Where to find

Tourmaline in Maine: Where Maine's State Mineral Comes From

Tourmaline is Maine's official state mineral. The Maine Geological Survey says Maine colors range from black or white to red, green and blue, including "watermelon" crystals with a green rim around a pink core.

What kind of tourmaline?

Tourmaline is a group of minerals. The most common in Maine is schorl, a black, iron-bearing tourmaline. The colorful, less common one is elbaite. Crystals are long and lustrous, often with a rounded triangular cross section and fine grooves along their length. The best Maine examples come from pegmatite, and gem crystals formed in open "pockets" inside it.

Famous finds

Maine's first major tourmaline discovery was in 1820 at Mount Mica in Paris, when two boys found green crystals. In 1972, miners at the Dunton Quarry in Newry hit a pocket later called "the Big Find," which the Maine Atlas says yielded more than a ton of tourmaline in two years. Both are in Oxford County.

The Maine Geological Survey notes that pieces of pink, green, blue or watermelon tourmaline can be found in rock piles at places such as the Dunton Mine, Mt. Mica or Black Mountain (Rumford). Check who owns any quarry or rock pile and get permission before collecting.

In the USGS records

USGS data is thin on Maine gem pockets: it lists only 9 named Maine sites mentioning tourmaline. See tourmaline sites in Maine, garnet in Maine and the Maine county list.

Gear

Sources: Maine Geological Survey, "Maine's State Mineral"; Maine Atlas Project, "Maine Tourmaline"; USGS MRDS.