2008 Maine Mineral Symposium

Emerald cluster found at Hiddenite in 1971 by Glenn Bolick. The cluster is about 6 inches long. Photograph taken at 2007 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

Emerald and hiddenite localities, Hiddenite, North Carolina

Mark Jacobson
108 Farmington Dr.
Lafayette, LA 70503

The United States is not blessed with an abundance of emerald localities. There are only four emerald localities in the continental United States: the Crabtree mine, Hiddenite mines, Turner mine, and Kings Mountain. The best of these localities is the system of alpine veins in Hiddenite, Alexander County, North Carolina. These cross-cutting, late-stage quartz veins are also home to the only true emerald-green spodumene crystals in the world. The spodumene crystals were given the varietal name “hiddenite” in honor of William E. Hidden, the first miner of these deposits.

The localities at Hiddenite were discovered in 1875-79 by local farmers with the financial encouragement of John Adlai D. Stephenson of Statesville, North Carolina. Irregular and sporadic mining since 1879 has been done by W. E. Hidden at the Warren-Turner-Adams farm (1880-1888), Cary Wright at the Ellis and Warren farms (1904-1907), W. B. Colburn at the Turner farm (1926-27), E. H. Plyler at the Ellis farm (1952), and numerous people at the Adams-Ellis-Rist mines area (1969-present).

The vughs containing emeralds and hiddenites strongly resemble the alpine clefts of Europe. Sub-vertical quartz veins form parallel swarms cross-cutting the foliation of gneissic bedrock. The veins can extend for 15 meters along strike, with 1 meter widths, and have been noted to extend to depths of more than 4 meters. Quartz-lined vughs are sometimes present where the veins widen. These vughs can be as large as 1 meter along strike and 0.5 meter in width. The mineral assemblage observed in the vughs, besides beryl (emerald) and spodumene (hiddenite), includes adularia, albite, ankerite, apatite, arsenopyrite, biotite, calcite, garnet, monazite-(Ce), muscovite, pyrite, quartz (clear, milky, amethyst), rutile, siderite, schorl, and xenotime. Holmquisitite has been found in the adjacent gneisses. Subtropical, lateritic weathering of the gneisses has reached depths up to 20 meters in places, making mining of the veins more an earth-moving operation than explosive blasting. The emeralds and hiddenite crystals are usually found loose among the weathered vein material coated with a red-brown stain from the soil.

Current mining activity started in 1969 when Bill Baltzley from Virginia convinced Charles Rist to buy almost 200 acres of land northeast of the Adams farm where hiddenite was discovered. Rist and Baltzley opened up these lands, known as the Rist mine and the former Ellis mine, for small-scale mining and personal collecting. The former Adams farm was also opened for individual collectors. These lands were quite productive during the early 1970s. After Charles Rist died, the property was sold in 1982 to LKA International for commercial mining activity. LKA evaluated the property and concluded it was uneconomic after spending more than $US 500,000. In 1995, LKA subdivided the land and sold it at auction. Most of the seven new owners used the land for their private prospecting. These separate properties, although sometimes still called the Rist mine, are better described by their new names - Emerald Hollow mine, Wooten-Rutledge mine, North American Emerald mine (James Hill), Esmeralda mine and the Ellis mine.

Since 1995, mining activities have increased with the dispersal of ownership. In 1998, James Hill discovered more than 3,000 carats of emeralds including several gem-quality emeralds on his initial one-acre North American Emerald mine. One 88-carat emerald was faceted into 7.58 and 18.88-carat stones. The smaller stone was sold for $500,000. An 858-carat uncut emerald (“Empress Caroline”) was sold for an undisclosed sum to the Southeastern Emerald Consortium. In December 2003, Hill unearthed a 1,861-carat terminated emerald on matrix. This crystal was sold to the Houston Museum of Natural History for a rumored amount close to $1 million. Esmeralda Exploration Inc. was formed in 2002 to start emerald mining on land adjacent to James Hill. Esmeralda soon found its first emerald. Wooten and Rutledge mined their 10 acres for personal stones until 2003. Mike Watkins opened and mined his lands as a campground-collecting site called the Emerald Hollow mine. The prospecting, collecting and mining boom continues today!

Last updated on January 23, 2008