Tourmaline can come in many different shades and colors.
Maine has an abundance of tourmaline, a mineral crystal that mineral collectors and jewelry makers worldwide seek out. The tourmaline found in Maine is supposedly far above the quality of that found in places famous for tourmaline, such as California, Brazil, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Tourmaline is considered Maine's official state mineral.
Discovery
Tourmaline was first discovered in Maine In 1820, at Mount Mica in Paris, Maine. Its discovery is related in "The History of Mount Mica." The book relates the story of two young boys who discovered the tourmaline at Mount Mica when playing. In 1922, a quarry was established at Mount Mica, where tourmaline is still excavated. Tourmaline was the very first gemstone to be mined in the United States since colonization. Other sites containing tourmaline deposits were discovered throughout Maine, including deposits in Oxford County and the Auburn-Poland area and also in Androscoggin, Sagadahoc and Cumberland counties.
Types
Tourmaline comprises a group of several different minerals that all have a similar crystalline structure. The tourmaline found in Maine is mainly schorl, which is a black, iron-bearing tourmaline. Another type of tourmaline called elbaite, which was named after the island of Elba, Italy, is less common, but produces the colorful tourmaline varieties that Maine is renowned for. The pegmatite pockets in Maine produce most of the gem-quality tourmaline that collectors value so greatly.
Colors
Maine tourmaline comes in many colors, ranging from black to white and all the colors in between, and some are opaque and some transparent. Some are deep grass greens as well as light green, yellow green and blue green. Others are several shades of red and shades of blue. Maine tourmaline comes as colorless crystals, which are just as magnificent as the colored varieties.
Museum Collections
Some examples of Maine tourmaline that came from the original quarry at Mount Mica are housed in the Harvard University Mineralogical Museum. One of the most famous crystals of tourmaline, called the "Jolly green giant," is housed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., along with many other examples of colorful tourmaline specimens. Many other museums and private collections around the world also have examples of rare and exotic Maine tourmaline specimens.
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