The 11th Annual New England Mineral Conference 2026 - taking place in Newry, Maine on May 15-17, 2026. Grand Summit Resort Hotel & Conference Center at the Sunday River resort. Lectures, Presentations, Displays, Exhibits, Banquet, Dealers’ Wing, Hospitality Suite, Auctions, Field Trips, Tech Talks, and More This graphic card shows a beautiful brilliant green gem spodumene specimen. Preregister by May 1, 2026 for early bird savings.
11th New England Mineral Conference Cover Image - May 15-17 2026, Newry Maine. Pre-register by May 1, 2026 and save! Dealers - contact jmorris7@maine.rr.com. Gem spodumene, Consolidated Quarry, Georgetown, Maine. 54 × 30 × 20 mm. Specimen courtesy of the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum. Photo by Alice Wack. A photograph of a stunning glassy green spodumene crystal with dual terminations is pictured against a purple background.

Gem spodumene, Consolidated Quarry, Georgetown, Maine. 54 × 30 × 20 mm. Specimen courtesy of the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum. Photo by Alice Wack

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About the Conference

Lectures and presentations, banquet and awards ceremony, displays and exhibits, banquet, dealers, hospitality suite, silent and live auctions, field trips, technical session, museum visits and more…

Be sure to check out ‘New England Mineral Association’ on Facebook for frequent news and updates!

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Guest speaker at the conference

Discussion and Learning

Dive into expert-led talks that explore New England’s rich mineral history and the science behind stunning specimens. Perfect for both seasoned collectors and curious newcomers eager to expand their knowledge.

Banquet attendees seated around a table

The Conference Banquet

Join us at the banquet for a memorable and entertaining evening of stories, camaraderie, good food, engaging conversations, networking opportunities, and a celebration of our shared passion for minerals.

Two conference attendees out in the field, looking closely at a mineral find.

Connections and
Field Trips

Browse finds and ‘talk rocks’ with mineral enthusiasts in the dealer’s wing. At the end of the conference, participate in exclusive field trips to dig at private sites. A perfect mix of exploration and community.

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Conference Event Schedule

Subject to Change

Download Printable Schedule (PDF)

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Friday, May 15, 2026 Schedule
  • Registration – 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
  • Maine Mineral & Gem Museum Visit – anytime from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
  • Exhibit Room – open at 12:00 pm. Closed in the morning of May 15 except to exhibitors and their helpers
  • Technical Sessions – from 12:30 to 3:30 pm
  • Evening: MMGM Banquet & Mineralogical Heritage Awards – 5:30 – 7:45 pm (plus a short update on the Geoscience Portal)
  • Evening: ‘Credit/debit’ bar – 4:30 – 6:00 pm (in registration lobby. Sunday River doesn’t accept cash! Bring credit card).
  • Dealers’ Wing – open into the evening after evening activities and into the night
  • Hospitality Suites – 8:45 pm in the Dealer’s Wing

9:00 am – 4:30 pm: On-site registration will be open in the South Wing lobby! is open in South Wing Lobby- Between visiting dealers, seeing displays (open at noon) and taking an optional visit to the Museum, swing by the Conference area lobby in South Wing and register for the full conference. NOTE: Registrations for the banquet are only available pre-registration through May 1.

At the registration desk, NEMA accepts cash, checks, or any credit card (except for American Express). We cannot make change, though!

Please bring your AUCTION ITEMS to the concourse near Grafton Room for cataloguing.

9:00 am – 3:00 pm: Maine Mineral & Gem Museum Visit Option
MMGM will open one hour early on Friday for NEMC registrants to visit; and will have entry open through 3pm. You may purchase a reduced rate entry through NEMC registration or arrive at MMGM with your name badge and purchase entry at their front desk. Plan for a minimum of one hour to visit the museum.

10:00 am to about 3:30 pm: Technical sessions in the Grand Ballroom
There will be multiple talks for conference attendees to choose from and attend.

