The Richmond Inn	My base of operations was The Richmond Inn, a bed and breakfast located at 51 Pine Ave in Spruce Pine. The owner, Maggie Haskins, was a great host. She sent me off each morning with a great breakfast and had many suggestions on people I should meet to help in my research. She didn't even object when I spread out all the rocks I had collected on her patio. Maggie insisted that I meet Bud Phillips, owner of the Mitchell Lumber Company in Spruce Pine. She knew that Bud would be of significant help in my research of the mines. Maggie continues to be a friend. My wife and I stay with her at the Richmond Inn for a couple of weeks each year.
Bud Phillips	Bud Phillips was a large land owner and forester who had numerous mines on his properties. He took an interest in me and was helpful in my research. I met with him as often as I could. Bud introduced me to important contacts such as Lud Liner, owner of "Rock Mine Tours" and Ed Silver, co-owner of the Sink Hole Mine,. In addition, he provided me with details about numerous mines such as his gold mine and the McBee Mica Mine. Bud passed away on March 1st, 2014. To learn more details about Bud's life check out  my Obituary of Bud Phillips
Ed Silver	Bud Phillips made a call to Ed Silver, co-owner of the Sinkhole Mica Mine, that resulted in many years of cooperation with my research, access to the mine for Bo's Mine Tours, and my Native American Mica Mining Project. He not only was helpful in supporting Bo's Mine Tours but we also spent many hours talking about the Silver Family history in the vicinity of Bandana and the town of KONA from the late 18th Century to the present. Note KONA: Potassium Oxygen, Sodium

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2008

View of Black Mountains and Mt Celo from our cabin porch deck

Our cabin was a rebuild from a mobile home.

Me on the left with Chris Wyatt Chris helped me with cabin landscape maintenance as well as with Bo's Mine Tours

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2009 and 2010

Don Wyatt lives on Pine Avenue in Spruce Pine not far from the Richmond Inn. Don is representative of the typical mountain family; hardworking and never retiring. In the picture on the left, Don is with Lud Leiner during a visit to the Goog Rock Mine. I was introduced to Lud by Bud Phillips. Lud has several mines on his property. The Martin Feldspar Mine features a beautiful trail along the bank of the Toe River. Lud established a mine tour business called Rock Mine Tours ad asked me to be one of his tour guides.

The Goog Rock Feldspar Mine Lud Leiner had a key to the Goog Rock Mine gate.  We visited the mine in 2010.  Don Wyatt went along. He had an uncle who had worked the mine. The mine was located on the Toe River adjacent to Lud's property. The trail to the mine was challenging. The trail was mostly along on a contour along the steep slope to the river. The last hundred yards or so was up the slope to the mine. You knew when you were close to the mine because there was a cool breeze coming from the mine. We spent some time collecting samples from the mine tailings. Lud and I basically stayed in one location on the tailings while Don moved easily around the steep slope bringing samples to us. The sample to the left features large garnet crystals in very high quality feldspar.

The Martin Feldspar Mine Updated May 16th, 2023

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2011 to 2015 (Bo's Mine Tours)

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2016

Bo's Mine Tours Jacksonville, Florida

I receive emails occasionally  from people requesting information about a mine they have discovered on their property. I do my best in doing some research and give them whatever information I can. I enjoy doing this research as it adds to my knowledge of mines in Yancey, Mitchell, and Avery counties and the minerals found at the various mines.

Are there any other opportunities for tours to collect rocks and minerals?
The following facilities make mine dump collecting available to the general public. The prices quoted here may have changed since 2020.

Gem Mountain- Gem Mountain is a very popular tourist oriented facility which operates a sluice mine. retail store, and mine tours.  Gem Mountain's address is 13780 NC Route 226N, Spruce Pine, North Carolina 28777 (take the Rout 226/NC Mineral Museum exit off the Blue Ridge Parkway) phone number is:
(828) 765- 6130. General website is: http://gemmountain.com

Gem Mountain offers group tours to two mines, the Brushy Creek Aquamarine Mine and the Hoot Owl Mine

webbsite: http://gemmountain.com/gem-mining/mine-trips/

These are both real mines. I have taken the Brushy Creek Aquamarine Tour and have collected at the Hoot Owl Feldspar Mine.   Both mines are genuine mine sites and involve moderate physical exercise in an actual mine location.

Emerald Village- Emerald Village is a large tourist complex consisting of three large feldspar mines.
The Bob Ami Mine has a self guided tour, sluice collecting, museums, retail store, and a collecting opportunity. Open every day from March 24th through October 31st. (Closed November through March).  There are also night tours of the Bon Ami Mine on selected dates featuring fluorescent light displays of the opal surface coating if exposed cave mine surfaces. See websites below for more details.Emerald Village also offers an opportunity to collect minerals from the McKinney/Bon Ami Mine dumps. The fee is $20/adults and $10/children under 10. You can either use your own tools or rent them from Emerald Village. See the website below for more details.

