About the Mine
Diamond Mountain
Pictured: A Cumberland-habit gem, just one of the rarities found at the mine.
Nestled in the quiet hills of Little Falls, New York, there is a mountain filled with treasure and magic. Sparkling gems known as Herkimer diamond quartz crystals, are waiting to be unearthed.
Diamond Mountain is a collector’s mine with a world-class deposit of rare and unusual Herkimer diamond quartz crystals. The mine is most notably known for rare Herkimer forms such as black-stemmed scepters and gem barbells. In addition to traditional and beautiful clear gems, the land is also well known for its hydrocarbon-included “black diamond” quartz.
Diamond Mountain Mining, LTD. mines and sells crystals for both retail and wholesale from its commercial mine, and also hosts guests for paid dig experiences, where visitors can hunt for these 450 million year-old crystals in its forested digging area. The 187 acre property boasts views of the Mohawk River, beautiful forest trails, as well as a spring-fed waterfall. What was once the last large parcel of Herkimer diamond bearing property left for development in Herkimer County, Diamond Mountain is now waiting to share its treasures with you!
Herkimer Diamond Crystals
Herkimer diamond with skeletal features mined at Diamond Mountain in summer 2020
Herkimer diamonds are a form of quartz crystal that are prized by collectors and are famous across the globe for their clarity and natural faceted appearance. Rather than a traditional diamond that has a composition of pure carbon (C), Herkimer diamonds, like all quartz crystals, are made of Silicon dioxide (SiO₂). Like other diamond-style quartz found around the world, these crystals are typically doubly-terminated and are known for having a flawless, colorless appearance, much like the clarity of a fine faceted diamond. Ranging in size from a grain of sand to as large as a football, most crystals exhibit a classic 18-sided, doubly terminated, hexagonal form. Like all other forms of quartz, their hardness is placed at a 7 out of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, with actual diamonds holding a rating of 10 as the hardest substance on earth.
Herkimer diamond quartz crystals formed within a hard dolomitic limestone host rock that is known to be 500 million years old. Though we do not know exactly how long ago the quartz crystals formed, scholars associate crystal formation with three periods of mountain building (orogenies) to the east that could have pushed heated mineralized crystal-forming solutions to the west: The Taconic orogeny (ending about 440 million years ago), The Acadian orogeny (400 to 325 million years ago), and the Alleghenian orogeny (260 to 325 million years ago). Inclusions most commonly found within the quartz includes iron sulfides such as marcasite and pyrite, as well as rich black hydrocarbon created by the decomposition of early single-celled life forms, otherwise known as anthraxolite. Calcite and dolomite are two other minerals that can often be found in association.
History of Herkimer Diamonds
It is worth noting that these quartz crystals share an intimate relationship with the first peoples of the Mohawk Valley region and have been part of human life in the Mohawk Valley for many centuries. The word “Mohawk” is derived from what the Mohican Native Americans living in the upper Hudson Valley called their enemies to the west: Mohowaug, which translates to “they eat living creatures.” The Mohawk peoples actually referred to themselves as Kanyenkehaka, and the valley in which they lived, Kanyenka. Kanyenka translates to “the place of flint.” Professor and Head of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University Dean R. Snow writes that sources of flint (or more accurately, chert) were not particularly sought after, and that clear quartz crystals now called Herkimer diamonds could be quarried at a few local mines and abound on Mohawk village sites. It is known that these crystals were highly prized by Iroquois and other nations. Kanyenka more likely translates to “The Place of Crystals” and Kanyenkehaka to “The People of the Crystals.” Herkimer diamonds are known to have been symbolically important to first peoples of the region as amulets, objects of trade, and occasionally as material for tools. The Mohawk people supplied these crystals to other natives up until 1614 when they began to be replaced by Dutch-made glass beads. It is worth noting that these crystals were first noticed by European settlers in exposed outcroppings of dolostone in the Little Falls area.
