Berns Quartz

The Berns Quartz is among the largest examples of quartz specimens on display in any museum in America. Comprising two pieces that fit together, at 7 feet tall and 9,200 pounds in weight, the gigantic cluster of thousands of sparkling crystals stands in the Evan's Gallery, adjacent to the museum’s historic north entrance. Even though quartz is one of the basic building blocks of our Earth, a cluster of clear quartz crystals of this size and quality is extraordinarily rare. The quartz was discovered at the Coleman Mine in Arkansas’ Ouachita Mountains in 2016. It is named the Berns Quartz in recognition of Michael and Tricia Berns, whose philanthropic support brought the specimen into the museum’s National Mineral Collection.