What is the
Canadian Rockhound?
The Canadian Rockhound is a free web-based geological magazine for collectors, beginners and educators. It introduces beginners and children to the world of rocks, minerals, fossils, gemstones and Canada's geology. The magazine also serves as a valuable resource for professional and avocational collectors in Canada and around the world. Here you will find over 120 online articles and various resources related to the rockhounding hobby and the earth sciences, including a club directory and a list of Canadian dealers and suppliers.
The main attraction of the magazine are the free online issues that are published twice each year (winter, summer). These contain feature articles on Canadian minerals, gemstones, fossils, geology, and rockhounding in general. Most articles have been written by Canadians who are collectors or are professionals with a background in geology.
The Canadian Rockhound is periodically updated and expanded to include new content, and apart from the issues you will find many other resources and interesting content to explore.
We hope you enjoy the Canadian Rockhound magazine. Please note that there is no subscription and no printed edition. Feel free to browse, click and read!
A Brief History of the Canadian Rockhound Magazine
The first official rock and mineral clubs in Canada appeared as early as the 1930's in Calgary and Toronto. However, mineral and fossil collecting in Canada gained popularity only later in the 1950's. The period from 1950 to 1980 witnessed an explosion of local clubs across Canada. In those days there was great interest in the earth sciences. It was also a time when advances in geology were being made (acceptance of continental drift and plate tectonics theories). Many Canadians, both young and old, joined local clubs to learn more about the rocks, minerals and fossils. The lapidary hobby also became popular and many clubs began offering workshops on rock polishing, gemstone cutting and jewellery making. Monthly meetings attracted families, youth, serious collectors and geologists. Some clubs have records documenting the attendance of more than 100 people at monthly meetings!
The Original Magazine:
1956-1980
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Canadian Rockhound cover, April 1967 issue.
Canadian Rockhound cover, August 1969 issue.
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Some Canadians who were active club members during this period recall a popular magazine called the "Canadian Rockhound." It was published for many years by the Lapidary Rock & Mineral Society of British Columbia. Soon after its formation in 1955, the society produced a "Quarterly Bulletin" in November 1956 to inform its members of upcoming events and provide information about collecting localities. Cleo Sparkes became the editor of this bulletin in February 1959, and in May 1960 the society changed the name of the bulletin to "The Canadian Rockhound".
The first few issues of the Canadian Rockhound appeared in the form of a newsletter-style booklet, which soon evolved into a true magazine with many illustrations and a colourful attractive cover. This "original Canadian gem magazine" was filled with many interesting articles on mineral localities, gemstones, facet cutting, fossil hunting, and lapidary techniques. Most important the magazine offered Canadian content. For example, an article from the February 1968 issue described some of the notable minerals and fossils found in each Canadian province and territory.
Publication of the original Canadian Rockhound continued throughout the 1970's until December 1980. The high cost of publishing the magazine forced the Lapidary Rock & Mineral Society of B.C. to discontinue it. The society reverted to printing a provincial newsletter thereafter.
The Canadian Rockhound
on the Internet
The internet played an important role in promoting the rockhounding hobby during the 1990's in a way unimagined 40 years earlier. The birth of the "World Wide Web" in 1992 made it possible to publish information on the internet in a graphical and electronic format that could be read by a worldwide audience. Internet e-mail made it convenient for people to share information and exchange news very quickly. By 1995 websites on the rockhounding hobby began to appear on the web.
In January 1997, Dirk Schmid, a graduate student studying at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon started an internet magazine under the name Canadian Rockhound – without prior knowledge of an earlier magazine by that name. The main reason for the magazine's creation was the lack of a well-designed and useful website with information on the earth sciences.
The goal of the new Canadian Rockhound was to provide a high quality earth science magazine in electronic format on the internet. The magazine originally began publishing online issues. The first few were successful and content increased with each new issue. Collectors from across Canada and around the world began contributing articles to the magazine. In 1998 the magazine was expanded to include a news and events section, a resources section and a list of Canadian dealers and suppliers. A companion website for children, the Junior Rockhound, was added in 1999. The magazine also maintained a club directory.
