[Rockhounds] The purest quartz sand in the world

[EDWARD J WAGNER]

By the way, please do not repeat the negative comments made toward the areas in Western North Carolina. I've lived here, in Henderson County, 30 miles south of Asheville, for 20 years. When I arrived here, the area was advertised as the cheapest area for retirement. Consequently and right now, there has been a housing and real estate boom, making property values rise, as in $100 thousand per acre. In WNC, there are no more "backwater" areas., due to "development" and the continued influx of retirees, as well as a great number of persons willing to establish permanent businesses in the area, and musicians. Asheville, in conjunction with some prominent radio stations, as 88.70 FM Spindale, have made this area a haven for musicians of all tastes, especially those who play "Mountain Music", the compilation of the Scots-Irish traditional  ballads (think Jean Ritchie and Momma Carter} as well as recent trends in current music.  More over, Asheville and the surrounding area, down to the south Carolina State Line (50 miles to Greenville, SC) in presently going thru a building frenzy, to supply the housing needed for the incoming population. The point is, that WNC, despite the slowdown during the recession, is NOT, I repeat, NOT, in any way, shape or form, a "backwater" area. To repeat that perjorative comment is a disservice to the already growing area. Moreover, the North American Emerald Mine is only 40 miles East of  the Unimen site, and ray Mine, Crabtree Emerald Mine (still open as a fee dig site), and many more old mine dumps and abandoned mines are within the area. also, Chunky Gal Mtn, home of sapphires and rubies, is 100 miles West, as is Lake Chatugue, and even after collecting here for 20 years, the "Newbies" are directing me to new spots that I "never heard tell of", as we say in the Appalachian variety of the Queen's English. "Backwater" ? Well, yes, it used to be. Currently, it is a thriving, blooming area. And, if one wants to get dirty and acquire some WNC minerals, contact me. We can go out on some good digging for minerals, or:  come to my house! I'm relocating, and I have literraly, 100 flats of WNC minerals, gathered from the most famous dig sites in the area, many closed to collecting.
   I'm not going away, my friends and fellow collectors, and I will send you photos of what can/could ("might-could", is the regional expression) be found, or what I already found in the time I've been here. Viva Carolina! 

    On Tuesday, August 7, 2018 5:10 PM, Kreigh Tomaszewski <kreigh at gmail.com> wrote:
 

 The processor that makes your laptop or cell phone work was fabricated
using quartz from this obscure Appalachian backwater.

*https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-science-of-ultra-pure-silicon/
<https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-science-of-ultra-pure-silicon/>*
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