The
attention of the writer was called to the discovery on the Turner place
by Mr. George L. English, of Shelby, to whom acknowledgment is due for
many courtesies and much information. The first visit to the prospect
was made in December, 1909, at which time no digging had been done, but
about a dozen emeralds had been found loose in the soil of a cotton
field. The locality is in a rather roughly dissected portion of the
Piedmont Plateau, such as is generally found along the larger creeks
and rivers. The elevation is about 680 feet above sea level, or about
30 feet higher than First Broad River near by. The higher ridges of the
Piedmont Plateau in the neighboring country are about 800 to 850 feet
above sea level. The crystals have come from an area of about 100 feet
by 25 feet on a hillside of moderate slope to the northwest. The slope
is toward the river on the west about 150 yards and toward a small
stream entering the river from the northeast. The field in which the
emeralds were found had been cultivated and they were exposed by
plowing and by the washing of rains.
Prospecting
up to December, 1911, consisted of the digging of several pits and
trenches, some of which had been filled up. The largest working was a
crosscut trench over 100 feet long and from 2 14 feet deep. This work
was done by Mr. Turner and Mr. English during 1909, 1910, and the first
part of 1911. The property was optioned and leased by Lovat Fraser, of
New York, and prospected during the last part of 1911 and the first
part of 1912. In the spring of 1912 it was purchased by Messrs. Fraser
and E. P. Earle, of New York, and will be extensively prospected.
Excavations have been carried deeper by Mr. Fraser than when last
examined by the writer. Promising finds of emeralds have been made at
each working, but these discoveries have been followed by periods of
uncertainty as to the continuity of the vein.
The
crystals found loose in the cotton field had a fine dark-green color,
but were somewhat checked and flawed, and some contained silky internal
markings. The largest of these emeralds and the best specimen so far
found measured about 1 inch by three-fourths of an inch by half an
inch. It was about half of a crystal split parallel with the length.
This piece has been cut into about 20 gems, the largest of which is a
faceted stone weighing about 3 carats. This stone has been described as
having an excellent deep-green color and as being particularly
beautiful at night. It has almost no visible flaws but is slightly
foggy in strong daylight. The other gems cut from this crystal are of
similar quality, but some contain more flaws. The otner stones found on
the surface ranged down to less than a carat in weight in the rough and
most of them were deep green. Some were nearly whole crystals and
others were fragments of crystals. All were rather strongly etched and
striated. Very pretty gems have, been cut from smaller fragments of
crystals found on the surface. Some of these were sold at rather low
prices before their true value was realized and the proceeds were
devoted to prospecting. These gems brought $10 to $30 per carat. A lot
of 11 of these emeralds cut "en cabochon," weighing about 9 carats,
have been mounted in a small necklace and would bring several hundred
dollars at retail prices.
Gems
cut from emeralds removed from the vein have also proved of good
quality but are probably not quite so deep in color as those
