Mineral Gathering in Maine (Part 2)

One of the unfortunate aspects of living near a good mine is not being able to harvest there. I can understand if the mine is still being worked by a company, but that is not always the case anymore. Now there are mines that are closed to collectors, because the land is owned by a private collector. This individual works in the mine in his spare time, accumulating the samples he finds in his basement. As much as I hate this, I would probably do the same thing if I had the money to do it. It’s still hard to think of all those good samples ending up in someone’s basement collecting dust. Another reason that seems to be becoming more and more common has to do with legal issues. Some mine owners close them to the public, because some idiot sued them. In my opinion, if you go to a mine and fall and hurt yourself, you have to live with it. Anyone in their right mind knows that there is some danger in walking through mines that are no longer in operation. So because people are afraid of being sued, they have closed off access to collectors. Irresponsible collection methods are another reason why some mines have been closed to the public. I once contacted a land owner for permission to collect on his land and he granted me access. That’s why it never hurts to ask, even if the mine is closed to collectors. They may be willing to consider on a case-by-case basis. The reason he closed his mine to harvesting is because some idiot thought it would be appropriate to bring a bulldozer and some dynamite. The guy really blew up in the dirt on him. That’s enough for any land owner to prohibit harvesting on his land. Fortunately, there are still mine owners who recognize the importance of collecting minerals for the public. It is a fun and exciting hobby that anyone can enjoy. They keep their mines open despite the prospect of being sued or morons showing up with dynamite. One of those owners is the Perham family.

The Perham family owns four mines located in the Greenwood and West Paris region located in Oxford County. These mines are the Harvard, Nubble, Tamminen and Waisanan mines. Before heading to any of these places, I highly recommend stopping by Perhams Jewlers and taking a look at their shop. They have all kinds of equipment for sale including rock hammers, chisels, and gold pans. Their jewelry is good, but by far the number one reason to see them is their mineral display. They have samples there that have been collected over the years in their mines. They have a monster sample of smoky quartz, beryl, and tourmaline in there. One could spend a good hour just looking at these samples. I don’t think any of them are for sale, and if they were, I know I couldn’t afford one.

The Harvard quarry is the best in my opinion, followed by the Tamminen quarry and Waisanan. If memory serves, Nubble Quarry has less to offer. I didn’t spend much time here as all I could find was biotite and muscovite mica. Harvard’s quarry was the best. I found large chunks of schroll and garnet in green orthoclase feldspar. Pockets of lepidolite can also be found here, along with large pockets of quartz. I’ve also heard of gem-quality apatite crystals found under the tallitium stack. The apatite was purple with white caps. Here you can find a good variety of minerals. The Tamminen mine contains good samples of beryl. From what I saw, there seemed to be more of a variety of minerals here. This would be a good place to use a screen to look for some quality samples of gems. I spend most of my time at these two mines. I basically lump together the Tamminen and Waisanan mines as they are so close together. The list of minerals that have been found in this area are:

Clevelandite, almandine garnet, beryl, biotite, muscovite, quartz, lepidolite, montmorillonite, spodumene, topaz, vesuvianite, tourmaline, and zircon.

These are the best known and most popular minerals. A large number of other, less common minerals can also be found here. I have only found tourmaline, garnet, lepidolite, quartz, muscovite and biotite, in abundance. Black tourmaline and garnet are the most common at the Harvard mine. The Tamminan and Waisanan quarries seem to offer more variety. I have only heard of the gem quality apatite found on the Harvard site. The book I have doesn’t list apatite either, it lists fluorapatite. Any harvesting in the Harvard Mine must be done with care, especially when climbing the tallice pile below. There are large chunks of clevelandite here that can be extremely sharp. I cut myself pretty good and didn’t even realize it until I saw the blood dripping onto the rocks. All of these mines are easy to locate, but if you get lost, just stop at Perham’s Jewelers, where they have maps.

Driving from the junction of Routes 117 and 118 in Norway, head west on Route 118 for 0.95 miles. Turn right on Greenwood Road and drive northwest 5.3 miles. Turn right onto Richardson Hollow road and continue 0.4 miles to the parking area located on the right hand side of the road. The path to the quarry is across the street from the parking area. (Maine Mineral Localities 3rd EDT. by WB Thompson, DL Joyner, RG Woodman, VT King).

Anyone heading to the geology department at the University of Maine in Farmington can see some samples collected in this region by the geology club. They have a veritable collection of fine minerals to view as well.

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