Doc's Rocks Gem Mine

We have been voted the #1 attraction in Blowing Rock by TripAdvisor.com!!! Thank you for all of the great comments! 

Doc's Rocks Gem Mine was recognized last year by the North Carolina Board of Education as the ONLY education based commercial gem mine in North Carolina and were classified as a special class of Geological Interpreters practicing Interpretive Methods to relay college level geology to all age groups young and old. Because of this, we are proud to officially add this statement to our company logo. We would also like to give a special thanks to all of our customers, without your support during these tough economic times, we couldn't have made this goal a reality without your support. 

How it works...

Doc's Rocks Gem Mine is a Western North Carolina based gemstone mining operation. We purchase our mine ore from local North Carolina gem mines by the ton and resell it to the general public by the shovel full. Because of this, we can't guarantee what you'll find in the ore. However, if you don't find anything of value, we'll provide an equal amount of the ore you purchased for free so you'll have another chance to find something good. Once you find your treasure, Doc can personally facet your stone and set it into the jewelry of your choice.

Doc's Rocks Gem Mine purchases our mine ore from several different local mines by the ton. It is then dumped together into one large bin and then sold to you by the Shovel full for $10.00 a scoop. There is no limit as to how many shovels of ore you can purchase and there is no guarantee as to what you can find in each scoop. However, if you don't find anything of value, Doc will give you more ore for free so you'll have a better chance to find something of value.

Our Business

We are the only education based gem mining operation in North Carolina. We use local mines and quarries to teach our customers about what minerals and gemstones comes from the Appalachian Mountains and how everything formed. You also get a N.C. gemstone mining history lesson along with the geology lesson.

We are backed by the North Carolina Board of Education and are assisted by Appalachian State University.

Who We Are

We are a locally owned and operated family owned business established in 2007.

Doc – Randy “Doc” McCoy is a retired Army Special Forces (Green Beret, 7^th SFG), Emergency Field Surgeon. Doc retired from the Army in 2002 and after 9 years of medical school decided to go back to college for geology. He attended Appalachian State University where he double majored in Geology and Recreation Management. Doc has been cutting gemstones since he was 19 years old and loves to teach this dying art to anyone who is willing to learn but especially to his young son D’Artagnan.

Trina – Doc’s wife grew up at Ft.Bragg where Doc retired. Trina quit her full time job to help Doc pursue his dream. Trina is the back bone of Doc’s Rocks handling paperwork, ordering and jewelry as well as running her full time coffee shop.

D’Artagnan – Doc’s son was born in 2004 and started cutting gemstones at 2 years old . The first stone he cut was a topaz which is a stone that gives even the professionals’ trouble.  D’Artagnan (or “Tanion” for short) is well educated in the field of geology and can perform any task required at the mine.  If we are busy, don’t be surprised to see Tanion identifying gemstones for a family or working the flume or even cutting stones.

We are a very pet friendly business and actually have a few pets of our own here at the mine.

Phoebe – our genuine rock hound pup, she is also known as ‘Trina’s shadow’.

Citrine – a golden conure (a rare Brazilian bird), he’s a major attention hog.

Beardy – a bearded dragon, he’s just happy to be in the sun and have crickets.