Rockhounding in Middlesex County, MA: 33 USGS Mineral Sites (2026)

Check access before you go. Most sites listed here are old mines, quarries or prospects, and many are on private land or active mining claims. Get the landowner's permission, check the rules of the agency that manages any public land, and never enter mine workings. Locations are approximate.

Sketch map

Past ProducerProducerProspectOccurrenceStatus unknown

20 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 1 site(s) with USGS coordinates outside the outline are not pinned. County outline: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary file (2023). Locations approximate.

Woof’s favorite find

Dracut Ni Mine/Nickel Mine Hill

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 2 gem or collectible minerals (Gold, Silver) and 3 of our card minerals overall. No other named site here scores as high on both counts. USGS lists it as past producer for Nickel, Gold, Silver, Copper. Minerals mentioned: Gold, Copper, Silver. Approx. location 42.678, -71.247. USGS record.

Ask first: a USGS record doesn’t mean you can visit. Find out who owns the land and get permission before collecting.

Field cards: what kind of sites?

Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

Plant

A processing plant site.

Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

Occurrence

The mineral was noted here, without development.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

Copper
Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat
3 sites
Gold
Mohs 2.5–3. Soft, heavy and bright yellow; it doesn’t tarnish. Mindat
1 site
Silver
Mohs 2.5–3. Native silver tarnishes black. Mindat
1 site

Counts are sites whose USGS record mentions the mineral or commodity. Hardness from Mindat.

Minerals recorded here

Granite 7Andalusite 1

Commodities

Granite 13Iron 4Titanium 3Copper 3Graphite 3Silica 2Lead 2Metal 1Nickel 1Gold 1

Sites

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Oak Hill Andalusite Occurrence	—	Andalusite	Occurrence	42.533, -71.533
H E Fletcher Co	Granite	Granite	Past Producer	42.630, -71.414
Oakhill Granite Co Inc	Granite	Granite	Past Producer	42.636, -71.441
Le Masurier Granite Quarry Inc	Granite	Granite	Past Producer	42.641, -71.426
Guilmette Bros Granite	Granite	Granite	Past Producer	42.643, -71.426
Trimount Bituminous Prod	Granite	Granite	Past Producer	42.234, -71.474
Barretto Granite Co	Granite	Granite	Past Producer	42.196, -71.519
Simeone Stone Corp	Granite	Granite	Past Producer	42.206, -71.409
Heffron Asphalt Corp	Titanium, Metal	—	Past Producer	42.585, -71.133
Dracut Ni Mine/Nickel Mine Hill	Nickel, Gold, Silver, Copper	—	Past Producer	42.678, -71.247
Cu Prospect	Copper	—	Past Producer	42.517, -71.363
Ferro Ceramic Grinding--Wakefield	Silica	—	Plant	42.506, -71.073
Wheelock-Lovejoy--Cambridge, Ma.	Iron	—	Plant	42.367, -71.106
Syncor Prdts Co--Malden, Ma.	Silica	—	Plant	42.426, -71.067
(Facility) Cambridge Smelter Co	Lead	—	Plant	42.367, -71.106
Somerville Smelting Co.	Lead	—	Plant	42.380, -71.091
Le Masurier Quarry and Mill	Granite	—	Producer	42.641, -71.426
Industrial Serv. Centers--Cambridge	Iron	—	Plant	42.367, -71.106
Austin Hastings--Woburn, Ma.	Iron	—	Plant	42.479, -71.152
Fletcher Westford Quarry	Granite	—	Producer	42.630, -71.414
Nrc Inc--Newton, Ma.	Tantalum	—	Plant	42.348, -71.193
Forest Road Quarry	Granite	—	Past Producer	42.627, -71.418
Stackpole Fibers Co--Lowell, Ma.	Graphite	—	Plant	42.637, -71.313
Carlisle Deposit	Copper	—	Occurrence	42.510, -71.369
Hopkinton Quarry	Granite	—	Producer	42.193, -71.219
North Chelmsford Quarry	Granite	—	Producer	42.643, -71.426
Heffron Asphalt Co--Wilmington, Ma.	Titanium	—	Past Producer	42.585, -71.133
Hawkridge Bros--Ashland, Ma.	Iron	—	Plant	42.278, -71.418
Dracut Deposit	—	—	Past Producer	42.667, -71.299
Dynamet Tech--Burlington, Ma.	Titanium	—	Plant	42.510, -71.199
Fiber Matls Plant--Graniteville, Ma	Graphite	—	Plant	42.593, -71.461
Oak Hill Quarry	Granite	—	Past Producer	42.636, -71.441
Avaco Corp--Lowell, Ma.	Graphite	—	Plant	42.637, -71.313

Nearby counties

Suffolk County · Worcester County · Essex County · Plymouth County · Norfolk County

Massachusetts mineral guides

Back to all Massachusetts counties.

Is It Legal to Collect Rocks on Public Land? BLM, Forest Service and National Park Rules

How we built this page: we counted named sites in the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) for this area, left out sand, gravel, crushed stone, clay pits and unnamed sites, grouped them by Census county, and linked every site to its USGS record. We did not visit these sites, and MRDS does not tell you who owns the land or whether collecting is allowed.

Source: USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS). USGS ceased systematic updates to MRDS around 2011, so status and details may be out of date. Each site links to its USGS record.

Updated October 2026

Rockhounding in Middlesex County, Massachusetts