Sheffield Mine is one of the oldest Ruby Mines still in operation in the Cowee Valley. This mine was once owned by Tiffany's, but for the past 60 years or so,it has been available to the public! Even though this mine has been in operation for so many years, "There's still Rubies in them thar hills! " Oh, yeah! Honkers are found on a regular basis and smaller rubies and sapphires are immensely numerous!
What makes this mine so special are its Star Rubies and Sapphires. This particular type of Ruby is only found right here in the hills of Cowee Valley and one other place Burma, India.
Mother Nature placed these gemstones in beds of clay where they have remained undisturbed for millions of years until we excavate the dirt from the hillside and shovel the gem-bearing clay into buckets from which you work. Each Native Bucket should be taking you at LEAST ONE Hour to work - if you are finished with a bucket in anything less than an hour, you probably didn't get them clean enough and we'll find them a few days after you leave!
Our gemstones appear in all sizes and shapes including the typical hexagonal form and all colors from pink to dark reddish-purple and purple. They most likely will have a rough coating of granite which has not been tumbled away in a creek, but at least one shimmering surface or corner will signal your watchful eye to "Take me home with you". A cut and polished Sheffield Ruby will often STAR and it is not only beautiful, but it's truly distinctive.
When you turn off of Leatherman Gap Road, you'll travel half a mile on a gentle mountain road to reach the mine. After parking in our spacious parking lot, you'll descend to the mining area by stairway. IMPROVED in 2010 and now with a landing complete with somplace to sit if you need to pause for a moment of two before coming all the rest of the way down.
Bathrooms
- flushing ones!
1 of 2 Picnic areas -
Will be covered with Tarp to protect you from the sun.
1 of 2 Covered Flume Lines
Over looking our beautiful pond and lilies!
A Ruby is in the Corundum Family and the only thing that sets it apart from a Sapphire is its color. It's Color is typically Red however they can be in the Purple range as well. Rubies are the second hardest mineral known to man ranking a 9 on the MOH's scale, the first hardest is of course diamond ranking a 10. It's Specific Gravity is 4.02 and it's Crystaline Structure is Hexagonal meaning that while forming it develops into a long six sided crystal.
Non-jewelry quality Rubies are used as jewel bearings in watches and as components of scientific equipment and in lasers.
Rubies that you'll find at Sheffield Mine aren't the traditional RED rubies that one usually thinks of. These here are Star Rubies, and therefore the definition of their color is a bit different. They are more of a Purple-Red color and even though the color is a bit different from what most of you would expect, make no mistake, these ARE rubies, and if they are a good quality, can be more valuable than diamonds!
Here at Sheffield Mine we have three classifications of Rubies: Squeaker, Honker, and Super Honker.
During the day we love to make a big deal out of the stones found and those who found them. So to make it a Squeaker it has to weigh in at 15 carats or larger but once it hits the 30 carat mark it becomes a Honker and after that at 100 carats we deem it a Super Honker and announce it as well as the person that found it over the the loud speakers with our special horns. If you end up bring us a Honker or Super Honker you get to join our Honker club and are awarded with a few extra goodies. Ckeck out the Honker Club page to see more.
Wear OLD Clothes! And OLD Shoes too! After all, this is not the Opera! You are going to get wet and anywhere from a little bit dirty to a lot a bit dirty! We promise that you'll have so much fun, that you won't mind a bit! And if you don't believe us just look at these folks!
Yourself!!!
and maybe a change of clothes for the ride home but other than that everything else is already here and waiting on you.
We also have food and drinks for sale in the gift shop as well as gloves and ponchos just in case the weather gets bad, and the flume lines are covered so you don't have to worry about getting drenched while having fun!!
Currently we do not accept Credit Cards, however on your way you have to pass a BP Gas Station and inside is an ATM! They also have some really good food you might want to grab for lunch!! The Gas Station is only about a 5 min drive form the mine so if you reach us first and forgot to stop by its not to far to go!
