Only from Canada, eh?

Great thread, Maggie, just enjoyed half an hour of mineral viewing, including many fine fluorites, but surprisingly none from Rock Candy. Had to fix that! Specimen is 10.5 cm across, the intergrown octos are around 2 cm each. Collected from the Just Missed pocket, July 2010. 'Just Missed' is a reference to a drill hole we used for a rope anchor point while filming a tv show in 2008. Had the drill gone 2 cm deeper, would have found the pocket 2 years earlier!


Specimens as collected from the water-filled pocket. When dry, a white coating of quartz obscured the green colour. Specimen above was cleaned by Cal Graeber, who has a wealth of fluorite cleaning experience from Rogerly.

Bob

Sperrylite from Broken Hammer Property Val Caon, Ontario 6 mm crystal

Looks like I have some catching up to do!!

Thanks for the contributions, folks -

Stephen - thanks for kick starting 2012 with that great cobaltite specimen - quite sharp and clean. I wonder if it might have Reiner's fingerprints on it. He worked the Elizabeth Lake Mine claim a few years back and much of the material brought to market, including the scorodite and pharmacosiderite pseudomorphs came from that time.

Hey Bob, thanks for joining the fun! And it's wonderful photos like yours that reminds me Canada does have SOME specimens of size and colour in spite of the glaciers!

And Bram, I'm sure your contribution will cause something of a stir in the community... are you able to share any information on the piece and how you came to acquire it? Thanks for sharing!

Maggie

Maggie,

No fingerprints, no DNA, a small amount of lint and a trace of what could be elbow grease.

My notes record that I got the cobaltite in an exchange with Al Stevenson in 1972.

Cheers!

Steve

LOL Steve - elbow grease and I daresay some sweat - that's one long haul into the mine site. 1972 puts this a decade or so before Reiner's time with the claim -

M

Thanks Maggie - here is the link to the news release on the find:

[www.wallbridgemining.com]

If you would like to see a video of the sperrylite you can go to my website:

[finemineralblog.blogspot.com]

Thanks for the link, Bram. It confirmed my thoughts - Brad Wilson showed us an eye-popping 1.0 cm sperrylite crystal on matrix last fall when we stopped by his booth at the Ancaster Mineral show. It was so large (for Canadian material, that is) that we couldn't really ID it when he asked us to guess. I've been waiting for the news to be announced.

I've cut and paste the following from the Wallbridge Mining web page:

"The 2011 bulk sample at Broken Hammer also resulted in discovery of exceptionally large museum quality sperrylite (PtAs2) crystals which occur as an important platinum bearing mineral. Wallbridge is currently working with Bradley Wilson at Alpine Gems to curate and market the specimens."

I spent a couple days with Brad before Christmas. He and I will both be showcasing some of the specimen photos in separate talks at the RMS in April.

This look familliar, Bram? Nice one!

Nice close up, Michael! It really shows off how beautiful this specimen is!

Michael, I notice you haven't posted this to the galleries , while Bram has posted his. It would be good to post these together as Parent and Child photos, but I'm not sure which should be which. Personally, in general, I like a full view of the specimen as the parent, but others say no the real interest is in the detail. Anyway it would be good to have your photo, Michael, in the gallery. Great rock, Thanks.

Amazing Sperrylite, Bram!

From the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Calcite from Aguathuna on the west side of the island.


I like the contrasting terminations on each end; different from what we have in Ontario.

Andy Haighton,
Brampton, Ontario

Right you are Rob. I have a bunch of stuff I've been meaning to upload properly, but I've been working under a couple of insane deadlines recently. I'll be sure to add them soon - promise!

Michael

A spectacular sperrylite fellas! I like the close up shot for best effect.

Andrew, that is a really interesting calcite from Aguathuna. It reminds me of a fish swimming along, rather iconic for the region.

Here is a thumbnail specimen from Labrador:

Magnetite in matrix composed of Chalcopyrite, Pyrrhotite and Pentlandite.
Voisey's Bay
near Nain, Labrador
approx 23mm x 18mm

Hi Stephanie:

Has anyone checked the chemistry of the "magnetite" in your photo? The spinel group mineral in massive Ni sulphides at the Thompson Mine is an intermediate member of the group, far from pure magnetite. It is slightly magnetic, enough to allow the Thompson Mines to be discovered by airborne geophysics.

Thanks for posting that Stephanie. There is now only one .Voisey's Bay locality in the data base but as before zero photos, Could you please add this to the galleries.

Hi Gunter - the magnetite is extremely magnetic. These have likely been tested as there is a Ni sulphide mine operating there.

Rob - I just knew you were going to say that, , will be uploaded shortly.

steph

Hope everyone is enjoying your weekend!

This specimen of sylvanite and gold is from a British Columbia locality 15 miles east of Butedale. I would like to inquire after a notation on the label: does anyone know of a Mr. Mildrum of Vancouver?

Hello,

Just a quick comment on the locale for Michael's gypsum--should read Willow Creek, near Nanton, Alberta.

Cheers,
Rod

Hello,

Just thought folks might enjoy seeing one of the better sperrylites from the new find in Sudbury. This sperrylite crystal measures 1.2cm on edge. These sperrylites may not be the largest in the world but are definitely contenders for the best.

Cheers,
Rod

Hello Rod! Thanks for joining the thread and for the sperrylite photo!

Maggie