Foreword by Ralph Roberts, Publisher There are things you can collect in these old, old mountains that have greater age than antiques. Far greater age. Eons old, and these treasures lie beneath your feet, in the ground, the ancient ground.

Rick Jacquot has knowledge of these vastly old artifacts of the earth's creation and its growing pains through millions of long years, now gone. He has searched over mountain and through bramble-choked glen to find the best places, those hallowed, secretive locations yielding the best in specimens of rock, mineral, and-oh yes!-sparkling gemstones. Some of these specimens can be valuable, others precious in the learning of geological lore they impart. All have a story to tell.

Often hunters of rocks maintain their secrets as closely as any fisherman protecting that piece of stream where the big trout grab for any hook that comes near the water. Rick does not, he shares it here with you, even to giving GPS coordinates!

When Rick brought this book idea to me, I turned out to be an easier sell than he had thought. My father and I spent many happy hours in the pursuit of the not-always-elusive rock. My cousins-Jack Ball and his son Jackie-have ownership of the Little Pine garnet mine in Madison County where my grandfather, George Roberts, was foreman back in its heyday before World War II. I love these mountains-what is on them, in them, and what makes them up. So we, in much pride, add this book to our Land of the Sky series.

This book includes:

Over the years, improved mining techniques uncovered many more rich gem and mineral deposits. Unfortunately gem production was too low to justify continued commercial mining, mineral mines began to close as imported minerals began to be shipped into the area, it was cheaper to import the minerals from a foreign country than to mine them locally.

(left: GEM QUALITY ALMANDINE GARNETS FROM THE LITTLE PINE MINE, MADISON COUNTY)

Today the gem mines you find are tourist mines/attractions, these mines are enriched with foreign material to keep the customers happy, most are located in the Cowee Valley and the Spruce Pine area, there are a few mines which provide all native material and I have listed them in this book. There are still some active commercial mines/quarries in Western North Carolina, limestone, talc, feldspar, quartz, pyrophyllite and spodumene, are just a few of the minerals mined.

The Western North Carolina area is still a rockhound's dream, if you know where to look. I moved here in 1987 and began collecting in this area in 1989. One thing I have learned about rockhounds is that they are tight-lipped about collecting sites, they do not want anyone to know where their secret hole is at, and if by chance you do get some information from them, you have to swear on your life, and promise to forfeit your firstborn child if you ever tell anyone about the secret location. This can become very frustrating, fortunately I met a local rockhound who had been collecting in the area for over thirty years and he did not mind sharing his information. I was lucky, and as my interest in the hobby grew, I began to meet more people who knew about more sites. Unfortunately many people do not get that chance, I am sure many aspiring rockhounds have simply given up the hobby for lack of interest because they could not find anyone willing to share information with them.

There are thousands of mines and prospects in the Western North Carolina area containing many gems and minerals that would be of interest to collectors. Many of these mines are on state or federal property but the locations to them have been lost over time and are waiting to be rediscovered, many more are on private land and the owners do not allow collecting. Many of the active mines and quarries in the area will not let anyone in to collect mineral specimens, they site safety reasons, government rules and regulations, etc. This book was written by a rockhound for rockhounds new and old.

(right: EMERALD CRYSTALS FROM THE CRABTREE EMERALD MINE, MITCHELL COUNTY)

I have listed as many sites that I know of that are open to collecting, some of these sites are active mines/quarries, some are the remains of old pegmatite/mica/feldspar/gem mines that have been closed for years, and a few are more recent discoveries made by myself and some fellow rockhounds in the area. I have also included several close sites that are in Georgia, Tennessee, and farther east in North Carolina. I feel you should have the opportunity to collect at these sites while in the area. I have tried to make finding the sites as easy as possible with detailed directions and maps.

The odometer on my vehicle was used to the tenth of a mile to measure some of the distances in this book, your odometer may vary slightly from mine so keep this in mind while traveling to a particular site. Remember to always respect the property of others, if you dig a hole make sure to fill it before you leave and always carry out any trash you bring in and any trash you see left by others, doing this will help to insure future collecting at these locations. If you are new to the hobby I hope this guide will help you along the way to find many beautiful specimens for your collection, if you've been around a while I hope you will find some useful information here that is new to you.

Many of the sites listed in this book are commercial mines or quarries or roadside locations that are easily found with the street directions and maps I have provided. Most of the commercial mines and some of the quarries have signs directing you to the site when you are within a few miles of the location, but as many more are in remote hard to find locations. You should have no problem finding these sites with the directions given, as an extra tool, if you have a portable GPS unit I have included the coordinates for the more remote locations to assist with finding these sites.

While researching this book over a two-year period I visited all the locations listed. I try to visit these locations as often as possible to collect specimens for my collection and I have always been granted permission to collect at the sites on private property. But collecting status changes and property is bought and sold, you should always get permission from the property owner before collecting on private property, this shows respect for the owner and helps to allow future collecting at these sites.

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