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Herkimer Diamond Mining
Mining Herkimer Diamonds is not easy. For starters you will need plenty of time. The sedimentary fossilized Dolomite limestone that the Herkimer Diamonds formed in 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.
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...
Ace of Diamonds mine about 500 Million years ago...
