Swamp No. 1 Quarry, Topsham, Sagadahoc Co., Maine, USA

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Granite Pegmatite. Brunswick Field. This pegmatite has produced some of the finest uraninite crystals known, although certainly not the largest. Crystals from here are mirror-faced and are exceptionally large with some crystals nearly 6 cm in maximum dimension. While there have been famous discoveries at Chestnut Flats Quarry, Spruce Pine District, Mitchell Co., North Carolina and from Ånnerud (Ånnerød), Moss, Østfold, Norway, and many occasional discoveries, elsewhere, the abundant and superior nature of this locality's specimens places them in the first rank of uraninite crystals. The locality was mapped by Shainin (1948) (Economic Geology of Some Pegmatites in Topsham, Maine). The uraninites were discovered by Cliff Trebilcock, Jr. about 1958 when he was 13 years old and the locality was subsequently drained of water and his parents joined him in recovering a large number of very fine crystals. The Swamp No. 1 and No. 2 Quarries are excavated into the same pegmatite and a narrow roadway separates the two quarries. By far, the Swamp No. 1 has been the more productive, although essentially equal quality crystals come from both. The Swamp No. 1 Quarry was re-prospected for uraninite by Cliff Trebilcock and Don Swenson in 1996.

Mineral List

Albite var: Oligoclase Allanite-(Ce) Almandine Annite 'Biotite'

Columbite-(Fe) Goethite Hematite Ishikawaite Magnetite Microcline

Monazite-(Ce) Muscovite Nontronite Pyrite Quartz var: Smoky Quartz

Samarskite-(Y) Uraninite Zircon

21 entries listed. 17 valid minerals. 1 erroneous literature entry.

References