Maine’s Incredible Tourmaline The story of the Havey Mine

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by John Murray S ince childhood, Maine resident Forrest L. Havey has possessed an interest in mining, and this interest was cultivated because of the mining activities that were happening in the state. Since the 1800s Maine has produced large amounts of feldspar. Feldspar is a pale colored crystal, and is the most common mineral that is abundantly found near the surface of the earth. As Havey grew into a man, he would turn this boyhood passion into an occupation as a feldspar miner. With nearly ten years of experience successfully mining feldspar in the Lewiston area, Forrest L. Havey had a hunch that farmland owned by David Brown would be a good patch of land to prospect for feldspar. This farmland was near the settlement of Marston’s Corners, six miles west of Lewiston. An agreement to obtain a ten-year lease was made with landowner David Brown, and Havey immediately began searching

for feldspar. His initial efforts were dismal, and after working the land for a few months during the summer, Havey abandoned the farmland to return to his other mining operation in the Lewiston area.

For nearly five years the leased farmland was ignored by Havey as he concentrated his efforts on the other existing feldspar mine. Efforts were taken on the farmland to search for feldspar, but was stopped again after a few months of labor. A year later — in the summer of 1910 — Havey returned to the leased farmland with a dozen laborers. Over the course of the next three weeks, Forrest Havey and his group of (cont. on page 60)

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laborers dug with intent through the topsoil and into the rocks below. At last, Havey’s hunch paid off, and the miners began to find modest amounts of feldspar. Once reaching the rock base, it was common practice to use dynamite to blast through the dense layers of rock. After multiple blasts, Harvey studied the unearthed rock formations with interest. To his surprise, Havey and his crew had reached a large vein formation of pegmatic granite. Excitement brewed in the mind of Havey, because he knew that the valuable gem tourmaline was most always encased within the pegmatic granite.

Havey’s knowledge and intrigue of gem tourmaline was learned when he was a child, and he memorized the legend of how the gem was first discovered in Maine. The very first gemstone mine in the country was established in Paris more than ninety years before, be- (cont. from page 59) ing accidently discovered by two young men. While in the midst of a hiking trip, the young men came upon a large toppled tree that had been uprooted by wind, and found a bright green crystal laying on the top of the soil. The two young men were mesmerized by the beauty of the crystal, and both knew that they had indeed found something that was truly unique. Fading daylight prevented them from searching for more crystals that day, but they would later return and find many more that were scattered about by the unearthing of the large fallen tree’s root system. Neither of them had ever seen these green crystals before, and were baffled about their find. The decision was made to send a few of the crystals to Yale University, and a professor there concluded that these crystals were gem tourmaline. With the newfound knowledge of the gemstone, the young men ultimately returned to the location, and found a more substantial quantity of the gems that were encased in a nearby rock ledge. To their surprise, the colors of the additional gems varied, and some were green or red in color. The location where they found the gemstones would gradually become a major mining site called Mount Mica. Many more finds of gem tourmaline would occur over the years at this location.

As Havey studied the mass of pegmatic granite, he made the decision to blast with dynamite to crack open the granite. After the roar of the explosion and the smoke had cleared, one of the laborers climbed into the newly formed blast hole, and began clearing the debris of the broken rock. After a few minutes, the laborer abruptly stopped and let out a loud shout. Havey quickly joined the laborer inside the newly formed blast hole and was shocked by

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what he saw.

Protruding from the exposed granite were pieces of green gem tourmaline. Havey quickly began to harvest the exposed pieces of the green gem, and after digging further with a pick axe, a large pocket of multiple pieces of gem tourmaline was discovered. The find of gems that day would amount to nearly 1000 carats, which was valued at $15,000 in 1910. This was a considerable sum of money during that time, and would be worth nearly $400,000 today. Havey and his laborers celebrated with glee that evening, and all were eager to find out what the next day would bring.

The next day Havey and his crew were driven with renewed intent as they set off multiple dynamite blasts into the hillside. Three days later, not a single piece of additional gem tourmaline was discovered, though, and hopes began to

diminish. But Havey was a motivated man, and provided encouragement and assurance to his men that more gemstones were sure to be in this section of granite.

On the fourth day after the initial discovery, another large pocket of gem tourmaline was discovered. Unlike the previous green color of the previous gems, these gems varied in coloration. Some were the same green color, but others were yellow, pink and clear white. This collection was comparable to the value of the initial find, and would amount to another $15,000 day for Havey and his men.

Multiple dynamite blasts had also unearthed large amounts of feldspar, but this lesser valued mineral was now being ignored as Havey continued to search for more valuable gem tourmaline. A few days later, another segment of hillside was focused upon, and dynamite was exploded to reveal a now exposed granite ledge that was hidden underneath the hillside. The outermost segment of the ledge visually appeared to be loose, so a laborer took his pick axe, and forcibly inserted it into the top section of the ledge. As he pulled downward, the granite rock ledge protested for a moment with a loud crack, and then a large segment of the granite broke free.

Havey and his men stared in awe to the sight that lay before them. Packed inside the exposed granite was a huge mass of gemstones. Many of the larger gems were five to eight inches in length, and varied in color from green, white, purple and pink. This pocket of gem tourmaline would amount to over five pounds of gems, which amassed nearly 8000 carats. After Havey and his laborers gathered up the beautiful gems, they stared at a pile of glittering (cont. on page 62)

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gems that had a value of $120,000. In today’s value of money, that would be equivalent to 3.1 million dollars.

Havey would continue to search the property for more gem tourmaline until 1912. A wealthy man at that point, Havey ceased operations at the mine site, now known as the Havey Mine. The mine reopened briefly in 1976 under new ownership, and today the mine is active again with a new owner who is actively searching for and still finding gem tourmaline.

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