Natural Herkimer Diamond Quartz Crystals from New York
- Herkimer Diamond Crystal mining photographs from the TowerCrystals internet collection
Mining Herkimer Diamonds is not easy. For starters you will need plenty of time. The sedimentary fossilized Dolomite limestone that holds the Herkimer Diamonds is some of the hardest rock in America -- don't expect to start finding herkimer diamonds in 5 minutes. You might, if you decide to just break some of the loose rocks in the dump pile. But it's likely you will still be digging in two weeks time if you go for a pocket in the wall. You can get lucky and drill your chisel into a pocket that somebody missed, but this is unlikely. Removing overburden rock which contains no crystals is the only way most of the time. The rewards are usually a mixture of sweat, blood and aching muscles long before you extract any crystals. If you want to see a brief slideshow of us mining Herkimer Diamonds click on the following link.
Ace of Diamonds mine about 500 Million years ago...
Ace of Diamonds Mine, sometime in the late 1990's. A fine memory of our good friend, Bo Verostek (1957-2004).
Herkimer Diamond MiningSwing and a miss!
Herkimer Diamond Mining10 sets of steel!
Herkimer Diamond MiningWe're in!
Success!
-
Mining Herkimer Diamond Crystals
A Herkimer Diamond is a water-clear, double-terminated Quartz crystal. These very special, naturally faceted quartz crystals only come from Central New York, nestled in the Mohawk Valley. Bright and highly refractive with 18 natural facets, Herkimer Diamonds are often included with fossilized carbon sea-plant remains called anthraxollite. The Herkimer Diamonds pictured here are from the World Famous Ace of Diamonds mine, known for producing some of the most pristine Herkimer Diamond specimens.
Water clear Herkimer Diamonds Natural diamond shaped Quartz crystals. Herkimers are neither polished or faceted. They formed this way naturally. This is Where it all began...