Great new gravel at Cherokee

[Paka]

Recent weeks at Cherokee Ruby Mine have been wonderful; into some great gravel and have had some incredible finds. I was there all Labor Day weekend and was helping, and the stuff I saw was pretty much the best I've ever seen. I didn't do too many buckets as it was soooo busy, but did find these among other stuff; a beautiful ruby and another big rhodolite garnet (though not as big as last year's)-





On Saturday especially, really saw some gorgeous, clear sapphires. Also saw the largest ones I've seen in person come out; these two, though not clear, were pretty huge. The larger one is 68 cts. They were found in the same screen by one of the Montoya family, who owns the mine (and are really wonderful people!)-



These last two pics don't do the stones justice, but the first is a pigeon blood red ruby found by a guest, and the second a bright pink sapphire, quite clear, found by another-

[41dave]

looks good, I'll be out that way the end of october, just before season's end according to the website.

What's the pricing at Cherokee? PM if necessary.

Thanks,

-Dave

[Dicky the Rockhunter]

LOOKS GOOD ! I seem to remember that most other specimens from there were in matris. Is that true .,or have theybroken it down to gravel so you just sift. I am jelous . Thanks for showing .

Dicky

[gsellis]

Requesting a vacation day for Friday right now.

[Paka]

Thanks!

For adults, it is $15 admission-- includes two free buckets-- then $2.50 a bucket after that.

Actually most stones there are free of matrix; they have been tumbled going down the creek pretty good and are pretty clean. Mason's on the other hand usually has sapphires in the matrix. The dirt at Cherokee is pretty easy to clean in the screen-- still takes some work, but much easier than Sheffield or Mason's thick clay.

[tracey]

Hmmm, my Granny sure does like to gamble......drop her at the casino and then maybe I'll hit it big!

[gsellis]

Fees, directions, hours, etc. are here:

www.cherokeerubymine.com/Contact-Us.php

And thanks Paka! Got Friday off and will be there at 9AM.

[Paka]

Cool! I'm going to try to make it back the weekend after next, myself. Hopefully the gravel will stay great. My husband didn't do quite as well-- there is still some luck in it-- but the beauties are definitely there! One on Saturday I saw and loved was a gorgeous pale blue and very clear sapphire a guest found, probably in the 8-10 ct. range if I had to guess. Another found an incredibly lovely violet one a bit larger.

[stevebarr]

Paka - They still offer discounts for MAGMA Platinum members at the Cherokee, don't they? If people are starting to find nice stuff like that, you might see a MAGMA stampede.

[Paka]

Yep, I forget exactly what the discount is now, though. I'll try to get a better picture of my ruby posted later-- I freaked when I saw that in my screen, lol. I found another ruby also, but much rougher. Two weeks ago on another trip up, I did find all this on my trip then- (not all of the finds, either!)-



Here is a picture another took of my ruby though, which came out great! -

[gsellis]

If you looked at my link ^

$10 plus 2 buckets for MAGMA members. Membership card shown at time of entry.

[Paka]

Haha, thanks, you think I'd know enough to look at the site!

[Paka]

Ok, here is a better pic of some of last weekend's stuff I took with my new digital! -

[ncbbqnut]

Paka,

Those are great specimens you found. I used to visit several of the ruby mines along Caler Fork from 1983 to 1990, but I never visited the Cherokee Ruby Mine.

The Shuler Mine, Holbrook Mine, and the Jacobs Mine were my favorites, but I spent most of my time at the Holbrook Mine and got to know Weaver Holbrook very well. I used to just drop by and visit him if I was in the area to say hello. Many times he would have a full flume line and be short of filled buckets, so I helped shovel gravel into buckets and carry them to the customers. I was rewarded with some free buckets of gravel, if I had time enough to stay and clean the gravel.

I have several hundred rubies and sapphires from those visits, but only had a few cut. My best day was at the Shuler Mine when I found 7 cuttable rubies in one bucket. The largest was 6 carats and glowed brilliantly in the sunlight. It had several prominent inclusions and I considered keeping it as a display specimen. I had the crystal valuated at Bud and Ruth's Cowee Gem Shop (across from the Holbrook Mine), and Bud told me it had a lot of silk and that it should star or have a moonstone effect chatoyancy.

I had the crystal cut (2.98 carats), and it is currently mounted in a gold ring that my wife wears on various occasions. Here is a photograph of the ruby and ring. Unfortunately, I never got a photo of the crystal before cutting. The stone as been appraised by two different GIA certified jewelers at $1600, and that is with the inclusions.





After seeing your crystals, I will have to go and try my luck at the Cherokee Mine. I'm glad that at least one of the original mines is still open in Cowee Valley.

Peace,

Dennis

[Paka]

Wow, that is beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

It is a shame that most of the mines are gone now. Cherokee is a great place though, and the owners are really wonderful people. I sort of do the same thing you did there-- if it is busy I help out, though usually what I do is just help look through customers' screens. Only dug dirt buckets once when we ran short-- now THAT is some hard work!

This is probably my favorite find so far; rhodolite garnet from last year that is still in the display case there, but am going to have it wire wrapped eventually here-