Mineral Mining in the Mohawk Valley, New York - Bill Stephens

The Mohawk Valley of New York is home to Herkimer Diamonds. Our speaker, Bill Stephens, knows this locale and its minerals and mining very thoroughly. His talk includes video of significant pocket reveals including Lee Leveques’ remarkable discovery of “Hercules, Medusa and the Baby.” Hecules weighs more than 28 pounds and, to date, is the undisputed largest reported skeletal, fenstered (windowed), smoky, mud-included Herkimer Diamond cluster on record. Bill also describes the related geology and detailed mapping he did at the site. Herkimer ‘diamonds” are double-terminated quartz crystals of exceptional clarity and natural facets. Bill Stephens is a licensed Professional Geologist. He is President of Stephens Environmental Consulting, Inc., a full-service environmental consulting, engineering, and surveying company serving the Mid-Atlantic Region since 1995. Bill is also the current (2024) president of the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies, Inc. and the Region IV Vice President. He also is president of the Friends of Mineralogy nationally as well as the Pennsylvania chapter. He started collecting when he was 11 years old after being inspired by a National Geographic article on gems of the eastern Appalachians. Family outings and later collecting trips in college focused on North Carolina (Hiddenite, Cowee Valley), with incidental trips to southeastern PA locations including Phoenixville, French Creek, and Cornwall. 0:00:00 Intro of Bill Stephens by MSDC member Laura Dwyer 0:02:07 Bill Stephens' presentation 1:01:11 Q&A Bill Stephens gave this talk at the September 2024 meeting of the Mineralogical Society of the District of Columbia. Check our website for your invitation to upcoming online meetings. https://www.mineralogicalsocietyofdc....