  • 10:00 am – “White Apatite from the Palermo No. 1 Mine, North Groton, New Hampshire” by Donald A. Dallaire, Alexander U. Falster, and William B. Simmons
  • 10:20 am – “Geology and Lithogeochemistry of the Brazil Lake Spodumene-Bearing Pegmatite Field, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia” by Cliff Stanley, Gregory Morris, and Terry Goodwin
  • 10:40 am – “Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction, Start to Finish” by Rachel M. Gnieski
  • 11:00 am – “Miarolitic Pegmatites of the Stove Mountain Area in the Colorado Front Range, Colorado Springs, Colorado” by Sarah L. Hanson and Gary Zito
  • 11:20 am – 12:30 pm – Lunch break (on your own)
  • 12:30 pm – “A Digital Camera for Public Use” by Tom Mortimer and Kevin Mortimer
  • 12:50 pm – “Chemical micro-environments and mineral species richness in the Emmons pegmatite, Greenwood, Oxford Co, Maine” by Alexander U. Falster, William B. Simmons, Karen L. Webber, and Encarnacion Roda Robles
  • 1:10 pm – “Columbite group mineral evolution across zonation in the Emmons pegmatite, Greenwood, Maine” by Natalie K. Tolls
  • 1:30 pm – “Weak Ferromagnetism of Cobalt Sulfide Minerals” by Thom Chaffee and Sarah P. Slotznick
  • 1:50 pm – “Fractionation in heavy minerals of the Plumbago North pegmatite, Newry, Maine, USA” by Eyan Fennelly
  • 2:10 pm – “Mineral Evolution: the 4.5Billion-Year Story of Earth” by Robert Hazen
  • 3:00 pm – Frank Perham’s interview with the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum, Part 2

4:30 – 6:00 pm – “Credit/Debit” Bar offered by Sunday River prior to the banquet in the registration lobby. Sunday River takes only digital payment forms; no cash/no checks. Make sure to bring a credit card, or buy a burner card if you want to purchase *anything* from Sunday River.

5:30 – 7:45 pm – MMGM Banquet & Mineralogical Heritage Awards, plus a Short Update on the Geoscience Portal
Note: Tickets for the banquet are only available for purchase in advance via pre-registration!

7:00 – 8:30 pm Conference Opening Session
“New England Mining Update”

8:30 pm and into the evening: Dealer’s Wing
The Dealer’s Wing is open after evening activities and late into the night. Throughout the conference, this is not just about buying; it is a great time to ‘talk rocks’.

8:00 pm Hospitality Rooms:
Open in the dealer’s wing. Light fare and beverages.

Saturday, May 16, 2026 Schedule
  • Lectures and talks – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
  • Auction drop-offs until 10:00 am
  • Exhibits and Displays – All day
  • Auctions – Noon through about 6:00 pm
  • Dealers into the evening

8:00 am – 2:00 pm: On-site registration is open!

8:00 am – 10:00 am: Auction Drop-off/Cataloging Resumes
Auction item drop-offs and cataloging resume until 10:00 am – near the Grafton Room in the concourse between the conference’s registration table and the hotel’s registration desk.

9:00 am: Welcome Address – Jan Morrison, Executive Director

9:10 am – 12:00 pm: Lectures/talks – Grand Ballroom (with short break in between at emcee’s discretion)

  • Robert Hazen – “Time’s Second Arrow: Evolution, Information and a New Law of Nature”
  • Rachel Gnieski – “How to Make Museum Records Easier to Find and more Accessible for Everyone, an Exercise in F.A.I.R. Practices”
  • Jim Nizamoff – “Microminerals, Another World in Mineral Collecting“

12:00 – 2:00 pm: Silent Auction
Start of the silent auction to benefit the conference. Please donate mineral items that we can auction. Items should be brought to the registration desk no later than 10:00 am on Saturday morning so we have time to catalogue, price, and display auction pieces.

