Consolidated Gold Mine

Dahlonega, GA

• Phone: 706-864-8473
• Web site: http://www.consolidatedgoldmine.com/
• Length of Vacation: Day Trip
• Cost: $18 – $1,000 (Mine Tour, Gold Panning, Gem Mining)
• Open: Open 7 days a week, call for hours
• Type of Prospecting: Gold, Gems
• Equipment: Provided
• Instruction: Website does not say
• Lodging: Nearby
• Meals: Restaurants close by

From their web site:

If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind adventure, then you are at the right place! Consolidated Gold Mines, located in beautiful Dahlonega, Georgia, is the site of the largest hard rock Gold Mine East of the Mississippi River. We are open 7 days a week, Rain or Shine for Guided Tours of the mine, Gold Panning, and Gemstone Mining.

Gold was first discovered in the Dahlonega area in 1828, twenty years before the Gold Rush to California. When it was discovered it was completely by accident – when a deer hunter, Benjamin Parks, tripped over a rock 2 ½ miles south of what is now Dahlonega. He got to looking at it and it was full of gold. Within one year’s time some 15,000 miners heard about that and rushed to find some gold for themselves. At that time there was so much gold in and around Dahlonega that it laid on top of the ground, washing off the mountainsides for centuries.

The first miners were the lucky ones, being able to pick the gold up by hand. But pretty soon all the easy gold was gone so the miners went to the streams and rivers in search of more easy gold. But all they had at the time was the gold pan. At first the gold pan worked pretty good, but after awhile it became nearly impossible to make any money with it. The gold pan then became a way of testing first to see what was there….