Summary:
A miarolitic LCT-type granitic pegmatite, highly boron-enriched, located in north-central San Diego Co., California, USA. First discovered in 1898, the Himalaya mine was one of the largest producers of gem and specimen-grade tourmaline in North America throughout much of the 20th century.
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References
Kunz, G. F. (1905a), Gems, jeweler's materials, and ornamental stones of California. California State Mining Bureau bulletin 37; pages 133-135.
Merrill, F. J. H. (1914), Geology and Mineral Resources of San Diego and Imperial Counties: Gems, Lithia Minerals. California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, Cal. California State Printing Office, December. Chapter 1, pages 61-110.
Carnahan, V. (1960), The Treasure of the Himalaya Mine. Gems & Minerals magazine, November, pages 21-25, 55-57.
Weber, F. H. (1963), Geology and mineral resources of San Diego County, California. California Division of Mines and Geology, County Report 3: pages 91-92.
Rynerson, F. J. (1967), Exploring and mining for Gems and Gold in the West. Happy Camp, California: Naturegraph Publishers, Inc., 204 pages.
Foord, E. E. (1977), Famous Mineral Localities: the Himalaya Dike System, Mesa Grande District, San Diego County, California. Mineralogical Record 8(6): 461-474.
Foord, Eugene E. and Mrose, Mary E. (1978), Rynersonite, a new mineral from San Diego County, California. American Mineralogist, Volume 63, pages 709-714.
Hochleitner, R. and Weise, C. (1987), Die Himalaya Mine bei Mesa Grande in Kalifornien. Lapis 12 (10), 11-32 (in German).
Sinkankas, J. (1988), Beryl: A Summary. Rocks & Minerals 63(01): p. 21.
Robinson, George W. & King, Vandall T. (1989), What's New in Minerals? Sixteenth Annual Rochester Academy of Science Mineralogical Symposium. Mineralogical Record, Volume 20, Number 5: p. 399.
Rocks & Minerals (1998), 168 & 178, figure 30.
Fisher, J., Foord, E. E. and Bricker, G. A. (1999), The geology, mineralogy, and history of the Himalaya mine, Mesa Grande, San Diego County, California. California Geology 52(1): 3-18.
Fisher, J. (2002), Gem and rare-element pegmatites of southern California. Mineralogical Record, Volume 33, Number 5: pages 390-396, photographs.
Ertl, A., Rossman, G.R., Hughes, J.M., London, D., Wang, Y., O’Leary, J.A., Dyar, M.D., Prowatke, S., Ludwig, T. & Tillmanns, E. (2010): Tourmaline of the elbaite-schorl series from the Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande, California, U.S.A.: A detailed investigation. Am. Mineral., 95, 24-40.
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