Live auction items are also available for viewing!

Lunch on your own (12-2)
The Hospitality Rooms host a private event during this period. The Dealers’ Wing is open.

2:00 – 4:00 pm: Lectures/Talks – Grand Ballroom

  • Jeffrey Morrison – “Logistics of Mining the Tamminen-Waisenen“
  • David Soncrant, John Sassi, Myles Felch – “Newest Mineral Find at Georgetown, Maine“

Circa 4:15 pm: Live Auction and Silent Auction – RIGHT after the Lectures!
The LIVE AUCTION to benefit the conference will begin about 10 minutes after afternoon lectures end.

Circa 6:00 pm: The end of the SILENT AUCTION takes place about 5-10 minutes after the live auction finishes. Last chance to place your silent auction bids!

Circa 6:00 pm: Dealer’s Evening Session
The ‘Dealer’s Evening Session’ begins after the silent auction and goes late into the night.

6:30 pm – Hospitality Rooms:
In the dealer’s wing. Appetizers and beverages.

Sunday, May 17, 2026 Schedule

Field Trip(s) – start time to be announced

and/OR

Maine Mineral & Gem Museum Visit

9:30 am to 4:00 pm – Field Trips – NOTE START TIME

The mine field trip location(s) will be announced at the conference as you check in/register at the conference.

9:30 am to 4:00 pm: Maine Mineral & Gem Museum Open for Visits
You may purchase a reduced rate entry through NEMC registration or arrive at MMGM with your name badge and purchase entry at their front desk. Plan for a minimum of one hour to visit the museum.

SAVE THE DATES:
Tailgate Mineral Sales on June 6, 2026 and September 12, 2026 (rain dates 6/7 and 9/13). Dealers, contact Jeff at jmorris@maine.rr.com. Volunteers, contact Jan at nemineralinfo@gmail.com.

12th Annual NEMC: May 14-16, 2027
13th Annual NEMC: May 10-21, 2028
14th Annual NEMC: May 18-20, 2029 

Important Conference Information

(Detailed information added on an ongoing basis!)

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Field trip(s) and Field Trip Lunch

Locations for field trips to mines for collecting will be announced as you check in at the the conference. These are usually trips to mines that are closed to the public, but mine owners generously give special entry to NEMC participants for one day of collecting. Mine rules apply at all sites, and liability waivers must be signed in advance. Field trip tickets and field trip lunches may be purchased through pre-registration, or on site through Saturday morning at noon.

Options for lunch this year will be announced.

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DEALERS: Reservations + Important Information

Secure your rooms ASAP, the sooner the better. The venue cannot reserve or block these rooms for us/dealer use, so you must secure the room now to be assured you have it during the Conference.

Instructions: Call Sunday River (1-800-207-2365) and mention that you are a dealer for the New England Mineral Conference and and provide Group Code 86G0FX when you call them to book your room. Be sure to note that you *must* be on first floor south wing, which is the dealer’s wing/floor. 

Also note that each individual that is in your room that will be selling or conducting any business for you, *must* be registered for the Conference (whether they attend other aspects of the Conference or not. Name badges cannot be shared.)

If you want to reserve/rent a table for your room, please let Sunday River know that when you register; also let Jeff or Jan know that info by email.

Check in with Jeff to be a dealer at the Conference: 207.232.4973 / jmorris7@maine.rr.com

BEWARE OF SCAMMERS! Only Jeff and/or Jan (nemineralinfo@gmail.com / 207.956.2862) are authorized to allow you to be a dealer at NEMA events.

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GENERAL ATTENDEES: Reservations/Lodging at Sunday River Resort

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Reservations can be made by calling the Sunday River Grand Summit Reservations Department at 1-800-207-2365. To secure your room, mention that you are attending the New England Mineral Conference and and provide Group Code 86G0FX when you call them to book your room.

You may also book directly online using this reservation link (the group code is already applied).

