FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[John S. White]

At the end of April I was finally able to realize a long time desire, I visited the amethyst mine at Jacksons Crossroads, a mine that for many years now has been producing some of the most beautiful amethyst specimens found anywhere, many of them on a wonderful contrasting white quartz matrix, and faceted stones of extraordinary beauty. The mine is operated by Terry Ledford of Mountain Gems and Minerals, Little Switzerland, North Carolina. The pit is an altered granite in which the feldspar has been largely kaolinized, and it is very light colored, which means that it gets very warm at the bottom so mining is limited to the cooler months of the year. The amethyst is randomly disseminated throughout the rock, there are no visible veins or seams, so Terry never knows when he will expose a pocket. I was at the mine for a full day with my friend Bob Cook, and we were able to see many fine amethysts recovered while there. They are always encased in a sticky brown clay so it is difficult at first to judge their quality.

[gemlover]

If y'all ever get down this way again, let me know, we can get together and visit. Another amethyst/quartz mine is also near my house "Diamond Hill" in Antreville, SC.

John

[randolph]

OK Iam on my way lol :)

[gemlover]

Do come down, I know where Mr. White lives. I lived across the Susquehanna River from him in the 1970s. But which Lake Stevens?

John

[John S. White]

A few more images of my day at the Jacksons Crossroads amethyst mine. One interesting observation is that there are two forms of quartz found there, amethyst and colorless quartz. The amethyst crystals are always relatively large, a couple of centimeters up to many centimeters. The colorless crystals, on the other hand, are always very small, seldom larger than I centimeter in size and they occur as druses or clusters. You will see the difference in the photos posted with this note.

[GneissWare]

[Pierre Joubert]

Yes, beautiful specimens John. Truly an amazing place!

[Antonio Alcaide]

Nice quartz specimens and interesting pictures on location. Thanks!!

Regards

[Tracy]

Congrats on the gorgeous specimens!

- Tracy

[Elise]

[John S. White]

Elise:

I cannot detect any blue in the piece. I should point out that the amethyst is just one specimen, I have shown photos of two sides of it.

[Pierre Joubert]

Hi John. Seeing that you started this marvelous topic ' The Jacksons Crossroads, Wilkes County, Georgia '; is there any chance of asking forum members to send photos of their specimens from this area? I would like to see as many as possible specimens from this area. Best regards.

[John S. White]

All I can do is second your suggestion and hope that our followers come through. I have one other that I will try to photograph very soon.

[Pierre Joubert]

[John S. White]

Here is my other amethyst from Jacksons Crossroads. It is small, only 3.5 cm, and the color is not as intense as it appears in the photo.