![]() | Emeralds are part of North Carolina's mineral claim to fame. While rubies and sapphires are found near Franklin, about 75 miles southwest of Asheville, different gems lure residents and visitors to Alexander County, about 30 miles northeast of Hickory. The small town of Hiddenite is named for William Earl Hidden, who mined North America's first emerald and hiddenite on the Adams property in the 1880s. | ![]() Emeralds are produced where a superheated fluid carrying the element beryllium migrated through rocks that contain chromium. |
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