I just got home from a vacation in Maine, where I learned that mineral mining is huge. It’s one of only two places in the US where tourmaline is mined. The other is southern California. With that being said, I sort of went a little crazy at the local rock shops... Not all of these were mined in Maine, but the quartz, amethyst, beryl, and tourmaline specimen definitely were.
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| Amethyst Druzy, Maine Tourmaline, Boulder Opal, Maine Blue Beryl (Aquamarine), Quartz Crystal Points, Amethyst and Citrine Crystal Points, Fluorite Octahedron Crystals, Agate Slice, and a Pyrite Sun (sometimes called a Pyrite Sand Dollar). |
Most of the crystal points will be cage set, but some of these will be placed in my curiosity cabinet. I visited just about every mineral store I came across (there were SO many), and learned about mineral mining in Maine from the shop owners. Most Maine tourmaline was mined during a couple of years in the 70's, and I believe during the early 1900's.
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| Fluorite Octahedron Crystals |
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| Fluorite under ultraviolet light displaying fluorescence |
There are many, many mountains and quarries to mine in. Some are free and some can only be accessed with a group or with permission. I found that most of the tourmaline specimens I saw in the shops were from Mt. Mica. Mica is EVERYWHERE in south west Maine, I swear. I've never seen so much of it in one place.
Mt. Apatite is free to mine in, so I took a day trip there, but I was too exhausted to really do any mining once I reached the quarries. I think if I had more energy, I would have been able to find something interesting, but I did collect quite a few chunks of quartz that might be used as photography backdrops or garden stones.
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| Chunks of Quartz from Mt. Apatite |
If you're interested in trying it for yourself, I recommend doing quite a bit of research about the different places to mine. Most people I talked to had the most success digging through the excess material dumped in quarries.
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| Munchin' Moose Enjoying his Breakfast |
And hey, I got to see this little guy too! He was much smaller than the moose I saw in Utah years ago. I'm guessing he was only a year or two.
Keep on the lookout for jewelry made from these stones in my shop:
Lithic Design. I have a 10% off coupon up right now through the 23d which is SUMMER10. There's a little place to type the code in when you view your cart on Etsy.
