Collecting Rare Fluororichterite at the Essonville roadcut, Wilberforce.

By: Michal Adamowicz, rockhound

Hail how you all doing.
Today I got an article for you about the Essonville roadcut in Wilberforce, Ontario. This place is unique as it is one of the only place in the world that you can find large brown to black Fluororichterite crystals. This rare species only occurs here as larger bigger-then-microscopic crystals at this location in the entire world, so its worth to have a look. So lets first talk about directions.

Directions:

From the intersection of Essonville road & highway 648 in Wilberforce travel west (left) following Essonville Road, follow it for 4 km until you come to a roadcut on both sides of the road. The main roadcut is on the left(south) side, but there is also a smaller one on the north side also. Its best to park at the bottom of the hill or just follow Essonville road further down, turn around & go back up & park right beside the main roadcut. You can also park beside Sunset Cottages Road. On your way to the roadcut along Essonville road you will pass Cedar Lake road at 1.2 km from the 648/Essonville road intersection, then you will pass Otter Lake road at 3.5 km from the 648/Essonville road intersection, & finally you will pass sunset Cottages road 3.9 km from the 648/Essonville road intersection. The GPS coordinates of this cut are: 45.01172 N / -078.24762 W. Now a bit of Geology.

Geology:

The roadcut is a coarse, white crystalline limestone lens that occurs in gneiss carrying large crystals of Fluororichterite & Phlogopite mica.

Here are pictures of this roadcut:

Here is the main roadcut, looking north east. In the distance you can see some signs, one of which is for Sunset Cottages road.


Here is the smaller roadcut on the opposite side of the road (north side).


Here is a close-up to the main roadcut, seen right from Essonville road.


Here is a close-up to show some of the crystals. You can see some of the Fluororichterite crystals in calcite. Enticing aren't they?


Before we go any further here is a list of minerals found at the main & smaller north roadcut.

Main roadcut (south)
Pyroxene Group
Phlogopite mica
Fluororichterite
Calcite


North roadcut
Apatite
Hornblende
Biotite
Fluororichterite
Calcite

Alright, lets talk about collecting.

Once you arrive at the main roadcut, & you have a quick walk around you will be amazed at all the Fluororichterite crystals waiting for you encased in calcite. But like some cruel joke you will find out that the rock in INCREDIBLY thought to chip or break through. If you want to collect at the rock face you will need some heavy tools. A sledge hammer will help but even then it barely scratches the rock. The rock is tough & you will need to discipline it for some time before it rewards you with some crystals. This one of those sites that you really need to work for your reward.

If you use smaller tools like a 3 pound mallet to try & chip out individual crystals you will find out that they seam to break up a lot. That is because when you hit the calcite it will “shift” minutely, like plaster to react to your blows. Unfortunately the Fluororichterite don’t shift with the calcite so they fracture. Its unfortunate but if you want sample you might need to try to break off a large piece or rock calcite. Of course if you had cutting tools like a diamond saw that would make it easier, you could use the saw to just make an incision so that you can fit a chisel into it & use a sledge. I am not sure if you can legally use a saw at the cut but the cut has been so ripped apart by rockhounds I doubt it would make a big difference. Use it at own risk or better yet call Wilberforce city or tourism to see if they would allow it, you can also try Bancroft tourism as they are connected with the regions around them.

Ok, there is another way to get samples, that is: digging in the rubble along the edge of the roadcut. This way you might find long buried boulders of calcite with Fluororichterite or better yet you might find loose Fluororichterite crystals. Its worth a try, as the rock is very tough & hard to chip since there are few places to fit a chisel.

So here is a summery of collecting methods.
1.) Use a sledge hammer to break of large rock boulders to chip or take with you.
2.) Use a small 3 pound or so mallet to chip crystals out of the calcite.
3.) Dig around the roadcut to find loose crystals or large buried boulders with crystals to break up on site or take with you.
4.) Use cutting tools to cut out a piece of rock or to make an incision in the rock to fit a chisel in & use a sledge. (
Use only if allowed by the city)


The first three are the most popular collecting methods for this site.

Here are some samples from this cut:

Double terminated Fluororichterite on white calcite. (4.5 x 3.6 cm)


Fluororichterite on white calcite. (7.1 x 6.2 cm).


Now you should know what’s coming next if you read any of my other articles, advantages & disadvantages of this site. You guessed it.

Advantages:
1.) Can collect right from car, very close to road.
2.) Easy to locate.
3.) Very rare place on Earth for very rare crystals.
4.) Located near other sites: Desmont mine, & numerous sites near Wilberforce & old Mumford road.
5.) An abundance of the rare crystals are present.

Disadvantages:
1.) Large crystals are very hard to remove from the rock.
2.) Need heavy tools and a lot of suppressed anger that you can focus on the rock.
3.) The site has received extreme rockhound pressure as it a very rare site for this mineral species.
4.) Most Fluororichterite samples recovered are small (in the 1-4 cm length range) due to the difficulty of rock
removal. Bigger crystals are harder to get.

Conclusion:

Well here you go. Basically tough collecting but worth it, few places give you such an easily accessible site to look for world rare crystals. If you are determined you can get some samples here definitely. Its an easy to find site & if you are in Wilberforce you might as well visit it. Just in case you want to buy some sample you might be able to find some from the Princess Sodalite shop, east of Bancroft. Bring some tough tools & be determined, ime sure you will find what you look for.

Rockhound Safe, & with Determination.

Referance:
- Mindat mineral list, Essonville roadcut.
- Bancroft & district Mineral collecting guidebook, Essonville roadcut, geology, page
41, 2005 edition.

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