Heres a few pointers before you come but remember you still need to listen to the speech once you arrive!!
1. Poor no more than 1/4 of your native bucket into the tray at a time less is even better!!
2. make sure all the mud is gone by laying the tray in the water and squishing out the mud with your hands!
3. Here's the time consuming part your rocks need to be as clean as possible!! So gather your small rocks to the center with the tray out of the water and cup your hands around them to start scrubbing the rocks.
4. Dip the stone back in the water to rinse and repeat 3 and 4 at least a good 5 times and probably more depending on how long you scrub them each time.
5. Put your hopefuls in the tin can and you definates in the film canister and we will come by to let you know what you have if you don't already!!
Signs its a Ruby
PURPLE/PINK color, triangle ridges, six sides, weight, and if its hard enough to stratch the tray.
If it breaks or leave color behind when trying to stratch the tray you can throw it out.
YES!! This is a GENUINE Native Ruby and Sapphire Mine - the "Real McCoy" The Dirt AND the Rubies and Sapphires come from right here on our property.
- Now some "Mines" will tell you that the dirt comes from their property, but they don't tell you that the stones come from their property - they let you fill that gap in yourself and of course the innclination is to fill it in with "well I guess that the stones come form here too" - but they don't! Their stones are like our Rainbow STONES - they come from many parts of the world, but not from here! However OUR RUBIES AND SAPPHIRES ARE NATIVE TO OUR PROPERTY RIGHT HERE IN NORTH CAROLINA - COOL! Which means that when looking for the rubies and shapphires you have to be diligent and patient remember that these stones have been in the earth surrounded by dirt and other rocks for millions of years so they aren't just going to pop out at you screaming "Hey look at me don't I look pretty!!!" This process will take about 1 hour per bucket and with your admission you get to start out with 2 buckets of your choice.
Now with that said we know everyone doesn't have the patience to go through the Native buckets so we do also have the option of Salted buckets for those who want an easy find but keep in mind you will NOT find any Rubies or Sapphires in these but you will find some very cool and unique stones!!
Look like rocks don't they, but don't throw these away you might be sorry!
Each Native bucket takes about an hour to go through and you can choose to get 2 with your admission so plan on being here for at least 2 hours or longer depending on how much fun your having!! Also during the summer months we can get pretty slammed and we have been known to have a waiting list for room at the flume line. So if you don't want to hang around waiting for someone to be done for the day then make sure to get here at 10am when we open!!
The regular salted or rainbow buckets as we call them, will take about 5 to 10 mins to go through so if your planning on doing native and you have a child with you who will be doing the rainbow bucket, after the two that come with the admission you might want to consider one of the specialty buckets starting at $25 in the long run it could save you some cash and the constant pleading of "Can I have another bucket please??"
Check out all the buckets under Cost
Get them cut of course!!
We have our sister property, Emma's Place , do the cutting but we can take orders at the mine for any stone you find here including the salted ones to have them cut, polished, and set into a pendant earrings or ring setting.
Now of course the stone has to be large enough to cut and a good quality and we will be happy to help you out with chosing your best stone!!!
Or...
you can take them home and leave them just how they are and show them off to family and friends.. we love having bragging rights!!
No problem!!! If you can't walk or just need some assistance getting down to the mine we'll be happy to pick you up. Once parked then honk your horn 3 times and we will havesomeone come and get you in our red Mule. Don't worry, we don't let Yazzy drive! You can also call us on your cell phone once you're close and let us know what color and type of vehicle that you're driving and we'll try and be waiting for you when you get here...just remember sometimes its a bit hard to get away as fast as we'd like so it may take a few minutes but fear not we won't forget about you!!!! ( If we do, just beep or call again ;)
Once down here if you're in a wheel chair we have a special section of seating that is removable so that you can wheel right up to the flume and dig in... and we'll tote buckets for you too.
The Mule and its favorite rider Yazzy!!
