Gold was first discovered in the Greenville District of South Carolina circa 1802. The first reference of gold discovered in the United States came in 1799, it was recorded in the neighboring state of North Carolina, more particularly in Cabarrus County. Then in 1801, a mine was opened at that Cabarrus County site. It wasn’t until 1829 that the first documented gold mining operations began in South Carolina.

Gold was discovered in California in 1848, leading to that State’s Gold Rush. Up until gold production peaked in California in 1852, South Carolina was still the largest gold producing State in the Union. Up until 1905, the United States was the largest recorded gold producing country in the World. While it is difficult to estimate exactly how much gold has actually been recovered in South Carolina, some believe that figure to be about two million ounces of gold from 1827 through 1999. That figure is bound to have increased significantly over the last two decades with commercial mining sites, like the currently active Haile Gold mine in Lancaster County, north of Kershaw, South Carolina.  

Gold is most often formed in igneous intrusions of silicic fluids, however, this element may also form as a result of hydrothermal flows. This is in rock usually, from the Pennsylvania Era to Pre-Cambrian deposits. When gold is discovered via this method it is referred to as a lodes deposit. Gold can be found in unconsolidated depositional environments with other minerals, these are referred to as placer deposits.

Gold is most often found in three separate geologic provinces within South Carolina, they are the Kings Mountain belt, the Charlotte belt or the Carolina slate belt. The Charlotte belt and the Carolina slate belt traverses from eastern Alabama to northern Virginia, which is where most of the gold in South Carolina is discovered. Gold in the Carolina slate belt and the Kings Mountain belt are more frequently lode deposits. The Kings Mountain belt terminates in northern South Carolina.

The Charlotte belt was formed from the collision of the North America and the Africa continental plates during the Ordovician period. This belt contains more granite and gabbroic plutons than any other belts. A volcanic island arc has even been identified created by extrusive rocks, including ash and tuffs. Erosion of those rocks created a surface in many areas of phyllites and schists.

The Carolina slate belt was formed near the surface mostly from volcanic eruptions within a sedimentary depositional environment. There were several areas where coarse-grained intrusive flows, most often creating but not limited to granites. Therefore, shales coming in contact with or nearby to these intrusive flows were altered as a result of the low-grade metamorphism into slates.

The Kings Mountain belt was created from a shearing zone, therefore, the rocks are more highly mineralized than those of the other two belts. The minerals are more stable at the surface, thus more resistant to weathering. The remnant ridges stand taller than the surrounding, eroded rocks of the Piedmont. Many of the formations within the Kings Mountain belt include metavolvanics, schists, phyllites, quartzites, granites, and marble.

FACTOID: The purity of gold is most often expressed in carats or its value in fineness with 1000 fine being the highest possible rating. Therefore, pure gold is 1000 fine or 24 carat. This is why gold bars are expected to be 999.99.