Canadian Rockhound: Spectralite Mountain

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Spectralite Mountain
By Ben Hyman

I just returned from Spectralite Mountain in Marathon Ontario. I promised the owners that I would spread the word about this fabulous site. For those of you not familiar with Spectralite, it is a feldspar that exhibits a very beautiful shimmer effect called "labradorescence." It's caused by crystal growth internally that reflects light. For you lapidaries out there like me, good material can rival opal in beauty and brilliance. It is also harder than opal and is less heat sensitive.

There are only a few sites in the world that I know of where this type of material is available: Nova Scotia, Finland, Madagascar, and this site in Marathon, Ontario. The Minnesota Mineral Club made a trip here over Labor Day weekend this past September. It is a 40 acre site that goes about a half mile into the woods. It is located just off of Shack Lake in Marathon. The town is 180 miles east of Thunder Bay. It's about a 12 hour drive from Minneapolis.

The material comes in a variety of colors, including gold, and a very unusual green. It exhibits an iridescent blue, gold, orange and green. Many of these colors are in the same rock. This material often exhibits an unusual intertwined crystalline structure. If you are lucky enough to find a specimen with this crystal growth and shimmer, you have an outstanding cabinet specimen.

The material is plentiful on this site; I managed to pick up about 25 lbs. of high quality material in only a few hours. Not all of it will exhibit the same level of fire, but it is easy to high grade. Much of it has to be hammered out of the wall of similar material. Fortunately, feldspar cleaves rather easily, so you don't need a heavy sledge to get it out. Once this material is removed, it will hold together quite well. I have been cutting some stones, and I am extremely pleased with the quality. In some cases, I may have to use Opticon to seal some of the cracks, but most if this material holds together well.

We also uncovered some unusual red agate in seems along with the spectralite. Some of this agate actually replace the feldspar, so you get an agate in the shape of a perfectly formed feldspar crystal. Really interesting stuff, and it takes a really high polish.

The cost to get in is $3.00 Canadian, and $5.00 Canadian per lb. This stuff rivals the best Finnish Spectralite, which often sells by the ounce. It's a bargain! The mine closes after Labor day, but I was told that they would let interested parties come in until October.

If anyone is interested, please email me, and I'll give you the phone number of the owners. They didn't want me to reveal the mine's exact location, but it's easy to find.

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The preceding article appeared on the Rockhounds Mailing List on September 3, 1997. Reprinted in the Canadian Rockhound with permission from the author.