The Sheepcliff Aquamarine Mine was a granite pegmatite vein that the miners followed into the mountain on top of Little Sheepcliff Mountain in Jackson County, North Carolina. The mine was operated in the early 40's for gem grade aquamarine, and later for mica. The pegmatite consisted mainly of feldspar, mica, and quartz, with by products like, beryl, garnet, rutile, aquamarine, etc. This report is to document the last few months of collecting that took place at this once famous mine and to show the specimens we were able to salvage from the dumps before the site was closed for good. And most importantly, to preserve the history of a mine that is now gone forever.

For me, the story began in the spring of 2003. I received a call from a man named Thomas Craig, he asked me if I was the person who had written the book on NC mining locations and had included the Sheepcliff Mine. He said he had met a man at the mine who had my book named John Deney. It seemed that Mr. Craig had purchased the land that the mine was on and was planning to build a house over the site. He then invited myself and a few close friends to collect at the site while the work was taking place. This of course, was a fantastic opportunity for any rockhound! Steve Penley and I met with John D. at the mine a few days later. Once there, we employed the use of the 50,000 lb.track hoe on site to move a little dirt for us.