Canadian Rockhound: Bancroft, Ontario: Canada's Mineral Capital

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Bancroft, Ontario:
Canada's Mineral Capital
By Sandra Downs

Mineral collectors who travel to Bancroft find themselves amidst a dazzling array of choices. Shall I look for corundum? Apatite? Hornblende? Or should I seek out uranophane? Betafite? Sphene? Several dozen collecting localities are well-documented; others beckon as you drive down the road and note the unusual unconformities where ancient lava poured over metamorphic rock. The Canadian Shield, a vast region of metamorphic rock that was once the "basement" of North America, is exposed and weathered at Bancroft, bringing over 300 different types of minerals to the surface.

Mining History

The region was first tapped for iron in the 1800s. But the discovery of radium ushered in a prospecting boom. To look for radium, prospectors set an unopened roll of film on the ground. If they found foggy images on the film, they knew there were radioactive minerals underfoot! Early miners staked their claims in the 1920s, and uranium mines flourished until the 1950s. Other minerals mined in the region included corundum, feldspar, graphite, fluorite, talc, sodalite and marble. Today, most of the mines are silent. But mineral collectors can find a wealth of beautiful specimens at these abandoned sites.

Families enjoy collecting fluorite and apatite on a guided tour
to the Richardson Fission Mine.

The Adventure Begins

Begin your adventure with a stop at the Bancroft Mineral Museum in the old railroad station. Within a replica mine, the museum presents information on the history of mining in Bancroft. Their mineral collection includes many examples of huge crystals-apatite, hornblende, orthoclase, and others-up to several feet across. Here, you can pick up guidebooks to collecting sites, purchase permits for the fee collecting sites, and register for field trips (held during July and August).

Across the street from the museum and along the York River, look for the CN Dump. This gigantic pile of nepheline syenite was quarried many miles away and left here; the railroad no longer runs through Bancroft. Large sheets of biotite glisten like broken glass, fooling the eye. Dots of cancrinite and sodalite show up in many rocks. Bring out your ultraviolet lamp after dark to identify hackmanite (glowing peach to pink under shortwave UV) and meta-autinite (glowing greenish-yellow under shortwave UV), along with other mystery finds waiting to be identified.

Illustrating the unconformities found in roadcuts, this
ancient lava flow near Schutt yielded delicate masses of
intergrown glassy blades of actinolite.

Roadcuts

Let the roadcuts summon you. Look for obvious color changes or unconformities of materials in the rock. With careful prospecting, you can find brilliant garnets, thin bladed crystals of actinolite and tremolite, and honey-brown titanite. Some roadcuts present their bounty en masse: large blocks of salmon-colored feldspar near Silent Lake Provincial Park, for instance, interspersed with fluorites and hornblende.

Abandoned Mines and Quarries

A guide to collecting sites is essential if you wish to visit the old prospects, as most of the abandoned mines and quarries lie deep in the woods. A sturdy backpack, a supply of water and plenty of mosquito repellent will make an afternoon of rockhounding more pleasant. At the Bear Lake Diggings, a fee site, a single plunge of a shovel into soft dirt reveals dozens of small apatite crystals. The old wagon trail leading to Cancrinite Hill crosses a beaver dam and disappears into thick woods, ending at an cliffside dotted with blue sodalite and vivid yellow cancrinite. Fluorescent plastic tied to trees marks the trail. On the east shore of the York River along Rt 28 east, take a look at the skarn zone, where blue calcite and massive garnets fairly fall off the cliffs and onto the jeep trail.

Fluor-richerite crystals
A roadside delight: millions of fluor-richerite
crystals trapped in a calcite matrix.

The Princess Sodalite Mine

Looking for an easy site for the kids? The Princess Sodalite Mine highlights Bancroft's deep blue sodalite. During her visit to the 1901 World's Fair, the Princess of Wales was so captivated by a gift of Bancroft sodalite that arrangements were made to quarry enough to decorate her residence, Marlborough House. 130 tons of sodalite were sent to England from this spot, now a fee collecting locality.

The Beryl Pit

At the Beryl Pit in nearby Quadeville, careful collectors can chisel out raw emerald and turquoise crystals. Large blocks of quartz, albite and amazonite are readily removed. Look carefully, and note the play of color across stones-peristerite, lyndochite, clevelandite, labradorite. Some smoky quartzes from this locality show an unusual opalesence. Stop at the General Store in Quadeville to get a map to the locality and collecting permit.

Ribbons of smoky quartz cut through feldspar
in the floor of The Beryl Pit.

Collecting Tours

Capitalizing on the vast variety of mineral wealth gracing the townships surrounding Bancroft, Ontario, the Chamber of Commerce holds collecting tours during the months of July and August. Geologist Chris Fouts leads each group to two different localities and assists in identifying your finds. Children are welcome.

Canada's largest mineral show, "The Rockhound Gemboree," is held in Bancroft during Canada's Civic Holiday weekend, typically between July 31 and August 5. Dealers and collectors gather from around the world to sell and swap mineral specimens. During the Gemboree, field trips run daily.

For more information, contact the Bancroft Chamber of Commerce at P.O. Box 539, Bancroft, Ontario, K0L 1C0 or call (613) 332-1513 for up-to-date information on accommodations. Reservations should be made well in advance for the weekend of the Rockhound Gemboree. Their website is www.commerce.bancroft.on.ca, and you may send inquiries by e-mail to chamber@commerce.bancroft.on.ca.

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