Minotaur

Consolidated Gold Mine, Dahlonega, Georgia.

In about 1880, hard rock was reached on what is now called the Consolidated Gold Mine Property. After several years of testing by Capt. Ingersoll, Antonio and others it was then determined what was providing the gold to the outside world. Not veins of gold but veins of quartz containing gold. Solid rock is layered by weight when still in a molten state. The heavier metals like gold and iron stayed with the heaviest rock of the area -- quartz. Most quartz veins containing gold run an average of 2-3 inches thick, if that big. The largest at around 8" thick. On the Dahlonega side of the mountain a man named Knight found an area where several extremely large veins were running together forming one giant vein. One so huge that it wasn't measured in inches but in feet -- 22ft. thick -- still today one of the largest veins of quartz discovered in the world containing gold. Soon the huge vein system was found to be going down-hill at a 45 degree angle heading deeper underground and below the water table. After a brief hiatus, mining of the Knight or "Glory Hole" vein continued when a group of northern investors bought up 7000 acres of land around the discovery site, and all the smaller mines with it, forming the Dahlonega Consolidated Gold Mining Co. in 1895. Out of business in 1906, the Consolidated has been reported to be the very first attempt at systematic, deep underground mining in the east and quickly became a legend even in its own time. Whatever the reason: price of gold ...