Hale-Walker prospects, Collins Hill, Portland, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, USA

I am utterly confused about this locality. I have collected at Hale Walker before, but never once seen any tourmaline, the only black crystals being columbite. Also, the perportions mentioned of the beryls there are very different from my experiences, for I have found an aqua 9in long an 1in wide, and many large, ugly beryls to 6 inches wide. Further more the beryls in the mindat pictures look nothing like the beryls I have found, which seem to match up more with pelton's quarry. The matrix itself appears different. In attempt to find epidote in quartz veins around the pegmatite, nothing was found. The description of the two quarries is accurate, it seems. Am I just in a different spot, or is the mindat info wrong?
:S
-Rowan

Perhaps a matter of timing? What is being found today may be quite different (and poorer) than what came from richer zones exploited 60 years ago - unfortunately the case with most pegmatites, which are generally of limited extent. I can show you some famous pegmatites where no trace whatsoever of any pegmatite minerals is left, just schist and granitic country rock, and a hole.

interestingly, most of my beryls are better than the ones on mindat, and the dump looked unexplored the first time I was there.
Rowan

I don't understand the point being made here, aside from the absence of Tourmaline. You say the Beryl crystals you have found are ugly and look nothing like the ones on Mindat. Well, aside from Peter's photo, the beryl pics posted by Fritz are pretty ugly. And you say the material looks like the Pelton Quarry. In that gallery, the beryl crystals, at least two of them look quite nice.


So, I'm really confused. Not to mention being confused by the many workings named Hale in that neck of the woods. I wish I had a dollar for all the minerals that are supposedly found at localities and are not there despite thorough and repeated searching.

David, most of the beryls I have found are BETTER then those on mindat at Hale walker, and the quarry I am talking about matches the description perfectly, ACCEPT MINERALOGY. I agree that it could easily be a different quarry, but if so, why is it not acknowledged, considering that some of the best beryls in my collection are from there? Accept for Pelton's, no other quarry in the area produces beryl similar to the ones I have found. I wish I could post photos, but I am currently without a camera.
-Rowan

I see why you got confused now. the "ugly beryls" I mention are large and opach, and occur distanced from the good gem aquas I find, but in the same locality.

Well Rowan just reach out to Fritz I dont think he would mind taking pics of your Beryl. And I have found some real gemmy aquas from Strickland ( dont ask), The Howe number 1 quarry and also Simspon......

don't worry, I have the same kind of story, so I won't ask8-)

Very interesting. I'd love to see photos. The only gemmy, and I mean gemmy like clear cuttable material, that I've ever seen has been in photos and in private collections. These were small specimens, the largest looked like a knobby 1 inch crystal var. Heliodor. Beautiful golden shine, water clear, and still on matrix. I've never really heard of any large gemmy crystals ever being found.

As for out in the field, I've only found 2 chards of gemmy material, one aqua and one golden, from Case Q. I've found lots and lots of beryl crystals, just not gemmy ones. Good luck ! I think the color of the beryl from these pegmatites is Class A if you find a gemmy one. The color on the specimens I've seen is outstanding.

Even those that are opaque, if desired, could be made into some jewelery or used for some art.

I dont know the references for the site but sometimes references name the mineral as occuring there without mentioning frequency. Perhaps minerals at some quarries were very limited or rare thus the beryls or whatever mineral are more likely to be found. I also agree with Alfredo's reply and also feel for those who could be confused with similar names in the area. it does get confusing! just gotta deal with it i guess :)o

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A buena hambre no hay pan duro

Sam, you would love some of these beryls I have found at "Hale Walker". They resemble some of the Tripp Mine material! fractured, but cut-able
-Rowan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2011 01:04PM by Rowan Lytle.

Rowan I agree with you 100 percent. You should see the size and color of some of the stuff I found today. I have to clean it and wash it, but I believe I may have found the gemmiest piece I have seen locally in this batch. Hit me in a private message and I will let you know where it is from.

Congrats ! I also pm'd you.

The description of Hale-Walker comes from the classic work by Cameron, et al (1954) USGS Professional Paper 255, and the collecting guidebooks referenced. I dont think there is a pegmatite in the district that does not have some schorl, though it is not prominent here. These are two very small pegmatites, I collected at them in the 1980s and bought some pieces over the years. All the good ones may have been collected out by then. If you found larger beryls than noted on the locality page, that's great, then feel free to edit the text on the locality page and on the mineral description page accordingly - it's based on collectors' observations. But be certain you were in the correct place - just south of Strickland Quarry on the edge of the power line right-of-way. Maybe you were at Pelton, which is not too far away to the EAST of Strickland and IMO produced some of the best beryls found in Connecticut. The beryls I posted on the Hale-Walker page probably are not the best ever found from there, simply representative - mindat is a database site, not a beauty contest. Connecticut gem beryl of cutting grade is impossible to find in collections because it was all cut long ago when found or by dealers when purchased. Ryerson (1972) does note the good quality of blue beryl from here.

I found one specimen of epidote crystals in quartz within one of the dumps, others come from the general area - not necessarily right near the pegs.

I dont understand the confusion over names, there are only three pegmatites in Connecticut with the name Hale in them - the Hale-Walker prospects, the old Hale Quarry (aka Andrews Quarry), and the new Hale Quarry.

Harold, if you could give me a discription of the size and depth of the dumps, I could distinguish where I was
-Rowan

Rowan:
Well, attached is the figure from Cameron et al (1954). You can see the two small prospects in the pegmatite dike that goes up the hillside from right to left and the dump at the foot of the rightmost cut.
Fritz

facing up the power lines from jobs pond road, is it on the left side of the power lines, as the mindat map indicates?
-Rowan

Yes. I supplied the coordinates for the mindat page. If you were to go there now you could easily see the southernmost green of the Quarry Ridge golf course from the prospects.

are there any other quarried pegmatites in the same area? I have seen one within the golf course that is not listed on mindat.
-Rowan

Pelton Q. is easily distinguished from Hale-Walker. The former is in the backyard of a residential home. The latter is off the power lines right of way.