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Un-named Gold Prospects Near Buzzard Mtn, Rabun Co., GA March 2025 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2025) |
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Un-named Gold Prospects Near Buzzard Mtn, Rabun Co., GA March 2025 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2025) |
| In an old mineral resource report, I found reference to some mining prospects (possibly gold) in this area. Examining LIDAR, I was quickly able to locate them. The report mentioned an adit; although three of the five spots I visited were pits or collapsed shafts, at least one other is likely a slumped tunnel. 1 - Prospect Pit / Shaft S1: |
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| First of the old gold prospects that I found. Per the old reports, these shafts / pits were considerably deeper 150 years ago. |
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| From another angle, showing a smaller pit adjacent to the old shaft. |
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| 2 - Prospect Pit / Shaft S2: |
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| Second of the gold prospect shafts. |
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| From another angle |
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| Lots of quartz / quartzite around the rims of these old shafts. |
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| 3 - Prospect Pit / Shaft S3: |
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| This prospect was more of an inclined cut than a shaft... |
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| Lots of quartzite boulders scattered about... |
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| View down from the top of the cut |
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| Waste rock pile |
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| The next two mining indications were some distance away. |
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| On my way to them, I passed this smaller prospect pit. |
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| 4 - Prospect Cut / Adit N1: |
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| The 4th prospect was the one I thought most likely to be an adit. |
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| It is slumped, but poking with my pole, the earth didn't seem very compacted. |
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| The large waste pile below the cut contains a lot more earth / rock than came out of that visible cut, so I think there's a tunnel / adit beyond the slump. |
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| 5 - Prospect Cut N2: |
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| The last of the main prospects that I came across, a long cut of about 100 feet. |
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| Waste rock pile from the trench... |
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| While looking for the prospects, I came across the remains of some old moonshine stills along a couple of the creeks: |
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| Axed barrel at the first still site |
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| Barrel and hoop bands (from wooden barrels), also at first still site. |
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| I knew that there had to be a firebox nearby... I found a dug-out area along the creek, and poking around with my hiking pole, uncovered the typical U-shaped rock fire box. It's hard to see in this image, since I only had my pole to clear off the leaves and mulch. |
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| Intertwined tree trunks |
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| In the next drainage... I found more barrels, and this small section of rock wall along the branch. I'm guessing it was part of another still. |
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| I'm not sure what this length of low rock wall was for... |