| Frank C. Perham |
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| Our Pegmatite Godfather - This is Frank Perham . . . . . . need we explain more? Okay, we will! If someone finds a major pocket in a pegmatite in Maine, somehow Frank is psychically connected and appears out of no where. Whether he is telepathic or in touch with the Gods, he will show up. This gift has enabled Frank to be present at many of the important mineral finds of the last 40 years. Here he is surprising the miner who is also in this pocket. |  ©Ray Sprague, 2004 |
| Mostly seen with his head in holes, this is how many people get to know Frank. There is nothing he loves better then being in this position and has done this so many times in his life, he has become an expert in tight places. Some say it is his better side anyway! |  ©Gary Freeman, 2004 |
 ©Gary Freeman, 2004 |  ©Ray Sprague, 2004 | |
| Pockets are like magnetics to Frank and no matter how small, everyone is important to him. Here he is at the Orchard Pit, Buckfield, Maine. | Here he is at the Tamminen Quarry, Greenwood, Maine, with pocket mud all over himself. | |
 ©Ray Sprague, 2004 | Frank loves mining equipment and making it work - no matter how old it is. His particular favorites are equipment you can sit-down-in and the riding type. | |
 | He has a habit of naming every piece of mining equipment he has ever owned and will fondly tell you about their abilities and reason for the names. We won't explain this one! | |
| Return to Faculty | ©Ray Sprague, 2004 | |
 ©Ray Sprague, 2004 | On the other hand, there is one piece of equipment he'll find every excuse not to ride. He is forever "teaching" others how to drill by the hands on method! He is often heard to say to his students, "You don't quite have the hang of it yet, why don't you practice a little more - how about a six foot hole over here!" |
 ©Al Falster, 2004 | |
| The Workshop at the Harvard Quarry, Greenwood, Maine, 2004. One of the many pegmatite locations Frank has mined over the years. |
| Frank's Quick History On a serious note, Frank has a degree in Geology and although he never made a full time career with his education, he has used it all of his life, especially his passion for pegmatites in Maine. He has mined many of the known locations over the years and created many new ones. Either on his own or being hired for his expertise by those who were mining, Frank has been involved with pegmatites all of his life. No one alive has come close to his involvement with the mining community and major finds within his life time. We often think of him making a living by other means, so he can do what he loves - mining pegmatites. Below are just a few of the specimens Frank has collected over the decades. These are just a small sample of his finds. | |||
| One of Frank's finds at the Waisanen Quarry, Greenwood, Maine. Smoky Quartz, 1965. |  ©Ray Sprague, 2004 | ||
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| Also from the Waisanen Quarry, Greenwood, Maine. Hydroxyl-Herderite Crystals, 1965. |  ©Ray Sprague, 2004 | ||
| From the Harvard Quarry, Greenwood, Maine. Fluor-Apatite Crystals, 2002. |  ©Ray Sprague, 2004 | ||
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| Perhamite Named for Frank C. Perham in 1979 A Calcium Alumino Silico Phosphate mineral. This specimen is a record size from the Emmons Quarry, Greenwood, Maine and is in the museum at Perham's of West Paris. 9 mm diameter spheres |  ©Ray Sprague, 2004 | ||
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