Gemstone Occurrences in Maine

An example of carving grade tourmaline from the Dunton Quarry strike in Newry Maine.
Photo by Rob Lavinsky

There are many gemstones found in the pegmatites of Oxford County in western Maine including beryl, topaz and tourmaline, Maine’s state gemstone.  This is almost enough to make you cry, one writer describes the destruction of 225,000 carets of chrysoberyl in a blast in a pegmatite near Paris, Maine, the same writer also describes twinned crystals of this mineral weighing up to 120,000 carets that have come from the same locality.

The oldest gem mine in the United States is located on Mt. Mica an LCT Class of pegmatite in Paris the same quarry is also the second oldest known deposit of elbaite in the United States after its initial discovery at the Clarks Ledge Quarry in Chesterfield, Massachusetts. Elbaite is another name for colored tourmaline.  The Mt. Mica deposit has several other firsts including the discovery of the first rose quartz in the world.

Morganite beryl another gemstone found in Maine
Photo by Gery Parent

In the fall of 1972 a monstrous tourmaline pocket was found in the Dunton Quarry of Newry on a spur of Plumbago Mountain.  This pocket is legendary in the annals of gem mining as it yielded more then $8,000,000 worth of gem and specimen quality tourmaline.  The haul was so large the discoverers had to buy an abandoned bank building in Mexico where they stored the gem grade tourmaline in the bank vault and the specimen grade in the basement.

So important are the pegmatites of western Maine that there is a weeklong event held at the Poland Mining Camps called the Maine Pegmatite Workshop every year for the past ten years. In 2011 the workshop started on May 28. Further information about the Pegmatite Workshop can be found on their webpage.

A crystal of clear topaz
Photo by Rob Lavinsky

Tourmaline isn’t the only gemstone found in Maine there are many others.  One of these was the deposits of amethyst that came from Deer Hill in Stow that is now closed to the public.  Here the amethyst came from three quarries the Deer Hill Mine, the Nevel Mine and the Intergalactic (Eastman Ledge) Mine.  The Intergalactic Mining Company is presently mining for blue aquamarine crystals.  Aquamarine is another gemstone that is often found with tourmaline in pegmatites.

Topaz is another gemstone found in Maine with the deposits of Stoneham containing the only sizable crystals in the state.  This is a stone that is often confused with clear quartz, but glistens more when struck by sunlight.  Clear and smoky quartz crystals often accompany topaz in the states many pegmatites.  Transparent smoky quartz is often called smoky topaz or Spanish topaz if it has been heated assuming a yellowish tint.

A Maine amethyst point from Deer Hill in Stow
Photo by Rob Lavinsky

Along the banks of the St. Croix River in Perry one can find agates that have weathered from the basalt flows that are also along the river.  These basalt flows also contain native copper that was observed by the author on a collecting trip to Perry in the 1960s.  Agates are hard to see unless they have been wet by water that really makes them stand out.  The deposit also contains chalcedony and jasper.

An agate like those found at Perry along the St. Croix River
Photo by Hannes Grobe

Jasper can also be found on Jasper Beach in the district of Machias that is called Starboard along the coast right below the radar station.  The beach here is a shingle beach of rhyolite with some jasper mixed with the rhyolite stones.

There have been reports of black jade coming from the river that flows through Farmington.  If this is true it is one of the few reports of jade on the east coast.  The link for the Farmington locality also contains an extensive list of Maine minerals and their localities.

Literally there are hundreds of localities in Maine where gemstones can be found the best advice is to buy a book about the many collecting localities in the state from one of the local rock shops.

A list of the Gemstones found in Pegmatites

Triphylite found in a cavity in pegmatite in Newry, Maine. This is a rare gemstone
Photo by Rob Lavinsky

The most common gemstones found in pegmatites are beryl, topaz and tourmaline according to the experts there are over 100 other minerals that are found in pegmatites that are used as gemstones. The following list is of some of the many other gemstones that are found in pegmatites. Finding all the gemstones listed here will probably keep you busy for the rest of your life.

The other gemstones found in pegmatites

Name              Color               Mineral           Abundance      Pegmatite Type

achroite            c                      tourmaline        rare                  LCT

albite                g                      feldspar            common           NYF & LCT

amazonite         g                      feldspar            common           NYF > LCT    

amblygonite      y – c                amblygonite      rare                  LCT

aquamarine       b-g                  beryl                 common           LCT

beryllonite         c, pl & y         beryllonite         very rare           LCT

brazilianite        y-g                  brazilianite         very rare           LCT

chrysoberyl       g – y               chrysoberyl        very rare           LCT

danburite          c, y                  danburite            rare                  LCT

elbaite              c, p, g, b           tourmaline         common           LCT

euclase             b – g                euclase               very rare           LCT

fluoapatite         b, p, pur, g      apatite                common           NYF < LCT

goshenite          c                      beryl                  common           NYF < LCT    

hambergite        c, pl, y             hambergite        very rare           NYF & LCT

heliodor            y                      beryl                  rare                  NYF & LCT

hiddenite           g – y                 spodumene       very rare           LCT

hydroxlherderite  c, pl, y, b       hydroxyl “         very rare           LCT

indicolite           bl                     tourmaline         common           LCT

jeremejevite      b                      jeremejevite        very rare          LCT

kunzite              p                      beryl                   rare                 LCT

lazulite              b                      lazulite                rare                 LCT

lepidolite           pur – p             mica                 common           LCT

liddicoatite        p – r                 tourmaline        very rare           LCT

londonite          y – c                 londonite          very rare           LCT

manganotantalite  r                    m-tantalite        very rare           LCT

microlite           y, c-br              microlite            rare                  LCT

montebrasite     c, pl, p-y          montebrasite      rare                  LCT

morganite         p – o                beryl                  rare                  LCT

oligoclase         c                      plagioclase        common           NYF & LCT

petalite             c                      petalite               rare                  LCT

pezzottaite        r                       beryl                 very rare           LCT

phenakite          c, p, y               phenekite          rare                  LCT

pollucite            c                      Pollucite           rare                  LCT

quartz               c, p, sm, pur     quartz               common          NYF & LCT

rhodozite          y-c                   rhodozite          very rare           LCT

rossmanite        p-r, c, g            tourmaline        very rare           LCT

rubelite p-c                               tourmailine       very rare           LCT

sanidine            y, c                   feldspar           common           LCT

simpsonite        y, o                  simpsonite        very rare           LCT

spessertine        o                      garnet               common           LCT

spodumene       c-g                   spodumene       common           LCT

stibiotantalite     y                     stibiotantalite     very rare          LCT

topaz                b-c-p                topaz                 common          NYF & LCT

triplite               r, br, p             triplite               common          NYF

triphyllite           b-g                 triphyllite           rare                  LCT

verdelite           g                      tourmaline         rare                  LCT

zircon               c, p, br, g         zircon                common          NYF & LCT

Abbreviations: c, colorless; g, green; y, yellow; b, blue; p, pink; r, red; o, orange;

br, brown; pur, purple; sm, smokey; pl, pale.

After V.B. Simmons Gem bearing Pegmatites in Geology of Gem Deposits, Editor Lee A. Groat, Yukon Geological Survey

This list is incomplete, but they are always finding new minerals in pegmatites and some of them are gemstones. Some of them are so rare that only one example is known. The hunt goes on!