New Mining at Mount Mica

Fluor-Apatite & Quartz - 2003 As of the Fall of 2003, Mount Mica Quarry, Paris, Maine, has seen a new mining venture by Coromoto Minerals. The mine lay dormant for over a decade, so the first order of business was clean up, rebuilding of roads, moving equipment and supplies into the area, then pumping out the water in the mine. Success came early with this effort. Pumping out the water exposed a new section of the ledge never explored before. In this area the discharge exposed a series of pockets at the surface and you can read about this early work at Coromoto Minerals web site. Initial specimen results were limited to quartz crystals (exceptional smoky quartz crystals) and unique fluor-apatite specimens. Even though there was no tourmaline found in 2003, even at Mount Mica, you have to start somewhere. Shown at the right (image is link) is one of the smoky quartz crystals found during this early mining. Some of the deep blue fluor-apatite specimens are also unique and no one has seen the like of them in Maine.
Pocket Tourmaline & Specimens - 2004 In 2004, the mining results changed and improved dramatically. After an early mining start in the Spring, Coromoto Minerals found their first real tourmaline pocket, with its associated minerals like cleavelandite and lepidolite. The specimen at the right is one of the first found, and includes all three minerals. The Workshop was privileged to be invited to see this chamber and some of the material recovered from it in June of 2004. Fabulous specimens of all types were recovered through out the 2004 season. A few of the unique specimens from 2004 can be seen on Coromoto Minerals web site, and make sure you look at the pictures on Coromoto's Link Page. You can also see some of the best specimens from 2004 displayed at Tucson 2005 on their web site.

	Images link to details at Coromoto Minerals or other web sites.
			5 cm. height	see near bottom of page.

Mount Mica History - The Hamlin Set

Mount Mica has been mined for tourmaline since 1820, when two college students discovered the locality and tourmaline crystals its ledge. Augustus C. Hamlin, the son of one of those students, commenced his own mining operations at Mount Mica in 1869. In 1873, Hamlin wrote and published "The Tourmaline," which was a treatise on the gemstone and the account on the discovery of Mount Mica by his father. He mined here up to around 1890, then wrote "The History of Mount Mica" in 1895. This rare book detailed some of his tourmaline and mineral finds, and repeated his account of the mines discovery and history.

In both volumes, Hamlin reproduced watercolor paintings he created of some of the tourmaline crystals he found. The first colored image of tourmaline printed in the United States was in "The Tourmaline" volume. Today, original copies of these two books are difficult to find and very expensive to buy. Fortunately, they have been reproduced in great detail by Rubellite Press, allowing every enthusiast the opportunity to own a copy of these fascinating books.

Click on either book for details.

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