The first floor of south wing is *exclusively* for dealers and our hospitality suite, so verify with the Reservations Department that you do NOT want first floor south wing (unless you are, indeed, a dealer). If you do book there and we need more space for dealers, we will need to work with the venue to move you to a different floor, and perhaps a different wing.

Unfortunately, since rooms are owned on a “rented condo” type basis, we cannot block out the rooms for dealers, so it’s incumbent on you to *not* have the venue book you on first floor of south wing. (If you have questions on this, please contact Jan at 207.956.2862. I wish we could do it differently, but this is a small wrinkle in using Sunday River as our location.)

There are dining options onsite, as well as offsite in the Newry and Bethel area for take-out, groceries, or dine-in in the area. It is not required that you secure lodging on site; some attendees that need lodging prefer to secure it at other locations (hotels, VRBO, AirBnB, etc).

If you have mobility issues, ask the Reservation Department to be in a room on 2nd or 3rd floor of SOUTH WING, nearest the elevator.

If you have other special needs for site access, please let the Reservations Department know so they can appropriately accommodate.

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Donations for Our Auction

Please consider any mineral items you may have for donation (specimens, books, photographs, vintage magazines, and other odds and ends) that we can auction off. We’ll ask you to bring to registration desk on Friday, and no later than 9:00 am on Saturday morning so we have time to catalogue, price, and display auction pieces. Live auction items will be available for viewing on Saturday afternoon. Live auction and silent auction will take place after the 2:00-4:00 pm talks on Saturday.

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Museum Visits

The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum (MMGM) typically opens an hour early for NEMC registrants to visit. Entry to the Museum typically remains open through 3:00 pm. You can visit the museum more than once, but will need a ticket for each entry; each NEMC registrant will receive the reduced rate for each visit. Typical times for visits are on Friday from 9:00 am – 4:00 p and Sunday from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm.

You may purchase and attend both a Sunday Museum visit and a Mine Collecting Field Trip option and do them in either order. Time frames for attending will remain as 9:00 am – 4:00 pm for mine field trip and 11 am – 5:00 pm for the museum.

Tickets may be purchased through pre-registration, or you may present this year’s NEMC registration badge for a reduced entry fee on site at the Museum for entry.

You can also become a member of the museum with membership fees as low as $35 annually; all membership levels gain you unlimited entries (and more) to the museum. Check out becoming an MMGM Member here.

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MMGM Banquet & Mineralogical Heritage Awards

The MMGM Banquet & Mineralogical Heritage Awards will be held on Friday evening in the ballroom. Tickets for the banquet *must* be purchased as a pre-registration item by May 1; they will *not* be available at on-site registration. There is a specific line on our registration form for those who want only to purchase banquet tickets without paying for any other portion of the conference.

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Technical Sessions

We offer education to adults in the form of a technical session with consecutive talks of a more technical level and one or two educational talks offered in the afternoon. These talks occur Friday of the conference. As soon as we have solid timing, this information posted in the schedule above. Ditto on topic titles! Attendance at the technical session is included in both the two-day and three-day conference options.

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Other Upcoming Events this Year

Check out our tailgate page for details. NEMA will once again hold summer (June 6) and fall (September 12) mineral tailgates.

We are hopeful that those that have volunteered for Education Day in the past will come once again to one of or both mineral tailgates, and set up your educational station there!  Please let Jan know your interest and willingness by emailing her at nemineralinfo@gmail.com, and put KID’s ACTIVITIES in the subject line.

If you want to be a dealer at either of the 2026 tailgates, please contact Jeff by email at jmorris7@maine.rr.com, or by phone at 207.232.4973. Note that Jan, the executive director of NEMA, does *not* handle dealers sign up. There is more information about becoming a dealer on our tailgate page.

