Mt Belvidere Quarries (Vermont Asbestos Group mine; VAG mine; Ruberoid Asbestos mine; Eden Mills quarries), Lowell & Eden, Orleans & Lamoille Cos., Vermont, USA

Asbestos was first discovered on Belvidere Mountain before 1823 (in Lowell, formerly Kellyvale). In 1899, a prospect was developed at the east base of the mountain which was later mined by the Lowell Lumber & Asbestos Company. Another company, New England Asbestos Mining and Milling, began mining the southwest side in 1902.

The excavations for this asbestos deposit are virtually continuous and overlapping. Many collectors maintain a distinction without a difference as to the names of particular pits. Although there are historical references to particular sub-locations such as the C-area, etc., specimens from these locations have been distributed without specific labels to identify which pit or exact spot they have come from. The largest two levels are at the north end of the excavations the Lowell quarry and, consequently, which have produced most of the specimens, and are largely in Lowell, but exceptional specimens have also been found in Eden on the southern end of the quarry area (T-area). (Have fun figuring out how to label specimens from this area!)

References:
Stuart, J. (1823): Localities of Minerals. American Journal of Science and Arts v.6:249.

Robinson, Samuel (1825): A Catalogue of American Minerals, with Their Localities, p. 24.

Marsters, Vernon F. (1904). Petrography of the Amphibolite, Serpentine, and Associated Asbestos Deposits of Belvidere Mountain, Vermont. Geological Society of America Bulletin, Volume 16., pp.419-445.

Diller, J. S. (1910). The Types, Modes of Occurrence, and Important Deposits of Asbestos in the United States. USGS Bulletin 470, pp. 507-512.

Rocks & Minerals: 21: 490.

Rocks & Minerals: 22: 925.

Gosse, Ralph (1968): Notes on Rare and Unusual New England Gemstones. Rocks & Minerals 43:756

Chidester, A.H., Albee, A.L., and Cady, W.M., (1978). Petrology, structure and genesis of the asbestos-bearing ultramafic rocks of the Belvidere Mountain area in Vermont: U.S. Geologic Survey Professional Paper 1016, 95 p.

Labotka, T. C. and Albee, A. L. (1979). Serpentinization of the Belvidere Mountain ultramafic body, Vermont. The Canadian Mineralogist 17(4):831-845.

Gale, M.H., (1986). Geologic Map of the Belvidere Mountain Area, Eden and Lowell, Vermont: U.S. Geological Survey Misc. Investigations Series map I-1560.

King, Van and Cares, J., Vermont Mineral Locality Index, Rocks and Minerals, 71:324-335,337-338.

Hadden, Sue (1996): Minerals of the Quarries of Lowell-Eden, Vermont. Rocks & Minerals 71:236-246.

Van Baalen, M., Francis, C., and Mossman, B. (1999). Mineralogy, petrology and health issues at the ultramafic complex, Belvidere Mountain, Vermont, USA: in Guidebook to Field Trips in Vermont and Adjacent Regions of New Hampshire and New York: 91st Annual New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference Meeting, Burlington, Vermont.

Hollmann, Ken (2001): Epidote from the VAG Mine, Belvidere Mtn., Lowell, Vermont. Mineral News, 17, #2, 1-7. (See also v. 12, #7.)

Vermont Geological Survey website (2005): www.anr.state.vt.us/DEC/geo/industrialmins.htm

Hadden, Sue; Carlsen, Ken; Bentley, Arlene (2008): Grossular and associated minerals from the Eden Mills quarries, Vermont. Mineralogical Record, May 2008.

Levitan, Denise et al. (2009): Mineralogy of mine waste at the Vermont Asbestos Group mine, Belvidere Mountain, Vermont. American Mineralogist 94(7):1063-1066.