Gold Occurrences in Georgia

Gold-mining begin in Georgia during the 1830s or so much gold was found the United States government actually opened a branch meant in Dahlonego that remained in operation until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. The gold belt in Georgia extends across the state from South Carolina to Alabama and is part of the Southern gold-pyrite belt that is found in the Piedmont and the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Southern states. Small amounts of gold are also found in the beach sends along the coast of Georgia, and in the outer islands.

This is the Glory Hole at the Consolidated Mine in Dahlonego, Georgia
Photo by Kudzovine

One of the places that is included in this gold belt is Atlanta where is conceivably possible for a resonance to find gold in their backyards. Placer gold is also found in the vicinity of Fort Benning where it is a wonder some sergeant hasn't had the bright idea of having his men panning for gold in the area.

Throughout the gold belt in Georgia to minors have produced both placer and lode gold where the placer gold was found along the creeks and rivers of the state and lode gold is to be found in the hard crystalline rocks.

The placer gold is found in the creeks and rivers of the state with most of the gold being found close to bedrock. Another place where it is possible to find placer gold is in a particular type of deposits called a saprolite that is formed by the deep weathering of crystalline rocks turning them into a mixture of clay and quartz grains. It is from deposits of this sort that we get the name, “Sweet red Georgia clay.” During the period of active mining in Georgia the saprolites deposits produced a considerable quantity of gold. In many places the bedrock was turned saprolites to a depth of more than 100 feet.

Although most lode gold is found in quartz veins where the gold is precipitated out of solution in the formation of a deposit. This is the primary way in which lode gold is found, but there are also lode deposits that are associated with pyrite in this case the gold is either dissolved into the pyrite as an impurity, or forms as thin films between the crystal faces. In the same way gold was also found as impurities with over massive sulfide deposits where they are being mined for other metals gold was often a byproduct.

The stone of the Southern gold belt ranges from Slate to gneiss with the quartz veins, we following the grain of the rock although the few cases it will deviate from the grain by a few degrees cutting across the layers of strata. In many cases gold found fault zones where gold and quartz are often found in veins in the fracture zones.