New Discoveries within the Herkimer Mining District
Best Website for Herkimer Diamond Information - Made Possible by Collector Donations
Every year something new is discovered within the Herkimer Mining District.
The information, and photography, on this website is copyright protected
by W. David Hoisington, Ph. D. unless another author/photographer is cited.
Welcome to the New Herkimer Diamond Story!
Return often and follow this developing story. Refresh your
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This page will be a place to see those new discoveries. The discoveries will stay on the page for the given calendar year. At the start
of each year the page will begin fresh and the previous year’s discoveries put on a separate webpage. Credit is given to the person
who discovers something new in the Herkimer Mining District, along with the right to name the feature.
The Sawtooth Termination:
On the bottom of some Herkimer
diamonds is an unusual sawtooth
termination - slide 2
Similar feature found on Herkimer
diamond like crystals from Pakistan -
shown in slide 3.
Birds Eye Spheres:
Birds eye spheres are named so (by
Kathryn S.) because sometimes the
spheres form in the shape of eye with
an eye brow. Shown in slide 1. These
unique hopper spheres occur in
several mines as inclusions and form
varied effects as inclusions (see
asterisk). The photo data indicate that
these form at the contact between
liquid hydrocarbon and quartz bearing
solutions.
An interwoven mixture of blades, rods,
arches, hydrocarbon and often fragments -
slides 5 and 6. See the crystal frost page.
Updated - 03/09/2019
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The Disc Face
The disc face is a unique feature now found in two mines. It is is associated with spherical quarts features. See photos 4 and 5. More on
this discovery will be revealed on the curved features page (Spring 2018). Slides 7 and 8.
The amber tip feature is the
development of crystal frost at the tip
of a Herkimer Diamond. slide 4 (see
crystal frost page). This feature is a
variation of the “Crystal Frost Tip”
The Amber Tip Feature
Hopper Weave Texture
The Quartz Rhombic Cast
These unique rhombic shaped inclusions are due to hydrothermal alteration (visit page) of dolomite inclusions. Slide 9. These
are fairly common. if you have a collection of Herkimer diamonds then you probably have one of these.
Thank you Shannon Haley
Wilbur for the donation of 30
samples from the Fonda
region.1/05/2019 and 3/2/2019
Check out her Facebook.
Photo Request!
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