Barton Garnet Mine

USA / New York / Warrensburg /
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Largest industrial garnet mining operation in the world. Red garnet was mined here for abrasive purposes, although gem quality are found. Guided tours may still be possible
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   43°40'58"N   74°3'32"W

Comments

  • Visited here as a teen, 40-45 years ago. Garnets are like plums in a pudding,from an inch or two to two feet and more across. The body of rock they sit in appeared to be a dike a hundred beet and more across slicing vertically through Gore Mountain. The garnet is more fragile then the surrounding or matrix rock so the miners only need to break the rock masses a little and the granular garnet falls out in roughly cubical fragments. It can be sieved and sold as is for abrasives. Careful picking through the larger fragments can get you gem quality pieces a few carats in size.
This article was last modified 11 years ago