Canada's Top Ten Minerals

By Charles A. Gould, Tim Jokela Jr., David K. Joyce,
and Dirk F. Schmid

Introduction

Canada is one of the world's top producers of fine mineral specimens. It has many localities that produce high quality minerals, the most famous being Mont Saint-Hilaire and the Jeffrey Mine in Québec, and the Rapid Creek area of the Yukon. Other important localities that have produced desirable and aesthetic specimens include the Nanisivik Mine (which has produced fine pyrite and calcite specimens), MacDonald Island (attractive dark blue spinels up to 4 cm on green diopside), the Rock Candy Mine (where outstanding colourful plates of barite and fluorite have been found), the Society Girl Mine (pyromorphite and wulfenite), the Bluebell Mine (pyrrhotite), the Winnipeg Red River Floodway (gypsum rosettes), the Thompson Mine (millerite), the Tanco Mine at Bernic Lake (pegmatite minerals), the Caland and Steep Rock open pit mines near Atikokan (manganite, quartz, calcite, and hematite), Bear Lake (titanite and fluorapatite), Thunder Bay and Pearl (fine amethysts), Greely (smoky quartz), Wasson's Bluff (zeolites), and the Newfoundland Zinc Mine (sphalerite, dolomite). There are many more.

Canada is also home to about 171 known type minerals. Most of these occur in Québec (66), followed by Ontario (35), Yukon Territory (23) and British Columbia (16). Minerals of economic importance include gold, silver, nickel, copper, cobalt, lead and zinc. New localities in the north have turned up diamonds and gem quality emerald.

Collectors have often commented, sometimes critically, on the obvious lack of colour and overall dull appearance of some Canadian minerals. To some, it would seem Canada is aesthetically challenged as far as minerals go. Certainly, many of the world's colourful minerals are formed in desert environments. While it is true that we do not have many alteration minerals (thanks to past glaciation and our climate), it would be a mistake to conclude that all Canadian specimens are simply dull and ugly. Most of Canada's minerals are beautiful and unique, and a good number of aesthetic specimens have been found that rival those found in other countries.

With a vast range of species and mineralogical occurrences to choose from, it becomes a formidable challenge to select the top ten Canadian minerals. In this article, we propose a list of the top ten Canadian minerals and include a short summary about each mineral. We have selected (in no particular order) the minerals serandite, catapleiite, lazulite, weloganite, grossular, cubanite, vesuvianite, titanite, silver and gold. Our criteria focussed on the mineral's aesthetic value, collectability, uniqueness, and importance (from a collector's stand point and/or from a mineralogical stand point).

We dedicate this article to the late Jerry Van Velthuizen, a fellow collector and friend who documented some of Canada's important mineral localities and who made a significant contribution to the mineral collecting hobby in Canada. Jerry passed away suddenly in June 2001 after a fight with cancer. He will be greatly missed.

1. Serandite

Figure 1: A blocky terminated 34 x 22 mm serandite crystal from Mont Saint-Hilaire nicely arranged with white analcime trapezohedra and black aegerine. Photo by David Joyce.

No other locality in the world has produced serandite which can seriously rival that found at the Poudrette Quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec. First discovered at the quarry in 1963 by Frank Melanson, it has since been found in crystals up to twenty centimetres long and seven centimetres wide, sometimes in large quantities, from pegmatite pockets large enough for collectors to crawl into. It occurs in various colours, usually pink, orange or salmon (Figure 1), but also colourless, white, tan, brown, and black, and ranges from transparent to opaque. It is found in several habits, from acicular to blocky to bladed, and crystals are occasionally twinned. Stunning specimens have been found showing large prismatic lustrous salmon-orange crystals associated with sharp white analcime crystals or white radiating spheres of leifite the size of golf balls. For the pseudomorph collector, crystals have been found replaced by birnessite, elpidite, nenadkevichite, and rhodochrosite. Rare clear crystal fragments have yielded intense pinkish-orange facetted stones to 1.65 carats.

