The historic Thermal City Gold and Gem Mine is located in the heart of the famous North Carolina gold belt. The mine was originally opened in the mid-1800s, after the discovery of gold on what is today the Reed Gold Mine, located near Charlotte, NC. The N.C. gold rush was the first in the United States, superceding the California rush by several years.
Today, Thermal City operates on a pay-to-pan basis. Visitors are offered the opportunity to pan material that is brought straight from the gold-bearing ground on the property, for a mere five dollars a day. In the panning material color is found in almost every pan, with the gold ranging from flour gold on up to pickers, some the size of pencil erasers. Equipment is available for use, with multiple pans and screens available for use while there. There are multiple large sized tubs to pan into and ample parking, so space should not be a concern. If you are new to gold panning and need some instruction, the staff at Thermal City are extremely nice and knowledgeable, and always willing to help.
The mine also has sluice boxes and high bankers set up a little farther down the creek for rent. The material is delivered to the prospector one front end load at a time, at a price of fifty dollars a load. Once again if help is needed with the operation of these the staff is more than willing. For the serious prospector, Thermal City has two electric trommels that can be rented (it is best to call ahead as these are very popular), with material being the same cost at fifty dollars per load. For those who already own dredges, dredging is available in the creek that runs through the property for rock bottom prices.
In addition to the gold prospecting options, Thermal City also has a very nice gem mine located just off the office. Buckets of material can be purchased starting at ten dollars and up. Rubies, Garnets, Tree Agate and Quartz Crystals are just a few of the gems that you will find in your bucket.
If you don’t already own your own equipment, but want to prchase some, Thermal City is a authorized Keene equipment dealer. In their showroom they have a wide variety of pans, sluice boxes, high bankers, and all the acessories needed to get you well equipped.
Out of town visitors find the rustic cabins available for rent exceptionally nice, and very cheaply priced, and some enjoy the large campground in their personal tents and motorhomes. For lunch you don’t even have to leave the Camp. Located in the middle of the grounds is the Miners’ Diner, serving lunch daily.
It is recommended that the Thermal City website be visited on a regular basis as special events are regularly held. One of the more popular of these is the common dig. At the common dig miners run all the available equipment, and put all the gold found in a community pot that is then split evenly among the participants. Cost for this event is one hundred dollars per participant.
