Maine Feldspar Quarry, East Mount Apatite District, Auburn, Androscoggin Co., Maine, USA

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Granite pegmatite. Eastern Mt. Apatite group - Oxford pegmatite field.

The Maine Feldspar Co. leased the area in 1902 which resulted in the largest commercial mining excavation at Mount Apatite. Feldspar was mined chiefly for the china and porcelain industry and was first transported to Topsham and later two miles south to their processing plant, established in 1906, at Littlefield Station.

Mining production averaged one hundred and fifty tons of spar each month. The miners, ever mindful of gem material and good specimens, initially sold minerals to John Towne of Brunswick, Maine to handle the disposition of this precious byproduct, until his death, but many local dealers distributed minerals and gem from this locality.

Edson Bastin of the USGS visited the site in August 1906 and again in October 1907. Commercial mining ceased operations in the October, 1929.
Currently owned by the City of Auburn, the Maine Feldspar Quarry is only a small part of the 325 acre “Mount Apatite Park”. Promoted as a multi-use park, it allows hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing, limited snowmobiling and mineral collecting. Although collecting has no fee and does not require special permission, the City of Auburn Parks and Recreation Department should be contacted for specific collecting rules.

Mindat Articles

Lithia Pseudomorphs at Mt. Apatite, Maine, Eastern Group by Douglas Watts

Mineral List

Albite var: Cleavelandite Almandine Annite Arsenopyrite Autunite Bertrandite Beryl var: Aquamarine var: Morganite 'Biotite' Cassiterite Columbite-(Mn) Cookeite Diadochite Dickinsonite-(KMnNa) Elbaite

Eosphorite Fluorapatite Gahnite Goethite 'Gummite' Hydroxylherderite Kaolinite Landesite Lepidolite 'Limonite' Lithiophilite Löllingite Ludlamite Magnetite 'Manganese Oxides var: Manganese Dendrites' Meta-autunite Metatorbernite

Microcline Microlite Group Mitridatite Molybdenite Montebrasite Montmorillonite Muscovite Orthoclase Pollucite Purpurite ? Pyrite Quartz var: Milky Quartz var: Rock Crystal var: Smoky Quartz Rhodochrosite Schorl

Siderite Sphalerite Spodumene Strunzite Tantalite-(Mn) Topaz Torbernite 'Tourmaline var: Rubellite' 'var: Verdelite' 'var: Watermelon Tourmaline' Triplite Uraninite 'Uvite' Zircon

65 entries listed. 50 valid minerals. 1 erroneous literature entry.

References