Maine Mineral and Gem Museum

Maine Mineral and Gem Museum

Maine Mineral and Gem Museum as seen from Main Street
Established	2019
Location	99 Main St, Bethel, Maine
Coordinates
Type	Geology museum
Website	mainemineralmuseum.org

The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum (MMGM) is a geology museum located in Bethel, Maine. It displays a collection of rocks, minerals, and meteorites.

The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum celebrates Earth and cultivates critical thinking through education, research and dynamic exhibits—all designed to inspire visitors about Maine's geologic history, pegmatite mining, and our planet's place in the solar system.

History

The museum was formed from the possessions within Perham's Maine Mineral Store, which was founded in 1919. Following the store's closure in 2009, Massachusetts-based philanthropists Lawrence Stifler and Mary McFadden purchased the Perham collection. The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum then opened in 2019.

Collection and research

As of 2021, the museum holds 57,781 specimens, with 37,940 of those being minerals. Notable specimens contained by the museum are:

• The largest chunk of the asteroid 4 Vesta on Earth.
• The largest displays of lunar and Martian meteorites in the world, including the largest piece of the Moon known to exist on Earth.
• Petrica quadrifaria, a fossil tree and Maine's state fossil.
• The largest known Martian meteorite, Taoudenni 002.
• The oldest known volcanic rock, Erg Chech 002.

The MMGM collection is home to more than 38,000 superlative mineral specimens, housing over 15,000 from Maine which includes more than 300 exceptional gemstones of exquisite quality. The 15,000sq ft museum has four galleries and nineteen permanent exhibits showcasing the world's most comprehensive collection of Maine minerals, as well as Earth's foremost collection of meteorites from the Moon and Mars. Additionally, the MMGM's active research laboratory supports scientific exploration of both minerals and meteorites. The MMGM houses approximately 6,000 extraterrestrial rocks (originating from the Moon, Mars, and Asteroid Belt) that are showcased in the Stifler Collection of Meteorites-a state of the art gallery that showcases the internationally renowned meteorite collection featuring extraterrestrial rocks from Mars and the asteroid belt, and holds more meteorites from the Moon than every national history museum in the world--combined.

The William "Skip" Simmons Research Laboratory

The William “Skip” Simmons Research Laboratory at MMGM is led by a world-class team of scientists and researchers from Maine and around the globe. Through the use of cutting edge technology and ground-breaking research, the lab is expanding the fields of mineralogy, petrology, pegmatology, and cosmochemisty every day.

Through collaboration with academic institutions and researchers from around the globe, MMGM’s team of researchers have co-authored and presented over 100 scientific studies in the past decade and written over 500 peer-reviewed publications throughout their career.

Maine Pegmatite Workshop

MMGM and the MP2 Research Team offer an annual opportunity to study granitic pegmatites with expert pegmatologists in the heart of western Maine at the Maine Pegmatite Workshop.

The Maine Pegmatite Workshop brings participants through a hands-on, comprehensive, and in-depth educational experience, presenting current information and theories about pegmatite paragenesis, mineralogy, and petrology. The workshop encourages open discussion and one-on-one information exchange side-by-side with some of the top pegmatologists in the world.

The Maine Pegmatite Workshop curriculum delves deeply into a broad array of pegmatite-focused topics including, but not limited to:

• Introduction to the nature of pegmatites
• Introductory concepts of igneous rock formation and mineral composition
• Overview of pegmatite mineralogy
• Pegmatites in relation to other igneous rocks
• The role of volatiles and fluxes in the crystallization of pegmatite melt
• The structural and textural variations within pegmatites
• The origin and classification of pegmatites
• Origin of Oxford Co., Maine Pegmatites - anatexis
• How to assess gem and mineralogical potential of pegmatites
• Mineral associations within maine pegmatites
• "Pockets" In pegmatites, formation and mineralogy
• Information on pegmatite topics by guest speakers

Robert F. Ritchie Lapidary Studio

In 2014, Maine Lapidary and MMGM Founding director and trustee emeritus, Robert F. Ritchie, MD, donated to the museum more than 800 stone spheres and the lapidary equipment that he used to cut and polish them. His sphere machine is a prominent part of the museums lapidary exhibit.

Currently, the Robert F. Ritchie Lapidary Studio at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum is overseen by exhibit specialist and studio manager, Martin Roberts. Roberts is most often found in the studio, making spheres out of metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous rock, and even meteorites.