Digital Alabama (/series/gold-in-alabama)
![Men Panning Gold Created / Published [between ca. 1900 and 1927]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Men-Panning-Gold-140x140.jpg)
TABLE OF CONTENTS to a handpicked collection of content gathered from a variety of sources concerning gold in Alabama.
Each article published includes valuable additional information verified by our in-house research team. Stay in the game. Find the gold. Follow this series and join us on Facebook.
Gold is still being found in Alabama, mostly in the form of lode gold mining, also called hard rock mining and placer gold found in soils and gravel.
Digital Alabama created map showing locations of gold related areas we have studied. Contains mostly historic notes.
Sketch map of the Alabama Crystalline Schists to illustrate preliminary report on the Gold Region of Alabama
Alabama mining region, rich and prolific as it is, does not monopolize all the mineral wealth of Alabama. In several of the counties of the Tennessee valley, in portions of the “cotton belt,” and also in the far south, called the “timber belt,” minerals have been found in more or less profusion.
Gold was first discovered in Alabama about the year 1830, and states that, shortly afterward, the placers and gravel washes became the seats of an active industry in the counties of Cleburne, Talladega, Randolph, Tallaposa, Coosa, Chilton, and perhaps, also of Clay. No record of these operations has been preserved; all that is now known is that large numbers of men were engaged in the work and that in some places, at least, it was found profitable.
Alabama has many former gold mines and current prospecting sites.
Great handpicked content collected from a variety of sources including online resources and historical documents. Professional research and consultation with experts brings together a wealth of information professionally edited for publication.
Gold was originally found in Alabama in the 1830’s around Chilton County, west of the Coosa River along Chestnut Creek and Blue Creek. Until WWII, the total recorded gold production reached around 50,000 troy ounces. Most of Alabama’s gold can be found in and around an area called the “Piedmont Upland” which includes the counties of Chilton, Clay, Cleburn, Coosa, Randolph, Talladega, and Tallapoosa.
This Cleburne County Alabama Gold Mines information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.