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By Joel Frady
Until 2008, rock hounds and geologists had to leave Ashe County
to visit old-fashioned flumes to sift through
dirt in search of valuable gems and minerals. But Jefferson
residents Deborah Farmer and her father, Harry Davis, decided
to take their lifelong love of geology and create a business.
"We've always been rock hounds," said Farmer. "Even
when I was little, my father would get metal detectors and go
out looking for hidden treasure" like arrowheads or gems.
But Farmer knew that without a local attraction, families would
continue to leave the county to hit the flumes.
"We decided that it would be wonderful if we could have
something like that here in the county," she said. "There's
got to be lots of people around, we figured, that love this
hobby." Farmer noted that they are located "in the
perfect place, because some of the best gems we've ever found
were right here in the Ore Knob area.
She later said that they believed people "want to stay
in the county" and "realize that they have some great
stuff in their back yard."
Gem Valley N.C. opened to the public in May of 2008, and it
didn't take long for the public to notice.
"We had great year last year, and we're anticipating a
great year this year," said Farmer. It was so busy, in
fact, that renovations were needed for the 2009 season.
"We had to build onto the flumes this year, because there
were times last year that we had to turn down people because
we had too many people at the flumes," she laughed. "I
didn't want to ever have to do that again."
Gem Valley features a picnic area, an educational area and a
shop that features "lots of supplies" for "anyone
who is in the hobby of looking for rocks and gems," Farmer
said. But the primary attraction is the flumes.
Flume Manager Darrin Farmer said that they dig from their local
mine (which is not yet open to the public to dig) to provide
most of the material used at Gem Valley, adding garnett, aquamarine,
iron and topaz are all native to Ashe County, along with rarer
gems like emerald and ruby and even gold.
Customers receive a complimentary bucket to sift through with
the $10 admission fee, and that people can purchase larger buckets:
a $25 bucket is "approximately half a five-gallon bucket"
filled at their Ashe County mine, while a $100 bucket is a full-five
gallon bucket filled with "both native and enriched with
concentrate that we buy from other mines." He added, "if
someone pays $100, we know for certain that they will get $100
worth of stones."
The process is simple: take the raw dirt, place it in a tray
and shake it back in forth in the running water on the flume.
Darrin said that he thinks "it is important for everyone
to do just a little at a time, because if you put too much in
here it's very easy to overlook very small things."
He noted that it's best when it's sunny, because "when
the sun shines on these rocks you can see them much more clearly."
Gem Valley also cuts gems, if desired, and can immediately turn
any gems that customers find into custom jewelry. The shop also
offers pre-made jewelry.
Gem Valley N.C. is open from May to October, from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Monday, and from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m. on weekends.
To find out more, call (336) 982-5177 or click to www.gemvalleync.com.
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