RockWoof
Check access before you go. Most sites listed here are old mines, quarries or prospects, and many are on private land or active mining claims. Get the landowner's permission, check the rules of the agency that manages any public land, and never enter mine workings. Locations are approximate.

Sketch map

Ravenels Quadrangle (Unknown)Wadmalaw (Unknown)Charleston Region Deposit (Past Producer)Charleston County Mine + 1 more nearby (Producer)(Facility) Charleston Smelter (Plant)Isle of Palms (Area 1) + 1 more nearby (Unknown)Sewee Bay Quadrangle (Unknown)
Past ProducerProducerProspectOccurrenceStatus unknown
7 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 3 site(s) with USGS coordinates outside the outline are not pinned. County outline: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary file (2023). Locations approximate.

Woof’s favorite find

Charleston Region Deposit

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 2 gem or collectible minerals (Quartz, Fluorite) and 2 of our card minerals overall. No other named site here scores as high on both counts. USGS lists it as past producer for Phosphorus-Phosphates. Minerals mentioned: Quartz, Fluorite. Approx. location 32.821, -80.109. USGS record.

Ask first: a USGS record doesn’t mean you can visit. Find out who owns the land and get permission before collecting.

Field cards: what kind of sites?

9
Unknown

Status not recorded.

1
Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

1
Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

1
Plant

A processing plant site.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

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

Minerals recorded here

Magnetite 8Ilmenite 8Zircon 7Monazite 5Rutile 4Collophane 1

Commodities

Iron 9Titanium 8Zirconium 7Thorium 5Phosphorus-Phosphates 1REE 1Chromium 1

Sites

SiteCommodityMinerals recordedStatusApprox. location
Charleston Region DepositPhosphorus-PhosphatesCollophanePast Producer32.821, -80.109
Edisto Island QuadrangleTitanium, Zirconium, IronIlmenite, Magnetite, Zircon, RutileUnknown32.533, -80.200
Isle of Palms (Area 2)Iron, Titanium, ThoriumMagnetite, Monazite, Rutile, IlmeniteUnknown32.800, -79.750
Fort Moultrie QuadrangleZirconium, Titanium, Iron, ThoriumMagnetite, Monazite, Zircon, IlmeniteUnknown32.767, -79.866
Ravenels QuadrangleIron, Zirconium, Thorium, TitaniumMagnetite, Monazite, Zircon, IlmeniteUnknown32.767, -80.233
Folly BeachIron, Zirconium, Thorium, TitaniumMagnetite, Monazite, Zircon, IlmeniteUnknown32.650, -79.916
WadmalawIron, Thorium, Zirconium, TitaniumMagnetite, Monazite, Zircon, Rutile, IlmeniteUnknown32.667, -80.166
Sewee Bay QuadrangleTitanium, Iron, ZirconiumMagnetite, Zircon, IlmeniteUnknown32.917, -79.666
Isle of Palms (Area 1)Iron, Titanium, ZirconiumMagnetite, Zircon, Rutile, IlmeniteUnknown32.800, -79.750
Charleston County MineREE—Producer32.792, -79.943
Airco AlloysIron—Unknown32.790, -79.939
(Facility) Charleston SmelterChromium—Plant32.767, -79.933

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 60 fossil collection records in Charleston County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Berkeley County · Dorchester County · Colleton County · Orangeburg County · Georgetown County

South Carolina mineral guides

Back to all South Carolina counties.

Related articles

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