We took it easy until after lunch.
Our destination today was the Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega, GA.
Gold was first discovered in the Dahlonega area in 1828 when a deer hunter tripped over a rock that was full of gold. The first miners were actually able to pick the plentiful gold by hand. As the surface gold become scarce "panning" became the method of choice. It then progressed to "Sluice Boxes", similar in principal to panning, where the heavier gold sank do the bottom as water washes the covering material away. To speed up the process "Hydraulic Mining" came into use. Water once again was the power source. Water, over a 26 mile series of trenches and pipes, fell by gravity into 5-6" pipe. The tremendous pressure of the gravity fed "Water Canon" washed away the mountainside which was direct into Sluice Boxes. Today, in America, this process is outlawed.
Hard rock mining was the last stage as quartz veins holding the gold were sought out underground. Most quartz veins containing gold are only a few inches in width. Here the quartz vein containing gold was 22 feet wide - one of the largest in the world. It became known as the "Glory Hole" vein.
The 5 area gold mining companies could not make it profitable on their own so they joined to form "The Consolidated Mining Company" in 1895. It was out of business by 1906 due to a number of factors ranging from the low price of gold, the high cost of separating it from the encasing rock and investor scams. 75 years later, when the price of gold skyrocketed after de-regulation a Kentucky coal mining family bought and began to rehabilitate the old mine.
There was "Good News" and "Bad News" regarding their effort. The "Bad News" was that the value of gold went too low to make it profitable; the "Good News" was that converting the mine to "Guided Tours" is the reason the largest (ever) gold mining operation east of the Mississippi is now open to the public!
This tour is "Cool" - literally! The temperature below ground is about 60 F year round. The 45 minute tour starts with a short explanatory film and then we proceeded, in stages, as deep as 200 feet underground.
No - they do not use "Child Labour" today like they did in the original mine (grin). Jamie, our excellent guide, is explaining the hand drilling process originally used to make holes for the dynamite that blasted the rocks into pieces that could be hauled out using mine cars. Actual original mining artifacts that included mine cars, the original mine rail tracks and various mine drills were viewed. Jamie's detailed explanation of the processes involved brought the past to life.
Included in the tour is the opportunity to "Pan" for gold. After a short film explaining the technique; Jamie (switching hats) set us up with a miner's pan (filled with gold containing sand). He later placed our "Strike" of small (really small) flecks of gold into glass vials.
I bought Charlotte a "Gem" Bucket so she could "Sluice" for the contained Gems.
We made a stop on the way back to the motorhome at the North Georgia Premium Outlets. Naturally, we found items we didn't know we needed.
Supper was at the Texas Steakhouse just off US-19 (Exit 14). Our exit to the RV park was the next one down the road (Exit 13) so it was only 5 minutes to the motorhome after supper.
It was a very interesting day. Now we rest before our long drive tomorrow.
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