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Bo's Mine Tours
Mine Tours in Western North Carolina Spruce Pine Mining District Last Updated: January 6th, 2020 Email: bo_smith@bellsouth.net |
Due to
loss of our cabin as a base of operations and health
factors, I am no longer giving personal mine tours. I have
thoroughly enjoyed giving tours and hope that I have
provided enjoyable and educational experiences for my
customers. I am leaving my Bo's Mine Tours
Website up however, to keep the information on the
mines available for those who are planning trips to
the area. I am gratified that I continue to get
requests for mine tours and have provided advice and
recommendations for those who have contacted me. As a
result. I am adding a section to this website covering
the most frequently asked questions and my
recommendations.
I
have transitioned the business side of Bo's Mine
Tours to mineral sales and making jewelry with my base
of operations in Jacksonville, Florida. I used to call
it Bo's Jewelry. But my wife Diana has become
interested in wire wrapping pendants so I have changed
the name to B & D's Jewelry!
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Tour of the Bon Ami Feldspar Mine at Emerald Village . Pay your fees at the retail shop next to the mine cave. Fees; $8.00 adult. $7.00 seniors (60+), $6.00 students through high school, pre school (free)) The Bon Ami Mine is a typical feldspar mine of the 1920s-1940s. This tour features a brief description of Spruce Pine Pegmatite geology and the mining equipment and feldspar processing techniques of that period. The length of thr tour is about 45 minutes to an hour. The Emerald Village complex is located a few miles from the North Carolina Mineral Museum. |
![]() This is a very nice specimen of the most common minerals found in the McKinney Mine tailings; green muscovite mica (upper left and lower right), smoky quartz (gray), and cream colored potash feldspar (microcline or orthoclase). |
You can collect from the tailings from the McKinney Feldspar Mine onsite at Emerald Village. The procedure is to check in at the main retail store down McKinney Mine Road from the Bon Ami Mine. You sign waiver of liability forms and pay the fees there. Fee Schedule: adults 13 and older-$20, children 12 and under- $10.00 I will provide tools and help you identify the minerals you find if I lead you during your collecting experience. You can rent tools from Emerald Village if you go on your own. You will need sturdy shoes and some 5gal strong buckets for the samples you collect. There is a collection of the minerals found in the McKinney Mine tailings in the Emerald Village office to help you know what to look for when you collect at the tailings. |
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Most tour groups elect to take a break for a rest, cool drink, and lunch after completing mineral collecting. If you decide to collect at Emerald Village, the place to go is the Little Switzerland Cafe just a few minutes from Emerald Village |
![]() Spruce Pine Pegmatite from Sink Hole Mica Mine Beautiful muscovite mica (rum mica) in gray colored quartz and postasium feldspar (creamy white) matrix |
The Sink Hole Mica Mine is currently
closed due to some inconsiderate folks dumping trash
in the mine area. But, I have made arrangements with
one of the co-owners, Ed Silver, that if you give
him acall on his cell (828) 467-0179 and tell them
that Bo Smith of Bo's Mine Tours told you to give
him a call to get permission to collect at the mine,
he probably will give you permission. But, please make sure you leave nothing behind and pick what trash you might saee that you can remove. Note: You will need a four wheel drive, all wheel drive or a rugged 2 wheel drive with amle ground clearance to drive up the road to the mine! The Sink Hole Mica Mine is about a 45 minute drive from Emerald Village off of State Road 80N near Bakersville, NC. |
![]() Classic Spruce Pine Pegmatite Minerals Feldspar (cream), Smoky Quartz (gray), Muscovite Mica |
![]() Nice Spruce Pine
Pegmatite specimen with Muscovite Mica
from Sink Hole Mica Mine |
![]() Nice Gem Feldspar (upper right) from Sink Hole Mine with "gemmy" garnets found in August 2015 |
![]() You can begin with a
short hike to see one of the shafts and the
location of the Native American mine works.
