Where gold has been recorded in Tennessee

Found alongside

• Gold

  Mohs 2.5–3. Soft, heavy and bright yellow; it doesn’t tarnish. Mindat

  224 sites

• Mica

  Mohs 2–3. Peels into thin, flexible, shiny sheets. Mindat

  33 sites

• Copper

  Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat

  17 sites

• Silver

  Mohs 2.5–3. Native silver tarnishes black. Mindat

  16 sites

• Pyrite

  Mohs 6–6.5. Brassy “fool’s gold,” often cubic. Mindat

  13 sites

• Magnetite

  Mohs 5.5–6.5. Black and strongly magnetic. Mindat

  12 sites

Counts are sites whose USGS record mentions the mineral or commodity. Hardness from Mindat.

How we built this page: we counted named sites in the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) for this area, left out sand, gravel, crushed stone, clay pits and unnamed sites, grouped them by Census county, and linked every site to its USGS record. We did not visit these sites, and MRDS does not tell you who owns the land or whether collecting is allowed.

Source: USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS). USGS ceased systematic updates to MRDS around 2011, so status and details may be out of date. Each site links to its USGS record.

Updated October 2026