Aquamarine

Description

You can watch the Aquamarine mining that takes place on Mt. Antero every year between June and October when the snow has melted away and exposed all the beautiful rocks of Chaffee County, or you can go and climb the famous 14er for yourself! Although, you can’t dig anywhere on the mountain unless you go with Brian Bumgardner or another miner.

Beryl has a hardness of 7½ – 8 and a specific gravity of 2.63 – 2.92. The name aquamarine comes from aqua (Latin for ‘water’), and marine, deriving from marina (Latin for ‘of the sea’). The first reference in English to “Aquamarina” appears in Anselmus Boetius De Boot book GEMMARUM ET LAPIDUM HISTORIA (1609, in Latin). It was later cited in “A Lapidary History or History of Precious Stones” by Thomas Nicols, Cambridge (1652), where it states that the name was used by the Italians for blue-green varieties of beryl.

Aquamarine has been found in around 600 recorded localities on Mindat worldwide with 11 in Colorado, often in pegmatites associated with Muscovite, Schorl, Albite, Quartz, Feldspar, Microcline, Fluorite, Cleavelandite, and Morganite.

While this would make for a great Beryllium display for element collectors, this will probably find its home with a Colorado rock collector or crystal collector, as this is far more valuable being from Antero than a cheaper Pakistani Aquamarine or other beryllium-bearing minerals.

The Aquamarine at Mt. Antero is some of the best in the world, and this crystal surely doesn’t disappoint! This one was unearthed and collected just last year, so it’s still young and hasn’t yet been held or seen by many, and it’s quite the pleasure to be able to share with you!