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Calcite
CaCO3 Trigonal
Calcite from Belgium.
The mountainous regions of Belgium, mostly south of the Sambre and Meuse rivers, consist for the greater part of Limestone plateaus. Although there are other types of geologic environments in Belgium, for example the metamorphic rocks encountered in several ereas of the Ardennes mountains and the eruptive rock in the Hainaut province where Calcite crystals have been found, the mainstay of Belgian Calcite specimens come from the Devonian and Dinantian Limestones. For ages Belgian Limestone has been exploited in quarries, nowadays mainly for building purposes like road construction, ornamental stones and concrete but also for the glass, food and chemical industries. From the middle ages onwards (and probably even earlier) Belgium also has been a prime source for "marble". Actually it’s not a genuine marble but a dense and hard limestone that shows very appealing ornamental patterns. The red “marble” found around Rochefort and the black and blue “marble” encountered around Yvoir and Sprimont (pierre bleu and marbre noir) have always been in high demand and to a certain extend still are, they have been exported throughout Europe. It has been said that there’s Belgian "marble" in St Peter‘s church in Rome.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite from the Dinantian Limestone
The Dinantian Limestone has been very rich in very good localities for Calcite, and to a certain extend remains as such. In Biesmeree, Bioul, Denee and Haut-le-Wastia Calcite crystals (mainly scalenohedral habits) have been found that rival many in the world.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Namur Province, Mettet, Biesmerée
Arguably the best Calcites ever found in Belgium came from the Pierre Bleu quarry near the small village of Biesmeree.
The most dominant form encountered was the scalenohedron in colours ranging from yellow to a deep orange, sometimes large crystals over 15cm in length were encountered.
The quarry delivered a lot of museum quality specimens, many of which reside in private collections in Belgium.
Sadly the quarry closed down in the 1980s
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Namur Province, Anhée, Haut-le-Wastia
Locality photo:
one, two.
The quarry near the village of Haut-le-Wastia is the only quarry in this small region west of the river Meuse that is still operated, albeit on an irregular basis, the quarries of Biesmeree, Denee and Bioul have closed down. The dominant form encountered in Haut-le-Wastia is the scalenohedron, sometimes with appealing Marcasite phantoms inside. Occasionally very large crystals can be found, up to 40cm in length (see locality photo one)
Calcite
Belgium
Namur Province, Anhée, Bioul
Very nice specimens came out of the quarry near the village of Bioul, very close to Haut-le-Wastia. The quarry has closed down.
A little bit to the east, north of Dinant (the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone!) there are several quarries. Close to the abbey of Leffe (famous for it’s trappist beer) lies the Montorguill quarry.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Namur Province, Dinant, Montorgueil Quarry (Leffe Quarry)
The Monorgueil Quarry is a very large quarry operated for gravel and concrete. A variety of habits and forms can be found, sometimes in very large sizes: scalenohedrons (up to 25cm large), rhombohedrons (up to 30cm large) and a variety of their respective twins.
A little to the north some active quarries remain exploiting the dark compact limestone around the town of Yvoir. The so called “Pierre Bleu” or “bluestone” and the "Marbre Noir" or "black marble" are used for ornamental use. Due to the compact nature of the rock few cavities are encountered and when so they are usually very small, therefore the Calcites found in them are quite small but nevertheless very attractive. To the north-east from Yvoir the Pierre Bleu zone continues almost to Liege, especially around the townships of Sprimont and Chanxhe there remain several active quarries that exploite the Pierre Bleu for ornamental stones, the coarser limestone encountered alongside the Pierre Bleu yields gravel as a by-product.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Liege Province, Sprimont, Chanxhe Quarry
 |
| 6cm | © De Nul, Richard |
Locality photo :
one
There are two quarries near the village of Chanxhe on the banks of the Ourthe river. The main product of the quarries is the ornamental Pierre Bleu stone. In the Pierre Bleu zones one encounters a coarse Limestone very rich in large pockets that contain occasionally very large Calcite crystals. Usually the somewhat smaller crystals are more attractive and can be found "dusted" with small Marcasite crystals.