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![]() Next, you can collect samples from the "tailings" of the minerals found at the Sink Hole Mine. |
![]() Middle school aged students particularly enjoy the "hands on experience" |
![]() There is plenty of typical Spruce PIne Pegmatite at the Sink Hole Mine. This one has some pink feldspar. |
![]() Green Apatite crystal in Feldspar. (fluoresces bright yellow) |
![]() Top left- If you look carefully at the Feldspar you colllect, you might find some "gem feldspar" |
![]() Small "gemmy" Garnet crystals are commonly found in the pegmatite at the Sink Hole Mine |
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Most
tour groups elect to take a break for a rest,
cool drink, and lunch after completing mineral
collecting. If you decide to collect at the Sink Hole Mica Mine, the place to go is Helen's Restauraunt about a ten minute drive to Bakersville. Helen's has great sandwiches /burgers, sweet potato fries , and milk shakes! Closed Tuesdays! |
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For tour groups
which include young children who
have never been gem
"sluicing" and have selected
to do the Bon Ami Feldspar Mine
tour might want to consider having
the kids do some "gem mining" at
the Emerald
Village facility (bucket
prices vary from $15 up).
Emerald Village is an attractive,
well run facility. This takes about and hour or so. After the Emerald Village activities, you might want to move on to a shorter (about 1-2 hours) collecting experience either at the McKinney Feldspar Mine tailings onsite at Emerald Village or at the Sink Hole Mica Mine. I have found that elementary age children are very enthusiastic about collecting at "real mine" tailings but their attention span is such that they begin to wear out and get a bit "figity" after an hour or two. |
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After
a
bit of "marketing research" of the
local "tourist gem mines", I have determined the best place to get reliable high quality gem stones along with the demonstrated ability of cutting the stones by experienced professionals is the Rio Doce Gem Mine. Rio Doce has a broad choice of buckets available to suit the needs of each customer. The most popular choice of my recent customers is the $65 bucket which is large enough for two people to share and includes several fecetable gemstones and many other minerals suitable for cabechons. The $65 price includes faceting one gemstone or one cabochon. Additional faceted stones are $50 each and cabochons are $30. |
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In addition to some kind of appropriate containers (I recommend Lowes or Home Depot sturdy 5 gal buckets), you will need proper rock hammers to process the material. I recommend that each collector have a regular rock hammer (brick hammer) with a chisel end (shown in my left hand in the picture) ($30 at Homer Depot or Lowes and a 2 1/2 lb to 4 lb mason hammer with a chizel end (shown in my right hand). A 12 lb sledge hammer would be helpful to break up larger boulders. The picture demonstrates how to use these hammers to break rocks in a controlled manner. |
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We
also have had several excellent tours to the
Crabtree Emerald Mine. Crabtreee provides a more
difficult challenge than the Sink Hole Mine in
finding good specimens but it can be done and our
Crabtree tours were successful in that almost
everyone found some emerald. You can sign the required forms, pay the fees, and get directions to the mine from either the MAGMA (Mountain Area Gem and Mineral Association) website which manages collecting at the mine or at the Emerald Village shop next to the Bon Ami Feldspar Mine. I can provide the forms and forward your check to MAGMA if I take you to the mine. |
![]() Common grassy green Beryl crystals in Feldspar matrix |
![]() Emerald in Crabtree
matrix
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![]() Black tourmaline
crystals and pink Thulite in Feldspar
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![]() Black tourmaline and
golden beryl in Feldspar matrix
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![]() Above- Nice Emerald crystals in Feldspar matrix; found August 2014 Right- Beautiful Emerald crystal found in the gravel at Crabtree; August 2015 |
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Directions to the
parking area at the Ray Mica Mine trailhead: From Burnsville take Rt 197 South (The Pensacola Road) for .7 miles Turn Left on Bolens Creek Road for 1.4 miles Turn Left on Ray Mine Road to the top of the hill GPS Coordinates: N 35 deg. 53.241 min. W 082 deg. 16.733 min. The Pisgah National Forest land begins at the post with the yellow and black poster on the right in the picture. You may park on National Forest land in front of the post is private land. I have had permission from the owner in the past to park on his land. He does not want any payment; just do not block his mail box on the right! |
This a map of the Ray Mine area. The hatched area above the shafts is the authorized digging area. The old road which is adjacent to the digging area leads up to the ridge line where there is an old Kyanite Mine. |
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![]() Hike up the hill toward the tailings. You may surface collect along the trail but no digging! |
![]() You may surface
collect in the stream;
but no digging! |
![]() You may surface collect from the tailings near the shafts but no digging. Digging is permitted only in the approved digging area above the shafts! |
![]() Partial Common Beryl crystal in Quartzite matrix |
![]() Aquamarine in Feldspar |