Emerald Village's address is:
331 McKinney Mine Road, Spruce Pine, NC 28777; Phone Number is (828) 765-6463. Email: info@emeraldvillage.com

General website: http://www.emeraldvillage.com
Bon Ami Mine Tour/Museum Mine Tour website: http://www.emeraldvillage.com/mines-activities/north-carolina-mining-museum/
Black Light Tours website: http://www.emeraldvillage.com/black-light-tour/
McKinney/Bon Ami Mine dump collecting website: http://www.emeraldvillage.com/mining-activities/mineral-collecting/

Emerald Village offers numerous opportunities. I strongly recommend taking the Bon Ami Feldspar Mine self guided tour as the first step in your mining experience. This tour offers an opportunity to learn about the history of feldspar mining in the Spruce Pine Mining District, a chance to see mineral samples from various area mines, and then a walk through the mine opening cave looking at mining equipment and viewing the fluorescent opal surface coating of the mine minerals.  I also recommend doing the collecting activity available at Emerald Village.  It is less expensive than the tours at Gem Mountain and you will be collecting from the actual minerals mined (no salting). It is also very convenient as it across the street from the Bon Ami Tour site.  I suggest you bring one heavy duty 5gal bucket per person (Home Depot/Lowes/Ace) and invest in one 3 lb mason hammer per adult and a smaller rock hammer for children (See more details below)

My recommendation for a day long mining experience is:

1. Invest in a good field guide of rocks and minerals. I suggest Walter Schumann's "Rocks, Minerals & Gemstones" ISBN 0-395-51137-2

2. Start between 9:00-10:00 with the Bon Ami Tour at Emerald Village (allow about an hour there).  Spend some time looking at the minerals in the mineral/video room to see what the Spruce Pine Mining District minerals look like. Skip buying anything at the store at this time except your tour tickets and perhaps some fish food for the large rainbow trout which inhabit the water in the mine.

3. Next, do a couple hours or so of collecting at the McKinney/Bon Ami Mine Dump.  Before collecting, check out the display of minerals that have been found at these mines that is in the same building that you pay your fees and sign your waver forms. During collecting, look for the Smoky Quartz (gray), cream colored Feldsar (Orthoclase and Microcline) and dark green Muscovite Mica. You should also be able to find some Almandine Garnet with the green mica. There is an outside chance you may find some green Felsdpar (Amazonite- "Amazon Stone"). After you do your collecting, if you decide that you want to buy a sample, buy one at the retail store where you paid you fee!

 Take a break and go to the Switzerland Cafe for a sandwich and drink (a short drive).

Address: 9440 Hwy 226A, Little Switzerland, NC 28749      Hours: 10:30 am-4:30 pm March through November   Phone: (828) 765- 5289
Website: http://www.switzerlandcafe.com

4. I recommend that you finish your day gem sluicing the the Rio Doce Gem Mine.  After lunch, get back on the parkway and head north through the Little Switzerland tunnel and get off at the North Carolina Mineral Museum exit, milepost 331. Take NC 226N past the mineral museum and you will find Rio Doce on the left.

Address: 14622 Hwy 226S, Spruce Pine, NC 28777 Phone (828) 765-2099 Hours 9am-5:00 pm most of the year (they usually close in December but check their website).  The owners, Bob and Elaine, are experienced professionals who not only produce high quality cabochons or facets at a reasonable price but also conduct classes on cabochoning and faceting in addition to their retail gem sluicing business. Rio Doce Gem Mine. 

Rio Doce has a broad choice of buckets available to suit the needs of each customer. My personal choice is the $65 bucket which is large enough for two people to share and includes several facetable gemstones and many other minerals suitable for cabochons. The $65 price includes faceting one gemstone or one cabochon.  I still maintain my relationship with the owners Bob and Elaine and Sarah who works the retail side of the store. Bob and Elaine conduct classes in faceting and making cabochons so you can be confident in the quality of their work.

6. The North Carolina Mineral Museum. After finishing your gem collecting at the Rio Doce Gem Mine, if you have time, you might want to stop by the North Carolina Mineral Museum which is just up the road to the north at the intersection of the Hwy 226 and the parkway.  It would provide an educational review of your activities with it's excellent free exhibits. Address: 79 Parkway Maintenance Rd, Spruce Pine, NC 28777   Phone: (828) 765-2761
Hours: 9:00 am- 5:00 pm all year.

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If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me at bo_smith@bellsouth.net or text me at (904) 708-9186