| I want to Welcome you to this Web Site about the Maine Pegmatite Workshop, 2009. We hope you will consider attending this annual event and come prepared for a week of intensive study, field trips and fun.
How This Workshop Has Evolved!
From a concept that Skip and I discussed at the Emmons Quarry in the early 1990's, to the fully functioning Workshop of today, this educational project has evolved into a 'must attend' for many people from around the world. Our educational approach has changed over the years, but with each succeeding session, we have fine tuned the curriculum and the methods of presenting it to fit the needs of the registrants who attend. We have even developed the capability of altering or expanding the curriculum when called for or requested by the group.
Our Approach!
Still our core approach to creating this Workshop is simple:
We want the registrants (you) to:
• Study the pegmatites worldwide, not just specific ones in Maine.
• Learn from the World's leading authorities!
• Have as much direct contact as possible with the faculty and other registrants.
• Be able to address their own areas of interest.
• Get information that is state-of-the-art, up to date, complete and/or a basis for further study and research.
Additionally, the Workshop must:
• Create a forum where the registrants can meet others with the same interest.
• Keep registration to a maximum of 30 people, facilitating an interactive and a personal approach.
• Make the Workshop useful to anyone, at any educational level. Beginners and experts alike attending the same Workshop, collaborating and sharing information.
• Incorporate field trips daily, that visually emphasize the classroom information!
• Be non-profit and used as a tool to further the study of and promote the interest in Pegmatites, and
• We wanted the Workshop to evolve and be interactive, fulfilling the needs and desires of the registrants!
I hope that you also like this approach to a week of educational stimulation. | Last Year!
Our Workshop in 2008 was extremely successful. Our registrants last year ranged from the beginner to the advanced, with Ph.D.s, college students, pegmatite enthusiasts, miners, mineral collectors and beginners attending. We had registrants from as far away as Russia, Australia and many distance points in between. Enthusiasm during the week kept things lively and very interesting for all. You wouldn't think that putting a Ph.D. and a beginner together would work, but it does in this setting. They each bring their own expertise to the Workshop and benefit from the experience. For some Registrants, they started off thinking the Workshop would be a good refresher course, but quickly realized they were learning new things. Others arrived at the Workshop knowing very little, but quickly added to their knowledge base and vowed to study and return next year for more!
As a Group, we did some fabulous things, learned and saw many more! The highlight of the week, as it was for the last four years, was to see the new mining taking place at Mount Mica, the richest mineralizations exposed anywhere right now, including pockets and new tourmaline specimens from there. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience for many. It appears we will also have similar experiences in 2009.
| This Year!
The Workshop for 2009 has been revised to some degree because of the economy, expenses, logistics and other factors affecting the entire week. First and foremost is that our Optional Last Weekend function has been moved to the 7 day Workshop, so that everyone can experience this day. During this full day, a blast will be performed just prior to your arrival, and everyone will have a chance at what is exposed. We have also eliminated the bus trip to New Hampshire as the expense against the rewards were not sufficient for most registrants. Instead, we hope to concentrate more on new field trip locations which offer us all new things to see. For security reasons we cannot detail these new locations.
| Our Non-Profit Intent!
The Maine Pegmatite Workshop is a totally non-profit, educational organization. The funds generated are used to bring the faculty to Maine, (plus their room, board and transportation for a week), pay for mine fees, insurance, Workshop Book, Functions and supplies for the week. Funds generated by the sale of t-shirts and other items, plus any "profits" are used to provide some support for the college students who are attending (see our section on Sponsorship if you would like to help) and to purchase needed equipment for the future. No one on the Faculty or Staff is taking a salary, honorarium or stipend. All of our time and effort is donated.
I hope you will join us for the next Maine Pegmatite Workshop in 2009. I promise you it will be the experience of a lifetime and one you will want to return to every year!
Ray Sprague |
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