Elbaite from Oxford County, Maine, USA

Elbaite var. Indicolite

Plumbago Mt., Newry, Oxford Co., Maine

5.9 x .86 x .53 cm

Ex. Charles & Flora Barker Collection

Maine tourmaline holds a special place historically as the mineral that helped establish American gem mining and is tied closely to the Hamlin family and the founding of what became the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum in Bethel, which now houses much of the classic material.

In October 1972, prospectors uncovered one of the largest gem tourmaline finds in North America on Plumbago Mountain. Tunnels into the mountain were later blasted shut to secure the private property, though the area remains a legendary fixture of the New England pegmatite field.

This is a striking specimen — a doubly-terminated, elongated indicolite (blue-green elbaite-indicolite) crystal, with strong parallel striations typical of Newry material, and good gemmy transparency along much of its length.