Serandite is the most famous mineral from Mont Saint-Hilaire, a locality that has produced over 330 species, over forty of which are new to science. The serandite specimens produced from this locality are clearly outstanding and very aesthetic, making this mineral worthy of being Canada's top mineral.

Other localities for serandite are elsewhere in Québec, Guinea (type locality), Arkansas, New Mexico, California, Australia, Japan, Russia, Namibia, and South Africa.

Properties of Serandite:

• Na(Mn,Ca)₂[Si₃O₈(OH)]
• Crystallography: Triclinic
• Hardness: 4.5 to 5.5
• Manganese end member in a series with pectolite
• Named by for J.M. Serand, West African mineral collector, who helped collect the type material.

1. Horvath, L., and R.A. Gault. 1990. The Mineralogy of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec. Mineralogical Record. Vol. 21, No.4 (July-August), pp. 302-304.
2. Mandarino, J.A., and V. Anderson. 1989. Monteregian Treasures: The Minerals of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec. Cambridge University Press, New York, p. 53.

2. Catapleiite

Catapleiite from the Poudrette Quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec (Figure 2), is clearly the best in the world. The finest specimens are rosettes of tan, platy pseudo-hexagonal crystals to fifteen centimetres across; though they are rivalled by smaller specimens showing clear, colourless crystals of two centimetres or more. Crystals are fairly common, usually found in altered pegmatite veins, and almost always twinned. Most are colourless or tan, pale shades of grey, brown, yellow, orange, pink, rarely very pale blue, and are often slightly iridescent. Crystals can be transparent, translucent, or opaque. Very sharp tan pseudomorphs of catapleiite after eudialyte crystals to several centimetres have been found. Clear crystal sections have yielded small and rare facetted stones. Catapleiite was one of the first minerals found at Mont Saint-Hilaire, and is probably the second most popular mineral from the locality, which has produced over 330 species, over forty of which are new to science.

Figure 2: An attractive beige rosette of catapleiite from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec. It is attached to a large crystal of white natrolite. The catapleiite here is composed of many layers of hexagonal crystals in descending order of size, in semi-parallel configuration. Photo by David Joyce.

Other localities for catapleiite include British Columbia, Montana, New Mexico, Arkansas, Washington, Wisconsin, Norway (type locality), Greenland, Sweden, Russia, Malawi, Guinea, and Madagascar.

Properties of Catapleiite:

• Na₂ZrSi₃O₉·2H₂O
• Crystallography: Monoclinic
• Hardness: 5.5 to 6
• Dimorphous with gaidonnayite; sodium end-member in a series with calcium catapleiite
• Name derived from the Greek for wholly and full, for its association with a host of rare minerals

1. Horvath, L., and R.A. Gault. 1990. The Mineralogy of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec. Mineralogical Record. Vol. 21, No.4 (July-August), pp. 302-304.
2. Mandarino, J.A., and V. Anderson. 1989. Monteregian Treasures: The Minerals of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec. Cambridge University Press, New York, p. 53.

3. Lazulite

The Rapid Creek locality in Canada's Yukon Territory is well known for its world-class phosphate minerals. Wardite, kulanite, gormanite/souzalite, augelite, whiteite, collinsite, vivianite and a few others from this locality are among the best in the world and avidly sought after by collectors. Any one of these could closely compete for a spot on the top ten list. However, the true winner from this locality is lazulite. Rapid Creek has produced by far the world's finest lazulite specimens (Figure 3).

Beautiful lazulite crystals up to 2.5 cm have been obtained from this locality and they usually occur in clusters. Crystal twinning is common and differs from other known localities around the world. Crystals of lazulite are wedge-shaped and exhibit the characteristic blue colour, which makes this mineral one of the most colourful found in Canada. But yellow-green and blue-green crystals are also known to occur. Minerals that occur in association include quartz, siderite, apatite, fluorapatite, and wardite. The mineral is abundant and further exploration of the locality may yield more spectacular finds. Fine examples of lazulite can be seen in the July-August 1992 issue of the Mineralogical Record, which featured the phosphates from Rapid Creek.

