Tourmaline
Some of the best tourmaline specimens found anywhere in the world were found in California. One of the most famous deposits is in San Diego County. For over 100 years a number of different gem-quality tourmaline crystals have been mined from the Himalaya mine in San Diego County. The mine has over 5 miles of tunnels. It first opened in 1898 and since that time has produced about 250 thousand pounds of pink and green tourmaline crystals! This is more tourmaline than any other mine in all of North America. Many mineralogists, gemologists and mineral collectors claim that the Himalaya mine is the most important tourmaline mine in the world.
California actually has a number of important tourmaline mines. To the left is a famous “Blue Cap” tourmaline. The Blue Caps are deep pink tourmalines that are topped off by a portion that is deep blue.
Some of the best tourmaline specimens found anywhere in the world were found in California. One of the most famous deposits is in San Diego County. For over 100 years a number of different gem-quality tourmaline crystals have been mined from the Himalaya mine in San Diego County. The mine has over 5 miles of tunnels. It first opened in 1898 and since that time has produced about 250 thousand pounds of pink and green tourmaline crystals! This is more tourmaline than any other mine in all of North America. Many mineralogists, gemologists and mineral collectors claim that the Himalaya mine is the most important tourmaline mine in the world.
California actually has a number of important tourmaline mines. To the left is a famous “Blue Cap” tourmaline. The Blue Caps are deep pink tourmalines that are topped off by a portion that is deep blue.
Also pictured here is a famous specimen known as the “Postage Stamp Tourmaline.” It was featured on one of the four 10 cent mineral stamps issued by the US Post Office in 1974. (The set also included rhodochrosite, amethyst and petrified wood.) It was discovered in the Tourmaline Queen mine in 1913. The Tourmaline Queen is one of many important pegmatite mines found in Pala, San Diego County. In the center of this outstanding specimen is a single tourmaline that is deep pink with blue on the top. It is surrounded by grayish-white quartz crystals. Just below the tourmaline is light purple lepidolite and white albite. Through the years, this wonderful specimen has been owned by a number of distinguished collectors and museums.
Pink tourmaline in lavender lepidolite. Lepidolite is a mica mineral that is rich in the element lithium. Lithium gives it its delicate lavender-purple color. The lepidolite is a mass of very small flakes. Though the crystals are not gem-quality and are even full of small cracks, they are beautiful as they sit in the lepidolite matrix. The pink tourmaline is called rubellite. This specimen came from Stewart Mine, Pala District, San Diego County.
Here is a single black tourmaline crystal (called schorl) on quartz from the Little Three mine, Ramona, San Diego County.
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