At the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, several 1000-plus carat emeralds from North Carolina are on display.
Gemstones, including hiddenite crystals and emeralds can be cut, refined, and shaped into precious stones for jewelry and other adornments.
TREASURE HUNTING - At Emerald Hollow Mine, visitors can sift in the dirt and nearby creek for crystals, emeralds, and other valuable rocks.
Digging deep Tommy Chipman, operations manager at Emerald Hollow Mine stands near the property's shallow creek where many pan for gems.
Amy Neely, who runs the Creekin' program. When digging on the property, Chipman makes his way through saprolite in order to find interesting rocks and gems.
ALL SHAPES AND SIZES - While some of Hiddenite’s emeralds have been larger than your hand, a majority are about the size of a quarter (above).
Drew Ervin gazes into an emerald to find a cuttable gem section on the 153-carat stone. Other gemstones are added to the buckets to enrich the mining experience.
The Crabtree Emerald Mine dump (above) at Emerald Village has rocky terrain that is rich with a variety of stones left over from the now-closed mine.
back in time Emerald Village in nearby Little Switzerland is home to the historic Bon Ami (top-left and bottom-right) and Big Deal (above) mines, which once produced valuable stones, as well as Crabtree Mine where guests can pan for gold, emeralds, and other gems (top-right).
Emerald Village in nearby Little Switzerland is home to the historic Bon Ami and Big Deal mines.
The Discovery Mill features 12 levels of shops and exhibits of NC’s mining history.