Figure 3: Lazulite, from Rapid Creek, Yukon Territory. This thin plate of matrix measures 12 x 8.5 x 1.5 cm and contains lustrous lazulite crystals up to 7 mm. Associated with the lazulite are transparent brown siderite crystals (up to 5 mm) and quartz crystals (up to 5 mm). The back of the plate contains numerous small glassy apatite crystals up to 2 mm. Photo by Doug Miller.

Lazulite from Rapid Creek was first reported in 1962. Until 1978, it was possible to collect freely at Rapid Creek, but since then the Canadian federal government has restricted access to the locality and permission must be obtained to collect there. Lazulite has also been found elsewhere in the world, namely Switzerland, Austria, Brazil, and a few localities in the United States. Lazulite is the official gemstone of the Yukon Territory.

Properties of Lazulite:

• MgAl₂(PO₄)₂(OH)₂
• Crystallography: Monoclinic
• Hardness: 5.5-6

1. Robinson, G.W., J. Van Velthuizen, H.G. Ansell and B.D. Sturman. Yukon Phosphates: Mineralogy of the Rapid Creek and Big Fish Area, Yukon Territory. Mineralogical Record Vol. 23, No. 4 (July-August 1992).

4. Weloganite

(A) (B) Figure 4: Weloganite, from the Francon Quarry, St. Michel, Montreal Island, Québec. (A) Well-formed crystals. The largest crystal is 7 mm long. (B) A close-up view of previous image, from a different angle. Photos by Tim Jokela Jr.

Weloganite from the Francon Quarry, St. Michel, Montreal Island, Québec, is unique and entirely without rival. First found in 1966, it forms unusual pseudo-hexagonal prisms which can have pointed or flat terminations (Figure 4). Crystals over five centimetres long have been found, and they usually display a degree of pinching or swelling along their length. This is due to oscillatory growth, which can produce crystals with the appearance of a trumpet, thin at the base and wide at the termination. They are usually pale to lemon-yellow or amber in colour, also colourless, white, rarely orange, and transparent to opaque. The Francon Quarry has produced over eighty species, of which nine are new to science. The quarry is now inactive and being used as a landfill site, though limited collecting continues.

The only other localities for weloganite are the new Francon Quarry at the east end of Montreal, Québec, opened when the old one closed, (personal communication, L. Horvath) and the Poudrette Quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec.

Properties of Weloganite:

• Sr₃Na₂Zr(CO₃)₆·3H₂O
• Crystallography: Triclinic
• Hardness: 3.5
• Named in honour of William E. Logan, first director of the Canadian Geological Survey

1. Sabina, A., Jambor and Plant. 1968. Weloganite, a new strontium zirconium carbonate from Montreal Island, Canada. Canadian Mineralogist. Vol. 9, Part 4.
2. Sabina, A. 1983. Rocks and Minerals for the Collector: Kingston, Ontario, to Lac St-Jean, Québec. GSC Misc. Report 32, pp. 55-57.
3. Anderson, V. 1978. Microminerals. Mineralogical Record. Vol. 9, No. 2, pp.103-106.

