Canadian Rockhound: Mont Saint-Hilaire

Mont Saint-Hilaire
by Marc Favre

Looking east atop Mont Royal on Montréal island, one can make out another monteregian hill 40 kilometers away - Mont Saint-Hilaire. Like several of its sister hills scattered over 200 kilometers, it rises abruptly from the plains of the Saint-Lawrence valley in southern Québec.

Just off the Trans Canada Highway, at kilometer 80, and to the south of the Richelieu River, Mont Saint-Hilaire towers over the quiet neighbouring towns and farming communities. It is a delightful refuge from city life for sport addicts, with numerous hiking and cross-country skiing trails on the west face of the hill. Located on the north-east face, probably an eyesore for most people seeing the hill for the first time, is the Poudrette Quarry.

Hilairite, terminated crystal,
Cynthia Peat specimen.
Royal Ontario Museum. Photo by Violet Anderson. ©1998 R.O.M.

Known worldwide for its diversity of mineral species and the fine quality of its crystals, Mont Saint-Hilaire, aka "Magic Mountain", has become an important locality for professional and avocational mineral collectors. The nature of collecting will vary with each visit to the quarry. In some years, collecting is better than at other times.

Looking up at the walls of the north-east face, well over 40 meters above the ground, one can still see remnants of pegmatite pockets where significant finds were made in previous years. Your mind begins to wander. With some hard work and a hard hat, one will be always be rewarded with some interesting finds.

Collecting trips to Mont Saint-Hilaire are organized by the Club Minéralogie de Montréal. These trips have become little symposiums over the years. One can meet with long-time collectors and experts in MSH material. The aura emanating at one of these collecting trips is awesome. For example, at the collecting trips to the mountain at the end of May, 10 people (3 couples) were present that had minerals from Mont Saint-Hilaire named after them. One could encounter Janet and Steve Cares (caresite), Gilles Haineault (species being described), Elsa and László Horváth (horváthite), Quintin Wight (quintinite), Peter Tarasoff (petarasite), and Charles and Marcelle Weber (charmarite). Also present was Bill Henderson (willhendersonite), an italian zeolite collector.

Several issues could be devoted exclusively to Mont Saint-Hilaire, but would not be practical in an internet magazine. This issue of the Canadian Rockhound introduces the collector to Mont Saint-Hilaire, and it includes the descriptions of several newly described mineral species. There are several excellent sources available that describe the mineralogy of this locality in detail, and are highly recommended for further reading. We hope you will enjoy this edition of the Canadian Rockhound.

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