Collecting Beryllium Minerals in New Hampshire
Fri, Mar 08
|Sharon Woods Park Visitor Centre
Don Dallaire presents beryllium pegmatite mining from New Hampshire. Of all elements, beryllium is the most widespread in granitic pegmatites and forms many species. The best known of which is beryl (think aquamarine). Don is an avid field collector and has personally assembled a fine collection.
Time & Location
Mar 08, 2024, 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Sharon Woods Park Visitor Centre, 11450 Lebanon Rd, Sharonville, OH 45241, USA
About the event
Speaker: Donald Dallaire, Maine Mineral & Gem Museum in Bethel, Maine
Topic: Collecting Beryllium Minerals in New Hampshire
Beryllium is an uncommon element at 0.00019 percent of Earth’s crust. There are forty-nine elements that are more common in Earth’s crust. New England, however, has a relative abundance of beryllium minerals, of which New Hampshire has more than its fair share. Of all the rare elements, beryllium is the most widespread in granitic pegmatites.
Beryllium metal is light and strong, and its alloys are used in the aerospace, automotive, computer, defense, medical, and other modern industries. Because of its use in the defense industry, it was classified as a strategic material by the U.S. Defense Department.
The mineral Beryl is a beryllium aluminum silicate. While beryl mining in New Hampshire has rarely been economically viable, the mineral clubs of New Hampshire proposed beryl as the state mineral because it is essential for a modern economy and because there are notable occurrences in the state. Beryl was named the New Hampshire state mineral on 31 May 1985.
Beryl is the most common of all beryllium minerals, but it is not the only one found in New Hampshire; twenty-two other beryllium minerals have been identified. Besides beryl, New Hampshire has produced attractive chrysoberyl, milarite, phenakite, helvite, and bertrandite.
Donald Dallaire collected New Hampshire beryllium minerals and faceted beryl to gems.
Donald Dallaire is a member of the board of trustees of the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum in Bethel. He has been collecting minerals since 1971 and specializes in apatite and New Hampshire minerals.
When exploring New Hampshire minerals in pegmatites, you should visit the nearby Maine Mineral and Gem Museum, and perhaps collect aquamarines for yourself.
Collect a copy of the article on New Hampshire beryllium minerals authored by Don published in Rocks & Minerals for your library.
The program is fit for every age, and guests are welcome at our meetings.