5. Grossular

Fine specimens of grossular, probably the most common member of the garnet group, particularly the variety called hessonite ("cinnamon-stone"), are world-renowned for occurring at the Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Québec. This is the second largest crysotile deposit in the world. Beautiful crystals of hessonite grossular (Figure 5) have been the most popular, readily available species from this classic locality (which has also produced the world's finest specimens of vesuvianite, prehnite, pectolite and perhaps even heazlewoodite, and fine specimens of apophyllite, aragonite, magnetite, wollastonite and other minerals for over half a century). Exceptional, very lustrous, well-formed, unusually transparent, attractively coloured, gemmy crystals of hessonite grossular, up to three centimetres, occur on albite in a rare metamorphic rodingite rock, often associated with diopside. Other associations are allanite, thomsonite and clinozoisite. Examples will be seen in most significant mineral collections. Bright, clear, orange-coloured stones up to 24 carats have been cut from this material. In 1992, Canada Post issued a series of 42-cent stamps, one featuring a specimen of Jeffrey Mine hessonite to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Geological Survey of Canada (Scott # 1440).

Figure 5: Hessonite grossular, from the Jeffrey Mine in Québec. This small cabinet-sized specimen has three gemmy hessonite crystals attached to a matrix of diopside crystals. The hessonites shown here range from 12 to 14 mm in size. Photo by Sylvain Roy.

Crystals of hessonite grossular with dodecahedron or trapezohedron faces often show striations (Figure 6) caused by oscillatory growth between 12 (rhomb(o))-dodecahedral faces (flat and shiny) and 24 trapezohedral faces (striated).

(A) (B) Figure 6: Crystals of hessonite grossular. These images show the striations that result from the oscillation in crystal growth between the dodecahedron (12 sides) and trapezohedron (24 sides), when these two forms combine. (A) Striated trapezohedron faces caused by the oscillation in growth between them and the dodecahedron. (B) Shiny dodecahedron face with striations caused by the oscillation of growth of the trapezohedrons. Photos by Charles Gould.

Other varieties of grossular from Asbestos are well known and prized by collectors. Very unusual is the colourless variety of grossular. Crystals of this variety up to 1 cm have been found at this locality and are possibly the best. Excellent world-class specimens of the deep green, chrome-bearing variety of grossular (called "chrome grossular" by some; see Figure 7) also occur at Asbestos and the crystals are larger than those found at other localities around the world. Sadly the life of this locality seems destined to end because of the hysteria surrounding asbestos.

Figure 7: Chrome-bearing grossular from the Jeffrey Mine, Québec. Photo by Daniel Comtois.

Grossular is also found in Africa, Europe, Mexico, and at Thetford Mines and other Québec localities. The variety hessonite is found in Sri Lanka, Africa, Brazil, Russia, California and has also been found in Switzerland.

Properties of Grossular:

• Ca₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃ with iron cations substituting for calcium, giving the higher refractive index and yellow/orange/red colour to hessonite
• Calcium aluminium silicate
• Crystallography: Cubic - In clusters of crystals showing faces of dodecahedrons or trapezohedrons, often showing striations caused by oscillatory growth between 12 (rhomb(o))-dodecahedral faces (flat and shiny) and 24 trapezohedral faces (striated).
• Hardness: 7+
• Grossular named from the Latin for gooseberry alluding to the pale green colour by A.G. Werner in 1811.
• Hessonite named for the colour.
• Colours in innumerable nuances of all shades, from colourless through white, apple-green, honey-yellow, orange, brown, pink and almost red, to black, except for blue.
• Tsavorite, landerite, rosolite, succinite, "Transvaal Jade" (hydro-grossular) and others are also varieties
• Fluorescent

1. Grice, J.D. 1989. Famous Mineral Localities of Canada. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Markham, Ontario, pp. 80-86.
2. Bancroft, P. 1984. Gem and Crystal Treasures. Mineralogical Record, Inc. and Western Enterprises, Fallbrook, California, pp. 147-151.

