"Visit a Real Gold Mine" Dahlonega Things to Do Tip by TexasDave

Gold mining is what put Dahlonega on the map and even though it's well past its hey-day gold is still being mined in these mountains.
For a fee you can take a tour of an underground mine and includes the opportunity to pan for gold. You are given a plate loaded with sand and gravel and you are taught how to sift out the impurities to get to the gold- and generally there is a small flack or two you can take as a souvenir.
Consolidated mine is the place where the 'glory hole' was discovered and then mined. Most of the time gold is found encased in a vein of quartz and most veins are the thickness of a pencil, or at the largest an inch or two. Here the vein was 22 feet thick and a couple hundred feet deep. At times half a million dollars worth of gold was mined in one shift! The tour takes about 40 minutes and is very interesting.
There is also a gift shop selling geodes and mineral samples from all over the world, and a lapidary.

Address: 185 Consolidated Gold Mine Rd.
Website: http://www.consolidatedgoldmine.com