitric acid test on the nuggets with gold in them with 22 k acid. It does not affect the nugget streak at all. The streak is gold in color.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for sharing this great article! That is very interesting I love reading and I am always searching for informative information like this.
    Mining services Utah

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm a sergeant at Fort benning....still looking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Sergeant, my family has been going to a couple of gold camps the last few years during the summer but really interested in trying around here (Columbus) and my heart is set on Pine Mountain. We are gonna be building or buying a sluice box this coming spring. I haven't met anyone around here who is interested in looking for gold or gems. We've had some luck with one specific gold camp we travel to. Alot of fun,laid back group of owners. It doesn't cost a whole lot which helps to.If you ever need some helpers here's my email
      tsr61768@gmail.com
      Happy Hunting 😊

      Delete
    2. Hey i live a mile away from pine mountain gold museum

      Delete
  9. I'm a sergeant at Fort benning....still looking.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I live in Villa Rica Georgia . I have found a rock that looks like concrete.. But it is red,, grey, ,gold and looks like silver flakes. What do you think could be

    ReplyDelete
  11. Not sure if I get an answer but here goes. Been panning and found about 4 grams of placer gold, this year. Last year made about $1200. In small nuggets. So I was trying to figure out where so much placer and nuggets were coming from. Today and raining, I found an offsite from qreek and soil was a thick grey clay with quarts rock as I dug deeper. One pan had maybe 75 to 100 placer gold. When looked at quarts had small veins of gold and about peed my pants. Pulled about 100 pounds of quarts rock. What's the best way to get the gold out?

    ReplyDelete