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Special to the Daily Journal/Messenger
Pictured are Larry and Paula Bollen, standing, and Rita Orr, seated.
Yes, there is, and the Oconee Gold Prospectors (OGP) Chapter is finding some of it.
As a member of the Gold Prospectors Association of America in Temecula, Calif., OGP has been prospecting all over the surrounding area for years and has found gold in places you would never imagine.
We live in the gold belt that extends from Alabama to Virginia. Nine gold mines were located in Oconee County during the 1800s, and there is still a lot of gold to be found. The secret is how to remove it from the soil and rock that holds it.
Unless you know where and how to look for it, you will never see it. The club meets at 7 p.m. the first Monday of each month at Ryan’s Steakhouse. We invite those interested to come and join us as a guest. There is no charge. As a chapter, we don’t have any dues to pay. Should you wish to join the Gold Prospectors Association of America, those fees are $67.50 the first year and $38 the years after.
As a member, you will receive a gold pan, a cap, a logo for your car, a video on how to pan for gold and a Mining Guide to hundreds to places you can prospect in the United States for free and keep all the gold you find.
At meetings, places prospected are discussed. The group also sets up outings where members get together to go as a group for treasure hunts or prospecting.
There is a separate division of the organization called “Lost Dutchman Mining Association,” which has a higher cost to be a member, but lets its members prospect on land owned by the Lost Dutchman Association. We have one of these properties on Oconee County just south of Cherokee Lake a few miles north of Highway 11. The property consists of 121 acres with a stream running through it that has gold in it.
There are 10 other properties through the United States, some have camping facilities and other amenities available at a very low cost. Members get all the information when they join.
With the price of gold ranging between $800 and $1,000 an ounce, there is a new gold rush across the country. An ounce of gold is about the size of a silver dollar.
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August 20, 2008
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Yes there is gold here. I have found some before: also over in Pickens County too. The place up at Lake Cherokee was mined by machinery before they opened it to the "little" people to pan or sleuce, so they got most the really good stuff out first, but you can still find bits. However, some of the best places are private lands, and some people will let you look as long as you don't mess up their streams,etc...Some people that owned land in Tamassee near Cherokee Lake used to let us go there, and other just plain old people, and found some good stuff. But then way too many people started just trespassing on that property when word got out and messing up the place, so now they won't let anyone do it. And I think it still has lots of gold in that stream. We even have jewelry we hand made from this local and Pickens gold after having it melted and processed. One fellow I know has "chunks" still as he found them; he isn't interested in selling the gold, just loves to mind and find. And on another note: we also have garnets and rubys in these here hills....I have some of those too, just found in the rivers and streams running into the mountain lakes. It's wonderful to take your kids and go do this!