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DON'T GET SCAMMED!! READ THIS FULL REVIEW FOR ALL THE DETAILS. I really wanted to love this place. The fact that Cherokee Ruby & Sapphire Mine is unsalted is what brought us here—it felt like a rare opportunity to experience an honest dig and possibly find something special. And we did. I found what appeared to be a naturally formed ruby crystal: very clear, vivid red under lighting, and visibly fluorescent—something gem-quality by any measure.
Unfortunately, the excitement ended in the dark room, where we were invited to examine the stone. A staff member, Eric, took it to look more closely and never gave it back. We left empty-handed and deeply unsettled.
Eric was extremely excited about the stone, literally did a little jump and said “WOW!!!” while examining it, and then the stone disappeared while he was holding it. Before we left, he said he thought one of the other miners there “swiped it,” but there were no other miners working in the dark room at that time. Makes me wonder if this is business as usual when someone makes a good find—encourage them to hand it over in the dark room and then palm it. We trusted Eric at that point. He had been helping us with our questions and giving us great guidance all afternoon. We called the next morning to speak to Eric about the situation, but no one answered and after leaving a voicemail he didn't return our call.
I’m sharing this not out of anger, but because others should be aware. If you visit:
Keep all stones in your line of sight at all times.
Examine them in daylight if possible, before entering any enclosed spaces.Politely decline if someone offers to take the stone from you to “look closer.”
If you make a great find but want to continue mining, put the find in a safe spot in your car and lock the car. Show it to no one.
I hope this was just a misunderstanding. But it didn’t feel right, and I wouldn’t want anyone else—especially children or first-time rockhounds—to lose something they worked hard to find.
This could still be a great experience, but only if you advocate for yourself and protect your finds. I encourage the mine to put better safeguards in place.
UPDATE: It appears Eric Handte has time to reply to this review but still will not return our voicemail. Not great customer service if this truly was just a misunderstanding. I personally stand by every single thing written in my detailed review as 100% accurate....
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Update 9-30-22: We visited Cherokee Ruby Mine last week and had a great time like before. Eric and Zach are such great people. Very laid back. They have great plans for the mine in the future. I hope all goes as planned. It's nice to be back at our favorite mine. We plan on going back next year when they open for the season. Can't wait!!! Thank you Eric and Zach for bringing back one of the only UN-SALTED mines in the valley.
Update 7-18-22: The new owner Eric contacted me back in March 2022 to assure me that the mine is now under new ownership. My wife and I are planning a trip to the mine this year. I will post my experience when we get back. Based on the the latest Google reviews, we are looking forward to having a great time as we have had in the past. Finger crossed. Looking forward to meeting the new owner(s).
It really hurts me to write this review. I have been going to ONLY this mine since the Effie days (3 owners ago.... 20+ years) and my wife and I have been going here for the past 10+ years when the Montoya's owned it. Ever since the mine was sold to the current owners there has been so many "reasons" or rules to NOT mine; Inclement weather in the area.....closed (sunny less than 30 minutes later), reached our limit of miners.....closed, sorry. we decided to go on vacation....closed, we have run out of dirt....closed and one I'm so tired of hearing everywhere nowadays: "Due to increasing government restriction due to COVID"....closed. What restrictions? All the other mines in the area were open and you can watch the NC Tar Heels play at home in a packed 63,000 seat stadium. Seems more like excuses than restrictions. I even tried to contact them through email.....no response. Tried to call....no answer. We traveled hours to go mining just to see CLOSED! You never know if they will be open or not. My no brainer advise: stick to normal business hours so people can enjoy what was once a great place to find quality gems or close the mine to outside parties. Our trip's silver lining: although the mine was CLOSED (no surprise there) it gave us an opportunity to try a different mine 3 miles east of Cherokee. And we were so glad we did. The owner and employees were so welcoming and personable (which is what we had with the Montoya's). A great time was had by all and we found...
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WOW!!! This is the real ruby-searching experience!!! If you want a great, and relaxing time, Eric and Zach are great, down to Earth guys with a great mine. You get to experience the joy of picking (aka getting in that beautiful red dirt pit and shoveling and pick axing up the dirt you want to sluece (yes the kids LOVE it!!!)) the dirt YOU want to mine, you get to keep ALL the rocks if you want them (big and small!), you get to keep the quartz, the cool rocks, the big rocks for your garden at home, yet the best part though, is that you don't have someone with a UV light coming over to inspect your tray once it's cleaned and then DUMPING IT ALL on the other side of the sluece like another place we went to Sunday. Zach and Eric have this sweet UV Black Room that you get to take your cleaned rocks into and use a sweet YooperLight to find any rubies and sapphires!! This is the best mining experience!!! If you want a chance at finding real rubies, jewelry quality ones, this IS THE PLACE!!! I cannot recommend this place enough. Plan 3-4 hours for your 2 buckets, or do a dig-all-day and get here when they open and stay till dark looking for rubies!! You'll find some!! We found a beautiful 2.1 karet, a nice 1.8 karet, and some smaller pieces. These prevail in QUALITY of what we got at Sheffield's!!! The quality is real, not super cloudy, and will become family heirlooms because we are definitely having the bigger 2-3 cut and mounted. We drove alllll the way from Grand Rapids area in Michigan, just to visit this mine. The crystalcollector is right about this mine!!! Come to Cherokee Ruby & Sapphire Mine ready to get some red dirt on ya, and to find a ruby or sapphire or moonstone, and to have a really...
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