Page 30 - SparHawk Maine Tourmaline

Watermelon slice
Maine gems from the Crescent of Gems
Maine Has Been Blessed With The Crescent of Gems
Maine’s Crescent of Gems wraps around Portland, It starts in a nar- row strip of land at the coast in Phippsburgh and Georgetown. It ex- tends through Brunswick and Bowdoinham, Topsham, Auburn, Poland, into the western mountains, Hebron, Buckfield, South Paris, Norway, Bridgton, Sweden, Bethel, ending in Stowe, Stoneham and the White Mountains on the Maine-New Hampshire border. Within this crescent, some of the world’s finest tourmaline have been found, as well as gem aquamarine, golden beryl, morganite, garnet, smokey quartz, and amethyst.
As we approach the 200th anniversary of the discovery of tourmaline in Maine many in Maine and New England are still unaware of the sig- nificance and importance of the treasure trove of gems mined here. This map provides an excellent way to think about the gem mines of Maine, As you drive deeper into Maine beyond Portland at Brunswick and Top- sham you enter the Crescent of Gems. In Bowdoinham I-295 carries you over a garnet mine buried beneath the northbound lane. Traveling up In- terstate 95 at the Auburn exit you are again entering the Crescent of Gems and are within a few miles of the new SparHawk Mint Green Teal tour- maline find. Gems are everywhere in the crescent. It has been estimated that many billions of dollars worth of gems lie waiting to be found in Maine’s Crescent of Gems.
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