To the west we encounter the town of Charleroi, a large somewhat decaying centre for mainly steel industry which flourished in the 19th and first halve of the 20th centuries but rapidly declined since the 1950s creating a large unemployed population, remaining so to this day. Around Charleroi there are several active quarries and a multitude of closed ones. Some of the best Calcites in the world (in my humble opinion…) came from two quarries that are situated closely together a couple of miles west of Charleroi, the La Sambre Quarry near Landelies and the Gralex quarry in Mont-sur-Marchienne.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Hainaut (Henegouwen; Hennegau) Province, Montignies-le-Tilleul, Landelies, La Sambre Quarry
Locality photo:
one
The La Sambre quarry is situated on the banks of the river Sambre just north of the small village of Landelies.
It is operated by the "Calcaires de la Sambre" company. A part of the Limestone encountered in the quarry is extremely pure, this is being processed on the site for use in the glass, food and chemical industries as well as for animal nourishment and agricultural fertilisers.
The Limestone of lesser quality is being processed for gravel. Calcite crystals can be found in an extremely wide variety of habits and twins, in colours ranging from colourless, yellow, orange, amber to a dark brown, sizes get up to 20cm. In 2008 Calcite crystals could be found that showed a very distinct and appealing olive green colour, they remain a rarity.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Hainaut (Henegouwen, Hennegau) Province, Charleroi, Mont-sur-Marchienne, Gralex Quarry
The Gralex quarry near Mont-sur-Marchienne was very frequently visited by collectors during the years it was being operated. In the quarry beautifull Calcite crystals could be found in an array of different forms and color. Some of the rhombohedral crystals reached sizes of over 30cm whereas the scalenohedrons were relatively smaller but therefore they showed attractive twinning and nicely crystallized lustrous faces.
The quarry ceased operations about ten years ago and the lower levels have since been submerged.
Calcite
Belgium
Hainaut (Henegouwen; Hennegau) Province, Charleroi, Couillet, Solvay quarry
Large pieces with big scalenohedrons as well as beautiful clear twins have been collected during the time when the Solvay quarry (a little south of Charleroi, between the townships of Loverval and Couillet) was still in operation. In the mid 1990s there were many large plates with big scalenohedrons on the market but nowadays the quarry is not being operated any more so the opportunities for finding specimens are very poor.
Calcite
Belgium
Namur Province, Namur, Beez, Gralex Quarry
The large Gralex quarry is located near the village of Beez, edging the outskirts of the provincial town of Namur on the banks of the river Meuse.
It is operated by the Gralex company for gravel and concrete. In the old part of the quarry that was operated until the late 1980s very nice twinned scalenohedrons were found. Nowadays the quarry exploits its more recently developed eastern part which still delivers its fair share of Calcite specimens although the quality of these is far less then those found in the old part of the quarry. Nice Calcites have also been found in the nearby quarries of Sclayn and Maizeret both situated between Namur and Liege.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Namur Province, Andenne, Seilles
Active quarry situated between Namur and Liege on the banks of the river Meuse. Attractive Calcite specimens have come out of the quarry on a regular basis. Recently Calcite on Schalenblende specimens have come out of the quarry, with Calcite in a quality uncommon for the quarry (info Paul de Bondt). The quarry is especially famous for nice finds of Fluorite in many colours during the 1980s.
