Randolph County North Carolina

MINES

Alfred Mine - had open cuts for gold, pyrite.

Hoover Hill Mine - about 17 miles southeast from High Point, on the waters of the Uwharrie River and on the west flank of the North extension of the Uwharrie Mountains. This was the principal gold producer in Randolph County and was about 12 miles west northwest of Asheboro, on the east side of the Uwharrie River. The lode deposit was discovered in 1848 and was worked for several years by lessees, a practice which inhibited its development. In 1881, the Hoover Hill Gold Mining Co., Ltd., of London, gained control of the mine, and in the following 14 years a total of $300,000 in gold was extracted. The mine was inactive from 1895 to 1914. Small-scale activity was reported in 1914 and again in 1917, after which the property was closed and remained so through 1959. Total gold production was about $350,000 (about 17,000 ounces). The deposit is in a dark-gray rhyolite and flow breccia of Paleozoic(?) age in the sequence of sedimentary and pyroclastic rocks in the slate belt. The ore bodies occur in northeastward-trending zones interlaced with quartz seams which contain free gold and a very small amount of sulfide.

Jones (Keystone) Mine - produced native gold, with pyrite.

Kinley mine - produced lode gold.

Parish Mine - produced lode gold.

SUGGESTED PROSPECTING AREAS:

Pilot Knob -area you can find gold in placers.

Uwharrie River - contains placer gold.