Barite Mineral Specimens from Beaman Road, West of Gouverneur, New York

This page is dedicated to our good friend Angus McPherson who we lost to cancer in 2003. 

Rocks and Minerals Magazine will be publishing an article on this location co-authored by Dr. Steve Chamberlain and myself.  It will be the first in a series of articles on roadcut mineral occurrences in St. Lawrence County, New York.  Find it in the Sept./ Oct. 2004 issue.  This site is exhausted.

Journal Entry.....August 15, 2000

Michael Walter wrote:

"Dad heard that larger barites were being found at the Beaman Road site.  I went over at 4:30 AM and began digging by headlight.  It was a long 14 hour day before I finished but, in total, I pulled out 26 flats of material.  At least 4 to 6 flats of material that can probably be sold.  A few crystals approach one and a half inches and plate of crystals 4 to 5 in.  Several specimens are probably museum quality (this one was  http://www.nysam.org/nymineral.cfm?number=19241 ).  Gus, Dad and others also dug at different times throughout the day.  This spot will probably play out very quickly.  The barites are white with some being very light blue and smaller ones clear."

I did return several more time during the summer of 2000, but no days were very productive.  This barite deposit was in the form of a lens which pinched off in all directions.  Numerous pieces were sold to the New York State Museum and other private collectors.  Sadly, this site is no longer accessible.  There are some specimens from this site still available.  They can be found under Other New York State Minerals on various pages.  The specimens show below are a few of the better pieces I saved for my collection.

Here is the full Rocks and Minerals Article.

The phantom on this barite specimen is actually a very light blue in color.       Barites on marble matrix were some what uncommon at the Beaman Road occurence.    Two nice miniatures.

This sharp barite crystal is actually a small cluster on a grungy calcite crystal.  Composed of many barites up to over an inch in length, this may represent the best specimen specimen recovered from the Beaman Road dig.

Above is a nice large thumbnail specimen.   To the right is a cabinet specimen that is probably the best recovered from the site.

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