Apr. 7—Pink, green and blue tourmaline, aquamarine beryl and deep red garnet, purple amethyst and sparkling lepidolite — they all lie buried in Maine granite. To find them, all you have to do is dig — ...

Should the Maine deposit be mined, it could be worth as much as $1.5 billion, a huge windfall for the Freemans and a boon to the Biden Administration’s efforts to jumpstart more domestic mining, ...

On an open stretch of Route 26 in Woodstock, somewhere between Paris and Bethel, a white sign catches drivers’ attention with big red letters: “DIG GEMS.” Beneath it in black reads, “Maine tourmaline, ...

NEWRY, Maine — Five years ago, after much of their land had been logged in Western Maine, Gary Freeman and a colleague were bushwhacking through a thicket of raspberry shrubs and maple saplings, ...

BETHEL, Maine (CBS/AP) — From an outsider's perspective , a museum that houses the five largest lunar meteorites may be as difficult to find as a space rock in a field. The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum ...

Gary Freeman’s fascination with rocks has cost him about $1 million since July 2003. He’s spent that hard-earned money on a side project, digging for gems in the oldest tourmaline mine in the country ...

In 1820, the year Maine won its statehood, two college students were hiking in the western foothills when, in waning autumn daylight, they spotted a glint of green among a tangle of upturned roots.

This article is part of The State of Science, a series featuring science stories from public radio stations across the United States. Five years ago, professional gem hunters Mary and Gary Freeman ...