Herkimer: What’s in a Name
“Herkimer diamond” is the generic name given to the doubly-terminated quartz crystals found in the Mohawk Valley region. With European occupation, the Herkimer name was first brought to the region by the Johan Jost Herkimer family, Palatine German immigrants who established a home and trading post on the south side of the Mohawk River. A small community grew here and was fortified to protect its new residents during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The name Herkimer became accepted as a name for the community. In 1791 the county was given the name “Herkimer” after Nicholas Herkimer, an American militia brigadier general who served during the Revolutionary War. (It is worth noting that General Herkimer’s homestead, now a historic site, is coincidentally just a stone’s-throw from Diamond Mountain!) It is from either this family name or the county name that the term “Herkimer” diamond arose.
There is some debate over the strict definition of what qualifies as a Herkimer diamond, as there is diamond-style quartz found throughout the northeast United States. Many scholars define Herkimer diamonds as quartz crystals included in the Beekmantown Group, a late Cambrian to lower-middle Ordovician geologic formation (dolostone formation). However, crystal enthusiasts often consider crystals found in a forty mile mining district that spans across Herkimer, Fulton, and Montgomery Counties to be classified as Herkimer diamonds despite not being found in Herkimer County.
References: Collector’s Guide to Herkimer Diamonds by Michael R. Walter
Little Falls, New York
In the 1600s the area that is now Little Falls first began as part of the territory of the Iroquois-speaking Mohawk Nation. The Mohawk people (Mohawk: Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly tribe of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy and are known as the “Keepers of the Eastern Door” — traditional guardians of the Iroquois Confederation against invasions from the east. Villages of the Iroquois nations were linked by winding paths through the wilderness as well as the Mohawk River. It is within this century that the Mohawk peoples first encountered the Dutch, who traveled along the Hudson River and established a trading post in 1614 at the place where the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers meet, and the French, who came south into their territory from New France (present-day Quebec). The Dutch were primarily merchants and the French, fur traders.
The City of Little Falls was first mentioned as a place by the New York governor in 1725, when he allowed the Palatine Germans to “settle no further west than Little Falls.” Formed as the village of Little Falls in 1811, this small settlement grew to become a leader in the knitting and cheese making industries. An inland canal, the first navigational waterway of its kind in the U.S.,was built in 1793 so boats traveling along the Erie Canal could avoid the 40-foot falls. This canal made Little Falls an important locus of trade, and helped the city become recognized as the cheese capital of the United States. The canal-side city would evolve into a bustling center for manufacturing — including the production of goods such as hammers, footwear, dairy equipment, and sectional bookcases.
Today, Little Falls is known for its quaint and picturesque beauty. In addition to its eclectic mix of architecture, the city boasts a multitude of parks as well as Moss Island, located between the Mohawk River and the canal, known for its 40-50 foot deep glacial potholes and for being a popular spot for local rock climbers. From the rising bluffs of the south side, one may experience a panorama of the city straddled between the great hills of the valley. Visitors to Diamond Mountain may enjoy extending their weekend with a visit to Beardslee Castle, a 1860s manor modeled after an Irish castle that now offers fine dining, a historic tour of General Herkimer’s Homestead, or a visit to Canal Place to explore restaurants, shops, and antique stores.
References: Edqin Vogt, former long-time Little Falls City Historian; Evening Times, September 2008
The Diamond House
The house on our Little Falls property, now lovingly known as “the Diamond House,” was built in 1941 by the president of the New York Medical Society in the colonial revival style. The original owners spared no expense in its creation; many rooms have stone fireplaces and there are gorgeous views overlooking the Mohawk River. We are currently renovating the space to become a mining-theme bed and breakfast!
At one time the house was owned by George Farbor Aney, who was a well-known New York lawyer and somewhat of a local legend. Aney was known by locals to be flamboyant in his decorating style and local lore says that he could be paid for his legal services in antiques. The property accompanying the house had been known to have Herkimer diamond crystals for some time. It had been dug in a small-scale way by locals who would come and explore, doing small renegade digs in the woods — you may see some of their small digs and old tailings piles if you wander off the beaten path. The property was first mined with machinery in 2015, and the exceptional quality and rarity of the gems here was first realized. At the time of purchase, the property that is now Diamond Mountain was the last large undeveloped tract of Herkimer diamond bearing land left in the Herkimer County.