The Canadian Rockhound website was moved from Saskatoon to Winnipeg in October 1999, where it was relaunched using its new www.canadianrockhound.com domain. In August 2003, the Canadian Rockhound acquired the www.canadianrockhound.ca domain.
Since 1997, the Canadian Rockhound has been visited by more than 100,000 people, and its popularity continues to increase. Through the internet, the Canadian Rockhound has become a valuable resource to collectors and an educational tool for children and teachers in Canada and around the world.
Acknowledgements:
Many hours of work and effort went into planning, designing, building and promoting this website. The Canadian Rockhound magazine thanks the following individuals and organizations for their special contributions and/or valuable assistance:
Awards:
Organizations:
- Calgary Rock & Lapidary Club
- Canadian Gemmological Association
- Canadian Micro Mineral Association
- Gem & Mineral Club of Scarborough
- Gem & Mineral Federation of Canada
- Lapidary Rock & Mineral Society of B.C.
- Manitoba Museum of Man & Nature
- National Library of Canada (assistance with digital archiving)
- Royal Ontario Museum
- Sudbury Rock & Lapidary Society
- Walker Mineralogical Club
Authors / Other Individuals:
The Canadian Rockhound also thanks the following individuals for their valuable assistance and for their regular article contributions:
Brad S. Wilson
Kingston, Ontario
Canadian gemstones
Charles Gould
Toronto, Ontario
Canadian minerals
Daniel Comtois
Montreal, Quebec
Quebec mineral localities
Dave Joyce
Newmarket, Ontario
Canadian minerals
Doug Boyce
St. John's, Newfoundland
Newfoundland fossils
Doug Miller
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Canadian and Saskatchewan minerals
Doug Wilson
Stewiacke, Nova Scotia
Canadian minerals
Dr. Edgar Pye
Toronto, Ontario
Geology and minerals
(deceased)
Gilles Poulin
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia and Canadian minerals
John Biczok
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Manitoba, Canadian and worldwide minerals
John Ratcliffe
Kamloops, British Columbia
B.C. fossil and mineral localities
Laszlo Horvath
Mont Saint-Hilaire
Malcolm Back
Toronto, Ontario
Technical help (Royal Ontario Museum)
Dr. Walter Bowser
USA, worldwide mineral safaris
(deceased)
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Marilyn Fraser
Mississauga, Ontario
Author and editorial assistance
Marilyn Laframboise
Technical help (Royal Tyrrell Museum)
Phyllis Richardson
Editor of the original Canadian Rockhound magazine
Quintin Wight
Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian minerals and micro-minerals
Randy Lord
British Columbia
B.C. jade
Richard Gunter
Manitoba minerals
Dr. Rick Hudson
Sydney, British Columbia
Author
Ron Zeilstra
Victoria, British Columbia
Canadian minerals
Ronnie Van Dommelen
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia and Canadian minerals
Sylvain Roy
Quebec minerals
Tim Jokela
London, Ontario
Ontario and Canadian minerals
Tony Forsyth
The Australian Mineral Collector
Trudy Martin
Calgary, Alberta
Willow Wight
Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian Gemmological Association
Win Robertson
Vancouver, British Columbia
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Photography:
The Canadian Rockhound gratefully acknowledges the following individuals who's photographs appear on some of the many pages throughout the website or as part of the graphic design artwork:
Brad Wilson - gemstones
Blair and Jennifer Campbell - fossils
Chris Rylands - barite from the Rock Candy Mine
Daniel Comtois - Quebec minerals
Dean Whittaker - Hawaiian lava flows
Doug Miller - Canadian minerals
Doug Wilson - Canadian minerals
Ed and Ruth Debicki - Sudbury photos
Ed Zeschuk - Edmonton photos
Hans Schmid - Canadian Rocky Mountain landscape scenery
John Ratcliffe - fossils
John Thomas - Nunavut scenery
Marilyn Fraser - Canadian scenery and dinosaurs
Marty Lewadny - minerals
Ron Zeilstra - minerals
Ronnie Van Dommelen - Nova Scotia minerals
Stuart Milliken - tilobite fossil (Ceraurus)
Sylvain Roy - Quebec minerals
Tony Forsyth - crocoite from Australia
Trudy Martin - lapidary and jewellery
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