![]() Muscovite Mica (Rum Mica) in Feldspar |
![]() Black tourmaline
crystals in Muscovite mica on Feldspar
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lf you hike up toward the ridge line from the Ray Mine shaft area you might find some blue Kyanite in Quartzite. |
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I met the owner of of the Thermal City Gold Mine at the Grassy Creek Gem and Mineral Show late in July 2015. His family has owned the mine for five generations. The area between here and Charlotte was mined for gold for about 20 years beginning about 1830 and was the primary source of America's gold until the big gold strike in California. You can pan the unsalted stream gravel that produced the gold for $10/person and they will provide the pan; what a deal! You have a good chance to find a flake or two of gold by panning You can also reserve a piece of gold mining equipment called a trommel for four hours for $60. |
![]() Our first tour was for a family who decided to try panning for $10 a person |
![]() They were also given an explanation of the operation of the trommel by the owner. |
![]() Loading the trommel |
![]() Cleaning the sluice |
![]() Panning the concentrate |
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Small nuggets and flakes from the trommel operation |
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A Good Place to Start Any Tour The North Carolina Mineral Museum At Rte 226 and the Blue Ridre Parkway |
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You can take a route to the Sinkhole Mine that includes a brief roadside stop along Rte. 226N with a view of the Quartz Corporation's Pine Mountain Mining Facility. Take Route 226 N from Rt 19E north towards Bakersville. Stop along the right side of the road and take a look at this operating feldspar mine, the largest in North America. After this stop, continue on towards Bakersville and take a left at Rte 223 (Mine Creek Road) at the Sink Hole Mine road sign. |
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The Sink Hole Mice Mine mine is located in the town of Bandana southeast of Bakersville in Mitchell County. mine is currently owned by Ed and Sam Silver. The Bandana area and the valley to its south, Kona, have been continuously occupied by the Silver family since the mid-1750s. My research into the geology of the area has resulted in getting to know many of the local folks so I have learned quite a bit about the history of the area. This cabin, built by one of sons of the area's first resident of European decent, George Silver Jr.was built between 1809 and 1816 can be found in the village of KONA. If you drive south on Rte 80S from Bandana, you will find KONA. Take the Old Kona Road down to the village to find this cabin. |
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During the years that I have devoted to the study of the geology and history of the Spruce Mining District, I became very interested in the history of North Carolina mica mining by Hopewell era Native Americans. I have published my research online at: Native American Sink Hole Mica Mining Website If you are interested in this subject, be sure to search for the ravine at the Sink Hole Mine, the site of Native American aboriginal mining 2000 years ago. I commissioned the oil and natural materials painting on the left which I donated to the Yancey County Visitor's Center in Burnsville. It is on display there in the visitor's center office. |
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The
Dellinger Grist Mill has been at it's Cane Creek
location (a few miles east of Bakersville) since
the mid 1800s. Four generations of the Dellinger
family have operated the mill. It is the only
iron wheel grist mill still in operation in
North Carolina. The mill is currently operated
by Jack Dellinger. Jack was born in the hills
near the mill, watched his daddy operate the
mill and learned the stories of his grandpa and
great grandpa's experiences with the mill which
he relates to those who visit the mill.
Jack is an amazing person who started in the
corn field,was educated in a one room
school house, eventually became an Electrical
Engineer and as one of an IBM team of
computer programmers was involved in designing
the computer program that controlled the Saturn
V Rocket for the Apollo 11 Lunar mission. Check
hours of operation at the Dellinger
Mill Website |
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Located in Spruce Pine, NC. Run by our friend Maggie. Nice period rooms. Friendly atmosphere. Family style breakfast. Pet friendly. |
Spruce Pine Motel (no website) |
Located
at
379 Oak Avenue (end of "upper streeet") downtown Spruce
Pine. Economy type motel, under new ownership, offers
clean inexpensive rooms.($50 one queen. $55 two double
beds) 828-765-9344 |
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Located in Burnsville, NC. Run by our friends Laura and Mike Hoskins. Nice period atmosphere. |
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Located on Blue Ridge
Parkway. Luxurious chalet atmosphere. Beautiful view. Excellent restaurant. Rates-moderate to expensive. |
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Located on Blue Ridge
Parkway. Comfortable. Beautiful view. Reasonable rates. |
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Located on Blue Ridge Parkway. Beautiful view.Rustic atmosphere. Optional breakfast served on the lodge's balcony. Reasonable rates. |
Vance Toe
River Lodge |
Located on Route 19E about 14 miles northeast of Spruce Pine in Plumb Tree, Avery County. The Vance Toe River Lodge offers inexpensive accommodations in the lodge and cabins, camping, and a Zipline attraction. |