1. Spertini, F. 2001. La Mine Jeffrey, Asbestos, Québec, Canada. Le Règne Minéral. No. 37 (Jan.-Fév.), pp. 10-34.
2. Amabili, M. and Miglioli, A. 2000. Granati: nuovi ritrovamenti nelle miniere di Asbestos e Thetford Mines. Rivista Mineralogica Italiana. No. 2, pp. 80-86 (with a summary in English).
3. Grice, J.D. and Williams, R. 1979. The Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Québec. Mineralogical Record. Vol. 10, No. 2 (April-March), pp. 69-89.
4. Chamberlain, S.C. 1980. Wollastonite, Vesuvianite, Native Copper, and Diopside from the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Québec. Rocks & Minerals. Vol. 5, No. 5 (Sept.-Oct.), pp. 188-191.
5. Gregory, G.E. 1980. A visit to the Jeffrey Open Pit mine in Asbestos, Québec, Canada. Rocks & Minerals. Vol. 55, No. 5 (Sept.-Oct.), pp. 214-216.

6. Cubanite

Cubanite is truly a Canadian mineral, despite the fact that the type locality is Cuba and it is named for Cuba. Outside of Canada, there are few (two?) localities where well crystallized cubanite occurs. There are at least nine localities in Canada where cubanite has occurred in the form of excellent euhedral crystals. These are listed in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Cubanite localities in Canada.

Locality	Crystal Habit
Advocate Mine, Baie Verte, Newfoundland	Hair-like crystals to 1cm
Agnew Lake Mine, Espanola, Ontario	Blocky, twinned micro crystals
Grey Rocks Mine, Bridge River Area, British Columbia	Micro acicular and needle-like crystals
Henderson II Mine, Chibougamau, Québec	Excellent twinned crystals to 4 cm
Kidd Creek Mine, Timmins, Ontario	Blocky crystals
Nigadoo Mine, Nigadoo River, New Brunswick	Stubby, micro crystals
Silvana Mine, New Denver, British Columbia	Micro acicular crystals
Strathcona Mine, Levack, Ontario	Large twinned crystals to 4.0 cm
Thompson T-1 Mine, Thompson, Manitoba	Excellent twinned crystals to 3.0 cm

In addition, it has been estimated that up to 30% or more of the copper mineralization in some of the huge Sudbury area massive sulphide nickel-copper ores is composed of cubanite, not chalcopyrite. That is a lot of cubanite!

Cubanite is often mistaken for chalcopyrite in massive form. In the acicular crystal habit, it looks just like millerite. Cubanite is magnetic, however, and this physical property easily helps differentiate cubanite from other similar-looking minerals.

Figure 8: A superb "trilling" of cubanite from the Thompson T-1 mine, Thompson, Manitoba. This crystal measures 15 mm across. Photo by David Joyce.

Cubanite can be a beautiful mineral (Figure 8). The excellent twinned crystals that have been found at the Henderson II Mine, near Chibougamau, Québec (Figure 9) can be extremely aesthetic and are amongst the nicest of crystallized sulphide minerals in the mineral world.

Figure 9: An excellent, twinned, 18 mm cubanite crystal with calcite on a massive sulphide matrix. This specimen came from the Henderson II Mine, Chibougamau, Quebec. Photos by David Joyce.

Properties of Cubanite:

• CuFe₂S₃
• Crystallography: Orthorhombic
• Hardness: 3.5
• Named for its original place of discovery in Cuba.
• Diagnostic features: virtually always twins and is magnetic.

1. Joyce, D.K. and Schmid, D.F. 2001. Cubanite, a rare copper-iron sulphide mineral from Thompson, Manitoba. Canadian Rockhound. Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter/Spring), [http://www.canadianrockhound.com]

2. Levesques, A. 1983. Cubanite from the Henderson No. 2 Mine, Chibougamau, Québec. Mineralogical Record. Vol. 14, No. 3 (May-June), pp. 151-155.

7. Vesuvianite

Figure 10: Vesuvianite crystals measuring up to 2.5 cm in length. This specimen was recovered from the Jeffrey Mine. Photo by Sylvain Roy.

The Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Québec has produced what are probably the most attractive and well formed examples of this mineral in the world. Attractive specimens of translucent to transparent, unusually lustrous, free-standing crystals, in various shades of green and pink to red, up to 18 centimetres long, have been found at this prolific locality. Some of the light green crystals have pink cores and vice-versa or are zoned along their length and sometimes tipped with lavender/violet. Crystals are found in singles or groups (Figure 10) and it also occur in loose aggregates or as bladed crystals. Most of the crystals are not striated. It is rarely associated with native copper in calcite. Other associated minerals are diopside, albite, biotite, pink grossular garnet, prehnite, pectolite, galena, wollastonite and others.

Properties of Vesuvianite:

• Ca₁₉Fe(Mg,Al)₈Al₄(SiO₄)₁₀(Si₂O₇)₄(OH)₁₀ or variations
• Alkaline calcium, iron, magnesium silicate
• Crystallography: Tetragonal; thick, long, columnar, prismatic or stubby pyramidal crystals with complex, tapered terminations, with a square cross-section, sometimes resembling other minerals
• Hardness: 6.5
• Named for the discovery locality of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy by A.G. Werner in 1795
• Idocrase originates from the Greek words for form mixture, named by René Just Haüy in 1796
• Colours are olive-green, yellow-brown, pink/red, black or pale blue
• Manganvesuvianite is the violet variety
• Doubly refractive and weakly pleochroic
• Other localities are Brazil, Mexico, Kenya, Russia, Switzerland, Italy, Sri Lanka, Norway, the Czech Republic, Africa, Pakistan, elsewhere in Canada and the United States.

1. Grice, J.D. 1989. Famous Mineral Localities of Canada. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Markham, Ontario, pp. 80-86.
2. Bancroft, P. 1984. Gem and Crystal Treasures. Mineralogical Record, Inc. and Western Enterprises, Fallbrook, California, pp. 147-151.

1. Spertini, F. 2001. La Mine Jeffrey, Asbestos, Québec, Canada. Le Règne Minéral. No. 37 (Jan.-Fév.), pp. 10-34.
2. Amabili, M. and Miglioli, A. 2000. Granati: nuovi ritrovamenti nelle miniere di Asbestos e Thetford Mines. Rivista Mineralogica Italiana. No. 2, pp. 80-86 (with a summary in English).
3. Grice, J.D. and Williams, R. 1979. The Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Québec. Mineralogical Record. Vol. 10, No. 2 (April-March), pp. 69-89.
4. Chamberlain, S.C. 1980. Wollastonite, Vesuvianite, Native Copper, and Diopside from the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Québec. Rocks & Minerals. Vol. 5, No. 5 (Sept.-Oct.), pp. 188-191.
5. Gregory, G.E. 1980. A visit to the Jeffrey Open Pit mine in Asbestos, Québec, Canada. Rocks & Minerals. Vol. 55, No. 5 (Sept.-Oct.), pp. 214-216.

8. Titanite

Titanite is a quintessentially central Canadian mineral. Collectors in the most populous areas of Canada travel to locations in Southern Ontario and Québec and dream of finding the world famous, chocolate brown, lustrous, razor-sharp wedge-shaped crystals that characterize the titanite or "sphene" crystals found in the Grenville Geological Province. The crystals generally occur in calcite vein-dyke structures as inclusions within the dykes or attached to the walls of the vein-dykes. The best crystals of titanite, in general occur in vein dykes where the calcite has been etched away by natural acids to leave the titanite crystals suspended in soft black loam or clinging to the walls of the veins waiting to be chiselled off.

Figure 11: This titanite specimen from Lake Clear, Ontario, measures 9 x 6.5 x 6 cm. The titanite crystals (which appear black) measure up to 4.5 cm. The other dominant mineral in this specimen is microcline, with crystals up to 5 cm. Photo by Doug Miller.

Titanite, a titanium silicate mineral, occurs in association with other superbly crystallized minerals in the calcite vein dykes (Figure 11). Species of note include: Orange and white microcline, green and red apatite, brown zircon, biotite mica, white scapolite and various amphiboles. All of these species are found in world class crystals in the calcite vein dykes. Well formed titanite is one of the more rare constituents found.

