Rockhounding in Sumter County, SC: 8 USGS Mineral Sites (2026)

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

Past ProducerProducerProspectOccurrenceStatus unknown

6 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 1 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

Gum Swamp

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 2 gem or collectible minerals (Tourmaline, Garnet) and 3 of our card minerals overall. That ties with 2 other site(s), so we broke the tie by mine status (past producers first), then USGS record quality, then name. USGS lists it as unknown for Titanium, Thorium, Iron, Zirconium. Minerals mentioned: Tourmaline, Garnet, Magnetite. Approx. location 34.000, -80.617. 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?

Prospect

Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.

Unknown

Status not recorded.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

Tourmaline
Mohs 7–7.5. Long striated crystals, often black (schorl) or green and pink (elbaite). Mindat
3 sites
Garnet
Mohs 6.5–7.5. Usually deep red, round many-faced crystals. Mindat
3 sites
Magnetite
Mohs 5.5–6.5. Black and strongly magnetic. Mindat
3 sites

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

Minerals recorded here

Magnetite 3Monazite 3Zircon 3Rutile 3Ilmenite 3

Commodities

Iron 8Titanium 3Thorium 3Zirconium 3

Sites

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Gum Swamp	Titanium, Thorium, Iron, Zirconium	Magnetite, Monazite, Zircon, Rutile, Ilmenite	Unknown	34.000, -80.617
Horatio	Iron, Zirconium, Thorium, Titanium	Magnetite, Monazite, Zircon, Rutile, Ilmenite	Unknown	34.033, -80.567
Wateree River	Iron, Zirconium, Thorium, Titanium	Magnetite, Monazite, Zircon, Rutile, Ilmenite	Unknown	33.933, -80.600
White's Mill Prospect	Iron	—	Prospect	33.982, -80.324
Francis Moise Prospect	Iron	—	Prospect	33.985, -80.334
Victor Moise Prospect	Iron	—	Prospect	33.960, -80.506
H M Mclaurin Prospect	Iron	—	Prospect	33.920, -80.530
C G Rowland Prospect	Iron	—	Prospect	33.000, -80.000

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 8 fossil collection records in Sumter County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Richland County · Kershaw County · Fairfield County · Calhoun County · Lexington County

South Carolina mineral guides

Back to all South Carolina counties.

Is It Legal to Collect Rocks on Public Land? BLM, Forest Service and National Park Rules

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

Rockhounding in Sumter County, South Carolina