Teaching & Learning
- Lesson Plans
- Articles and More
- Online Courses
- Best of the Web
- Standard Course of Study
- New Teacher Support
- Field Trips: Discover NC!
- Education Reference
- Multimedia Library
For Students
About LEARN NC
LEARN NC, a program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Education,
finds the most innovative and successful practices in K–12 education and makes them available to the teachers
and students of North Carolina — and the world.
Gem panning in Mitchell County, North Carolina
Credit
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2006. Terms of use
About this image
- Format: Photograph
- Date created: July 4, 2006
- Location: Spruce Pine, North Carolina
- File: JPEG (153 KB)
- Size: 757×487
Related media
Learn more
- Find more images tagged with gem mine, gem panning, gems, Mitchell County, mountains, panning, and Spruce Pine.
- Search LEARN NC for gem mine, gem panning, gems, Mitchell County, mountains, panning, and Spruce Pine.
Need help?
- Read our support article about using the multimedia library.
- See our collection of articles on visual literacy for ideas on using photographs meaningfully in the classroom.
This image has been reduced in size to fit this page. View full-sized image
These are gems in a panning frame at a mine in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. There are stones of all different colors; fairly common finds include emeralds, sodalite, mica, sapphires, rubies, garnet, amazonite, aventurine, and a variety of quartzes, including milky, smoky, rose, amethyst, and citrine. Most mines will cut your gems for you. Gems are measured in carats, after the unusable parts that aren’t transparent have been cut away.