One of the best locations to dig for excellent titanite crystals is at the "Bear Lake Diggings", located between Gooderham and Tory Hill in Southern Ontario. The site is controlled by the Bancroft Chamber of commerce and access is gained by purchasing a modest day pass. Contact the Bancroft Chamber of Commerce for more information. There are lots of other locations. Consult one of the various mineral collecting locality books available and try your luck!

Properties of Titanite:

• CaTiSiO₅
• Calcium Titanium Silicate
• Monoclinic; crystals exhibit "envelope" shape; twinning common
• Hardness: 5-5.5
• Colours are usually brown
• Other localities include the Tilly Foster Mine in New York and other localities in the U.S.A, Odenwald, near Heidelberg in Germany, and Brazil. The finest specimens are found in the Tyrol region of the Alps.

9. Silver

(A) (B) Figure 12: (A) Silver, from the Keeley-Frontier Mine, South Lorraine Township (near Cobalt), Ontario. This sculptural, natural wire of silver is 44 mm across. (B) Silver, from the Silversides Mine, Cobalt, Ontario. A thick leaf of silver, 65 mm high, sticks up out of a matrix of Nippissing Diabase. Photos by David Joyce.

Canada is one of the world's top five producers of silver. After Mexico and Peru, we vie with the United States and Russia for position, supplying about ten percent of the total annual production. Although silver has lost its usefulness for coinage, as a hedge against inflation and investment, it is extensively used in industry for its superior conductivity of electricity and heat, as well as photographic, dental, medical and jewellery applications. Most of the silver produced today comes as a by-product of base-metal mining. However Canada has a long and interesting history of silver production. Known to exist since the time of the voyages of Jacques Cartier, silver was later discovered on the East shore of Lake Timiskaming in 1686 and again in 1850, on Silver Islet in Lake Superior in 1868 and at Cobalt in 1903, which has produced over 20,000 tonnes (600,420,000 ounces) of the metal, from over fifty mines.

The availability of specimens of native silver and silver minerals from many localities across Canada has made this species a favourite among collectors. Some spectacular wire and leaf silver (Figure 12) were found in the mines around Cobalt. Cut slabs of ore-samples are readily available, which show the interesting patterns formed by the inter-growth of silver and its associated minerals, being mainly arsenides of cobalt, nickel, silver and arsenic. The Port Radium District in the Northwest Territories produced silver wires up to 18 cm; solid masses up to 725 kg, and exquisite plates of herringbone crystals. Silver Islet has produced exquisite silver wire up to 8 cm long.

Native silver in Canada is found in British Columbia, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan. Elsewhere in the world, Norway, Germany, Mexico, Peru, Australia and Russia have produced excellent specimens.

Properties of Silver:

• Ag for the Latin argentum, meaning silver
• Native element
• Crystallography: Cubic
• Hardness: 2.5-3

1. Silver in Canada. Energy, Mines and Resources Canada pamphlet, 1991.

1. Smith, P. 1986. Harvest from the Rock: A History of Mining in Ontario. Macmillan of Canada, Toronto.
2. Strickland, H.M. 1979. Silver under the Sea: The Story of the Silver Islet Mine near Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Highway Book Shop, Cobalt.
3. Barr, E. 1988. Silver Islet: Striking it Rich in Lake Superior. Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., Toronto.
4. Grice, J.D. 1989. Famous Mineral Localities of Canada. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Markham.
5. Hoffman, A. 1974. Free Gold: The Story of Canadian Mining. Associated Book Service, New York.

