This Aug 17, 2009 photo provided by Terry Ledford shows the Carolina Emperor emerald prior to cutting, with a U.S. 25-cent coin in the foreground. Gem experts say an emerald yielded at a North ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Alexander County, N.C., community famed for its emeralds has yielded a 64-carat gem that experts say is North America's largest cut emerald.

RALEIGH, N.C. – An emerald so large it's being compared with the crown jewels of Russian empress Catherine the Great was pulled from a pit near corn rows at a North Carolina farm.

It’s a way to learn about North Carolina’s mining past while taking an adventure inside the Bon Ami Mine at night, if you dare. The mine is located in Emerald Village in Little Switzerland off ...

The mine is now part of the Emerald Village which consists of 12 mines, located in Little Switzerland just a few miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Spruce Pine and an hour away from Asheville.