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 2026 Conference abstracts

i

Technical Talks Abstractions

Download the abstracts submitted for the 2026 NEMA Conference Technical Talks:

A CALL FOR PAPERS

Deadline for Submission Has Passed

The New England Mineral Association is soliciting abstracts for short papers in topics of specimen mineralogy, including species mineralogy, topographic mineralogy, crystallography, history of mineralogy, and issues of mineral curation. The information in the abstract cannot have been published elsewhere at the time of presentation at the Conference (May 15-17, 2026). Submitted abstracts will be reviewed and accepted or rejected by a panel consisting of Al Falster (Research Technologist & Experimental Chemist at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum), Dr. Skip Simmons (Director of Research of MP2 Research Team at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum), Dr. Karen Webber (MP2 Research Team at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum), Dr. Carl Francis (Head Curator at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum), and Dr. Sarah Hanson (Professor at Adrian College, Michigan). We will try to accommodate all accepted papers as platform talks at the conference. All accepted abstracts will be published in Mineral News, the NEMC Program Notes, on the NEMA website, and the Geoscience Portal.

All guidelines and instructions are contained within the ‘Call for Papers’ – click on the button below to download it.

Download Call for Papers (PDF)

What is NEMA?

2026 marks the 11th anniversary of the New England Mineral Association’s (NEMA) annual Conference, also known as NEMC. NEMA is a non-profit organization that was formed by a group of like-minded mineral miners, collectors, enthusiasts and scientists who are interested in mineralogy, gemology, geology and the related sciences, specifically in New England, but also across the globe. We do that through education, science and recreational activities. We bring everyone together to share information and knowledge, whether a beginner or a professional. The Conference is a 3-day event and has been held at Sunday River Grand Summit Lodge/Convention Center. Friday has been a day we focus on education, and now, for a 4th year in a row, we are holding a “technical talk” session throughout Friday afternoon. These talks are more scientific in nature and based on strong scientific academic research.

What’s in it for you?

Presenting at the NEMC Technical Session gives you an opportunity to present to a widespread audience. Your paper will be published in Mineral News, on the NEMA website (both the Conference Pages, and on the NEMA Geoscience Portal). NEMA will be submitting a Letter to the Editor of Rocks & Minerals that calls out the site where the papers can be accessed for viewing and reading, providing further exposure to your research and findings.

Award for the Best Student Paper

To encourage your further academic pursuits and reward your efforts, there is a $500 prize for the best paper presented by a student who is registered for the conference, as well as a certificate of achievement.

Why come to the New England Mineral Conference to present?

NEMA events are a unique opportunity to meet with mineral dealers, collectors, miners, curators, and geologists from academia, government, and corporate settings. You’ve heard it from your professors and advisors…presenting and publishing aids your getting into grad school, it serves as a resume builder, and it gets you published. You’ll be in Maine and have access to the heart of our pegmatite belt, with visits to localities that are closed to the public. You’ll have a great chance to see some pegmatites, to expand your knowledge, and to see some real time geology. And you’ll get to talk with the people that mine those very pegmatites

Students: Attend for Free

As a student, you get into the Conference for free. You’ll need to pay your travel, room, food, and board, but NEMA will waive your fee to attend all three days of the Conference. Just show your current student ID at registration/check in, and you’re good to go.

Interested?

You can learn more about the Conference itself, and pre-register on this site, as well. Alternatively you can register for the Conference on-site at Sunday River Grand Summit Hotel in Newry, Maine beginning May 15 at 9:00 am.

Questions? Feel free to contact us…

Al Falster, Research Technologist and Experimental Chemist at The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum is the point person for our Technical Session. He can be reached at: alexander.falster@gmail.com.

Jeff Morrison is the President of NEMA and also owns and mines the Havey Quarry, the Llama Llama Quarry, and the Tamminen-Waisenen Quarries in Maine. He can be reached at: jmorris7@maine.rr.com.

Jan Morrison is the Executive Director of NEMA. She can be reached at nemineralinfo@gmail.com.

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