10. Gold

Gold has been one of the most sought after minerals throughout the history of mankind. This started early on in civilization since gold is one of the few basic elements that occurs as itself, in nature, uncombined with other elements. Thus, gold occurs as "native" or relatively pure gold and could be picked up and used by even the most primitive person. Originally utilized for jewelry because of its malleability, ductility and ability to retain a high polish without tarnishing, gold also took on an intrinsic value and became the basis of money systems for many centuries. While gold has lost its allure as the underpinning of our monetary systems, it still is highly valued as a basic component of jewelry and, as well, has many modern industrial uses, particularly as an efficient electrical conductor in electronic applications.

Figure 13: Beautiful "leaf" gold on quartz, from the Sigma Mine, Val D'Or, Québec. The specimen on the left is 5.5 cm across. Photo by David Joyce. Figure 14: This gorgeous "plume" of native gold protruding from rock is from the Red Lake Mine, Balmertown, Ontario. The plume is 4.4 cm high. Photo by David Joyce.

The wilderness of Canada was originally opened by prospectors and mining companies searching for and mining minerals, often gold. The early histories of the USA and Canada are punctuated by the cries of "GOLD!" during the California, Cariboo, Klondike, Northern Ontario and many other gold rushes of the last century and the early part of this century. During the many prospecting and mining activities that have occurred in Canada, many fine gold specimens have been preserved (Figure 13 and 14) and can be observed in many museums and private collections. Superb gold nuggets (Figure 15) have been produced in Canada from the Cariboo and Atlin placer deposits, respectively, in southern and northern British Columbia, the Klondike in the Yukon Territory and even the Chaudiere region of Québec. It is said that you can pan fine gold from most any river across the north of Canada. Great specimens of native gold have been recovered from hardrock mines such as the Pioneer Mine, British Columbia, the San Antonio Mine, Bissett, Manitoba, the Pamour Mine, Timmins, Ontario, The Sigma Mine, Val D'Or, Québec and the Rawdon Hills region of Nova Scotia, amongst many others.

Figure 15: These gold nuggets, which are also rounded dodecahedral crystals, are from the John Hopp Mine, Barkerville, British Columbia. The largest crystal is 13 mm across. Photo by Dave Joyce.

Great displays containing excellent native gold specimens have can be seen at the following Museums in Canada: Pacific Mineral Museum, Vancouver, BC; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario and the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario.

Properties of Gold:

• Au for the Latin aurum.
• Native element
• Crystallography: Isometric. Forms crude crystals of many forms and combination of forms in the Isometric system.
• Hardness: 2.5-3.0
• Density: 19.3g/cc, over 19 times the weight of an equal volume of water!

1. Gold! Mineralogical Record. Vol. 18, No. 1 (Jan.-Feb.), 1987. Special issue on gold

Concluding Remarks

As it turned out, selecting the top ten minerals was indeed a challenge. There were many minerals that were considered for inclusion in the top ten list. Some of the "runners up" included wardite and augelite from Rapid Creek, apatite from Ontario and Québec, carletonite from Mont Saint-Hilaire, gypsum rosettes from the Red River floodway in Manitoba, labradorite from Newfoundland and Labrador, chabazite from Nova Scotia, millerite from Manitoba, and molybdenite from Québec. In fact, some localities produced specimens all worthy of being designated as a top mineral.

Will collectors agree with our choices for the top ten list, or will they hurl stones at us for not including their favourite mineral? Regardless, most collectors will agree that Canada certainly offers a wide range of unique and beautiful mineral specimens.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Laszlo Horvath for his kind assistance in the preparation of this article. We also thank the following individuals for their permission to reproduce their photographs in this article: Doug Miller, Sylvain Roy, and Daniel Comtois.

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Copyright © 2002 Charles A. Gould, Tim Jokela Jr., David K. Joyce and Dirk F. Schmid
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Article Number: CR0206105

Gould, C.A., T. Jokela Jr., D.K. Joyce, and D.F. Schmid. 2002. Canada's top ten minerals. Canadian Rockhound. 6(1):5 [http://www.canadianrockhound.com]

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