Daytrip!! - Diamond Hill Mine

If you're interested in geology, rock hunting or gem digging then there's a great little daytrip just outside of Greenville for you to make!

Diamond Hill Mines
Location:  100 Diamond Hill Road
Antreville, SC 

About 40 miles outside of the city of Greenville in Antreville, SC is a working mine: the Diamond Hill Mine. This is the only open-to-the-public mine in SC that I know of so far, and nice pieces of smoky quartz, skeletal quartz, milky quartz, and amethyst can be found. There is also a chance of finding garnet and aquamarine here.

This is an actual mine and not one of those sluicing operations with 'salted' buckets (where they seed the dirt with stones), so what you find has been placed there by Mother Nature herself. This isn't a mine in the sense that you have to crawl in some tunnel, but is instead more like a rock quarry where there is a large pit and mounds of dirt around it called "tailings". (Tailings are areas where the dirt has been pulled directly from the pit with an excavator and dumped in areas around it without it being 'sifted' first. This allows for gems to be found in the mounds just as easily as in the pit itself.)

As you are working in red clay and dirt you are going to get dirty. And the ground is uneven and in some places hard to access for those with mobility issues. I have health issues myself and was able to do a lot, but wasn't able to climb down into the pit because of them. I would suggest that anyone who has weak ankles or has health problems to bring a walking stick and never go alone. I used my metal garden rake for a walking stick and it worked wonderfully.

There is a single portapotty on the grounds and this is all. So bring your own water, snacks (and I would suggest toilet paper just in case). There are picnic tables so a picnic lunch is a great idea as well. We greatly underestimated how much water we needed so make sure to pack enough!

Digging is $20 per adult and $10 for seniors over 65 years. Kids ages 13-17are also $10. Cash only as far as I know. Sign in is from 9am - 2pm and signed waivers must be on file before you can start digging. For more tips and rules please check out the website by clicking HERE.

Tools to bring:

• Buckets
• Shovel
• Metal rake
• Pick, chisel or pry bar
• Newspaper to wrap finds
• Box or bag to place finds

We were there for five hours and as it was our first trip we weren't quite sure what we were looking for, but we still managed to find some great pieces that we were tickled with. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to going back soon. If you're at all interested in quartz crystal hunting.... you must check this out!