Directions
Diamond Mountain Mining
5037 State Route 167
Little Falls
Herkimer County
New York 13365
Staff
Larry Michon
Owner CEO Diamond Mountain Mining LTD.
Diamond Mountain Mining LTD is owned and operated as the passion-project of rockhound, outdoorsman, and mineral enthusiast Lawrence “Larry” Michon. Born in Chicopee, Massachusetts, Larry now splits his time living and working between Diamond Mountain in Little Falls, NY and North Adams in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. He has run a successful CPA and business consulting office in the Berkshires for over twenty six years, and also manages his multi-site rental property business in the area. Larry graduated from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in 1979 with a B.A. in Business and Administration, later adding a concentration in accounting. Larry’s deep connection with the Earth can be traced back to his early childhood — he created his own vegetable garden from scratch in the backyard at age six and his sport-loving family barely knew what to do with such an inner-directed and nature-focused child! After graduating from college, Larry spent his formative years as a young adult hiking several long-distance hiking trails including the full length of the Appalachian Trail, and later paddling thousands of long distance river systems across the U.S. His intense passion for experiencing the outdoors later led Larry to his first discovery of the mineral collecting hobby in the 1990's with his young children, and the rest is history! Larry now serves as the President of The Northern Berkshire Mineral Club (NBMC), his local mineral club, and has organized an annual local gem show and led crystal-related educational experiences for youth groups. Larry’s Herkimer Diamond digging career began in the 1990’s when his friend Tom Kustra, himself a mine owner, introduced him to hard rock mining at Diamond Acres in Fonda, NY.
Though Larry has a keen understanding of how to make a business successful, the Diamond Mountain project began as a simple longing of one Herkimer diamond-loving rockhound to have a place to call his own. His vision of owning crystal-bearing land of his own has been a longstanding one. In 2016, he began an active search for a piece of Herkimer diamond-bearing land in New York, with the plan of having his own digging claim to work after retiring from his full-time CPA business. This search proved harder than expected. However, at last, one of the last large parcels of crystal-bearing land in Herkimer County came onto the market. A stately home filled with antiques was bundled with this property, known locally as “The Million Dollar Mountain” because of the quality of crystals known to be there. Instead of a small backyard claim, Larry’s efforts landed him close to 60 acres and the passion-project of a lifetime. He had the choice — to restrict access, dig the land privately, and bring the rare Herkimer diamonds found there to market, or, offer the experience of digging for rare, world-class minerals in a beautiful, private, wooded site to the public. Diamond Mountain is the living dream of one passionate mineral lover who desires to elevate the hobby of rockhounding and offer something that the world has never seen before — a destination retreat center at a Collector’s Mine.
Deena Bak
Director of Sales, Marketing, and Programs
A native of Berkshire County, MA, Deena joins the Diamond Mountain team with a diverse range of professional skills and a personal passion for crystals and minerals. Deena earned her Bachelor of Arts from Williams College, graduating with top honors and specializing in visual arts and education. She has worked for nearly a decade in the field of Museum Education, most recently coordinating Family Programs for Brooklyn Museum, one of the largest museums in New York City. There, she led arts tours and classes for visitors of all ages, designed and marketed programs, and organized workshops and events for hundreds of people. When it comes to designing and developing exceptional experiences for the public and engaging with the community, Deena has the vision, experience, and creativity to make public visits and workshops at Diamond Mountain simply unforgettable.
Deena caught the digging “bug” and her rockhounding career took off after joining the Northern Berkshire Mineral club in fall of 2017. Now, she actively serves as the NBMC’s Vice President, helping to run the club’s meetings and events. She brings crystal sales experience to the Diamond Mountain team from her past work running her own small online metaphysical shop, and her current work as the part time assistant to Rocko Minerals, a fine mineral dealer in North Adams, MA. In addition, Deena is also a 200 hour-certified Hatha yoga instructor, specializing in therapeutics and yoga for trauma. She hopes to offer workshops at Diamond Mountain that combine meaningful experiences in nature with creative pursuits such as yoga, art-making, and wellness.