Best Mining companys in United States

This was a great place to visit for a family activity! Very friendly and professional staff. Our tour guide Miner Gracie did an amazing job!! She was very professional and polite. She added a lot of humor during the tour which was nice. Highly recommend this place if you’re in town! Ask for Miner Gracie! She did an amazing job!! Thank you

We really enjoyed our trip to the mine! The family all felt like it was worth the price! I had expected the tour to be longer but honestly it was fantastic and we loved “panning” as well! Also I felt like the gift shop is very affordable!

Our tour guide, miner Lisa, was fantastic!! Quite the experience and I would return. LOTS of facts to learn and she had a great personality and sense of humor!!
Well worth the $ and I’d highly recommend a visit here!!

These offices are accessible only through a security gate for contractors, KUC employees, and escorted deliveries. No public access here yet.

Wow, just wow wow wow.

Thai is an experience you do not want to miss. We got there first thing on a Saturday morning. We started out by doing our gold pan experience, which comes with your mine tour ticket. There were 5 of us (4 adults and a 2.5 year old) and we all got a flake to 3 flakes of gold.

The tour was amazing! It lasted about 45 mins into a mine. I would stay don’t wear nice shoes/clothes as it was dripping a bit and had water in the mine but nothing crazy (I had white shoes and was good but my hat caught a few clay dropped). The miner team was great. She was able to answers everyone’s questions, even the kids that had some silly ones. She also had some fun little jokes and tricks to keep things fun.

They have tons of old finds from the mine when it was in working condition. You won’t regret checking this out.

If youre claustrophobic I’ll just add there really wasn’t any parts of the cave that were tight. I could put my hands out all the way by my sides and not touch the walls throughout most of the tour. They also have lights on in the cave that make it safe to get around. We had a few people in our tour that were older with knee/back issues and they were able to get up/down without it being too much - but I don’t think it would be good for walkers/wheelchairs.

Now for the mining review - the gold mining was fun, we got 1-3 flakes per person. The activity took about 15 mins but was included in our tour. We added on the $30 gem stone package - worth it!!! The bucket was about 5 gallons of sand/gems. We had a blast scooping the mix into our pan, shifting and then identifying. We got a huge back of gems including some precious stones. I got a huge chuck of blue sapphire. Luckily they have a lapidary onsite to cut your gems, Miner Mike.

Miner Mike was so knowledgeable! We was able to help us breakdown the possible sizes I would be able to get some my stone, what the color would be and proved me tons of options. And the prices to cut the stones weren’t bad at all! I’ll be getting 2 6mm stones, one set in a ring. It will take about 3 weeks to ship to me - not bad.

Overall, if you’re thinking about stopping here- do it!!! You won’t regret it.

We were visiting from South Florida this Easter weekend and really enjoyed the tour with our guide Reese. He was funny and personable. If you like museums and historical facts you'll really enjoy this experience. There is complimentary gold panning included with admission, and you can also add on searching for gems in a large sand bucket for $30 a bucket. The tour itself is really awesome, you'll go underground and hear all about the day in the life of a gold miner. Perfect for all ages.

bought some coffee from the Cubik Kiosk out front and it was the best cup of coffee I've ever had!

What a great experience for all ages! The tour was well led and the guide was knowledgable and personable. We enjoyed mining for gold as well.

My kids and I visited this mine a year and a half ago and had an awesome time! We opted for native buckets of dirt and had so much fun sluicing and discovering the gems in the dirt! We came away with amethyst, quartz, rubies, and some other really cool gems and minerals, all native to the area. My daughter found a large ruby that she had cut and set into a ring! They have lapidary services on site so they can do gemstone cutting and setting into rings, pendants, etc. This is a family run business and everyone was exceptionally nice and extremely helpful. I am headed back to TN in May and will be taking my husband here for his first gem mining experience! The abundance of friendly cats on the property is an added bonus!

What a cute small business! Isaiah helped us, and he was so friendly and helpful! We got a lot of cool gems for only $20! Would recommend!

Fun for the whole family. The mine tour was entertaining for all ages and rich in the mine’s history. When we finished the tour, the family panned for gold (bringing home our very own gold flakes), the mined for gems before visiting the gift shop.

The owners were amazing and our kids absolutely loved the gem mining experience and the local cat, Miss Kitty. They all said they wanted to come back the next day and had the “best day ever.”

Eight of us stopped in to this adorable place, and had the best time. Grandma and Isaiah provided the best customer service. When we were done, and Isaiah explained the finds. There is a port-a John and the surroundings add character to the event. I would go again and take the kids because they would love it.

We absolutely loved this cute place. Run by a small family, Isaiah was so welcoming and thoughtful. He also kept checking in on the kids to make sure they didn't need anything. He labeled and bagged all the gems they found and explained them to the kids. There were also super cute chickens running around and they were very entertaining. Kids walked away with tons of gems and lots of good memories.

Loved this place!! Grandma and Isaiah we the best! They also told us about Cataloochee StatePark. Little hard to get to. Incredible experience there too. Thank you so much for having the best mine!!!

This was awesome!!! My family and I came to Franklin for vacation and going to old cardinal gem mine was the highlight of our whole trip!!! We found so many amazing things and had an all around great time! The owners were amazing very helpful and very officiant! Isaiah is an amazing young man with a bright future ahead of him and his grandmother has done a great job raising him!!! We will be back for sure!!!! A must for anyone going to Franklin NC. Thank u old cardinal for making the highlight of our trip magical 🥰🥰🥰

I enjoyed our time at Old Cardinal Gem Mine. It's definitely a small family operation so don't expect a nice gift shop or anything. I feel we got a pretty good deal on our bucket seeing how we found multiple types of gems including one absolutely stunning amethyst. The young man even looked around and found a ruby that someone else had thrown out. (Be sure to check all your rocks) the best part was reminiscing on past trips to NC to "mine" as a child and bringing my son for his first time.
I didn't rate it 5 stars just becaise I know that there's other places with more "bells and whistles" than this.

First time here, it was so much fun! Had a great tour guide, Kennedy I think. Several people had the same idea as my family this Tuesday, including a few daycares, but it didn’t feel crowded at all. Plenty of space for everyone. Reservations weren’t needed. Plenty of parking, easy to get to.

Friendly and knowledgeable staff!
Panning for gold was fun and my family each got 1-3 pieces. We got a bucket of gems and got great finds! We all had a great time, definitely worth it!

Underground Mine Rescue and Cementation trailers and offices.

No sure how you run a company when no one can answer a phone or an email. What a joke. Wish I could give a 0 stars.

There were no reviews and I felt like being mean.