[Harjo Neutkens 2009]
The Devonian Limestone
South of the Meuse river there is a large Devonian limestone plateau covering the Fagne and Famenne regions. Especially nice Calcites have been found in the so called “Calestienne” region which covers a part of the Fagne and Famenne between the provincial towns of Rochefort (again famous for it’s trappist beer!) in the east , Couvin in the west and Givet (on the border with France) to the south. The Calestienne region is very rich in Pb, Zn, Cu, Fe and Fluorite deposits and all of these have been exploited over the ages. Nowadays the only exploitation is done on Limestone for building purposes. Very nice Calcite crystals have (sporadically) come out of the quarries around the small village of Wellin, about ten km west of Rochefort.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Luxembourg Province, Wellin, Fond des Vaulx Quarry
Locality photo:
one
Calcite
Belgium
Namur Province, Rochefort, Ave-et-Auffe, Limites Quarry
Two quarries that are located only a mile apart from each other remain in operation, one of them, the “Fond des Vaulx” quarry can be visited after applying for an authorization. The other one, the “Limites” quarry is closed for mineral collecting and therefore should not be visited. Not surprisingly the two quarries show a similar paragenesis. In 2005 they worked a zone in Fond des Vaulx quarry with exceptionally large Brachiopod fossils that contained splendid lustrous colourless calcite crystals very reminiscent to the old specimens found in Cumberland. Notable minerals that accompany the Calcites are especially Fluorite (in highly lustrous purple, yellow and sometimes green crystals), Celestine, Sphalerite and Marcasite.
Quite close to Wellin, on the banks of the Lesse river, we find the now closed quarry of Resteigne, from there abundant and very nice Calcite appeared as well over the years.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Luxembourg Province, Tellin, Resteigne, La Lesse Quarry
 |
| 7cm | © Richard De Nul |
Locality photo:
one
Resteigne Quarry delivered a lot of outstanding Calcite specimens during the years of its operation. Especially the prismatic "nail head" Calcites were much sought after. Very attractive were large plates of Dolomite speckled with Marcasite on which large Calcite twins were positioned. Apart from the outstanding localities mentioned above some nice Calcite specimens occasionally came from other localities. Some of these were:
Calcite
Belgium
Namur Province, Philippeville, Villers-en-Fagne
The village of Villers-en-Fagne used to be a centre of intensive mining in the 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly for Baryte and Fluorite. Nice Calcites were found on and off especially shortly after the second world war. Minerals encountered in Villers-en-Fagne include: Baryte, Bornite, Calcite, Cerusite, Chalcopyrite, Fluorite, Galena, Goethite, Marcasite, Pyrite, Smithsonite and Cinaberite.
[Jose Dehove]
Calcite
Belgium
Hainaut (Henegouwen, Hennegau) Province, Tournai (Doornik), Antoing, Cimescaut Quarry
Around Antoing very large quarries sometimes deliver large scalenohedrons and honey coloured rhombohedral crystals.
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Calcite
Belgium
Liège Province, Verviers, Plombières-Vieille Montagne (Plombières-Altenberg) District, Kelmis, Moresnet, Vieille Montagne (Altenberg; Kelmisberg)
 |
| © C.H.M.-Schäfer |
During the mining operations around Moresnet-Vielle Montagne abundant Calcite has been found although the dominant carbonate there was Smithsonite for which it is famous.
We need more info on specimens from this locality.
Engis, close to the town of Liege, very nicely formed Calcites where found in an array of forms.
Rhisnes produced nice Calcite in the past.
Can anyone help us with information and photographs of specimens from these localities?
Other interesting information about calcite specimens from Belgium.
Interesting internet resources on Belgian Calcite:
-Jose Dehove's site: [
perso.infonie.be]
-Jean-Marc Jonville's site: [
www.calcite.be]
-Luc van Bellingen's site: [
www.fossiliraptor.be]
-Michel Blondieau's site: [
membres.lycos.fr]
-Marc Henrotin's site: [
users.skynet.be]
-Jacques Evlard's site: [
www.artistones1.be]
-Ingo Loeffler's site: [
www.the-crystalminer.com]
-CMPB (the Brussels mineral club): [
www.cmpb.net]
-Strahlen.org: [
www.strahlen.org]
Probably the best thing about prospecting for world class (imho) Calcite specimens in Belgium is that one can combine that with drinking the world famous Belgian beer! Use the following link to find out about hundreds of Belgian beers!
[
nl.wikipedia.org]
[Harjo Neutkens, 2009]
Edited 119 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2009 09:09PM by Rock Currier.
