I explore the Old Mine Beneath Robillard Mountain – Corundum in Ontario

Beneath Robillard Mountain Craigmont is about as distant from the reach of the modern world as you are likely to get in the “near north”. Indeed it appears on the map as a substantial settlement but as you cruise up Boulter road you become aware of how far you really are, both geographically and culturally [...]

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Fluor-richterite – Rockhound in Bancroft, Ontario

  Fluor-richterite – Rockhound in Bancroft Ontario At first glance the Essonville Road Cut looked much like many others in the area – gnawed upon by rockhounds and strewn with shards of calcite and sand. Most immediately obvious were the huge black crystals that protruded from the calcite – a dyke that is theorized to [...]

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Shaft to down Below

Gold Bearing Quartz vein Finding gold in Ontario There are supposedly over 9000 abandoned mines known to exist in Ontario – shafts, caverns and tunnels, many collapsing, unstable or traps within which poisonous gases settle. At this mine the granite hillside is undercut. Here a fallen boulder, streaking in oxidizing mineral residue, partially blocks a [...]

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The near-abandoned Bristol Mine

Abandoned mine in Quebec – Bristol Mine P1020339, originally uploaded by Mic2006. Had an interesting time last weekend. I went to see the old abandoned Bristol Mine along the banks of the Ottawa River. The “town” of bristol mines still exists and the old mine property is still obvious for its enormous heaps tailings. Bristol [...]

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cabbed and rough corundum crystal

finding sapphires in Ontario Faceted and rough corundum crystal, originally uploaded by Mic2006. This is what ruby and sapphire looks like in their rougher forms. They are hexagonal crystals, generally displaying a six sided shape and in the case of the cabbed ruby in the fore-ground, also showing some pretty obvious hexagonal zoning. Zoning indicates the [...]

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Big Chunk of Natural Silver

Raw Silver in Cobalt Mining Museum dad 043, originally uploaded by Mic2006. Here is my dad in the Cobalt mining museum. Sitting on top of a safe they have a chunk of silver that they dug out of the earth nearby worth around $14,000. I doubt that must be the value by weight – maybe [...]

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Tourmaline at Coe Hill Gold Mine

Rocks Minerals and Caves in Ontario – the north IMG_1620, originally uploaded by Mic2006. This is Ralph holding a slab of “tourmaline in quartz” at the Coe Hill gold mine. There is an intrusion or pocket at the top oif a hill on that property that consists almost exclusively of quartz impregnated tourmaline. One interesting [...]

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Abandoned Dwyer Fluorite Mine

I thought I had made a new discovery P1010863, originally uploaded by Mic2006. I noticed this blocked up mine and an interesting scar above it when I was travelling along Old Mumford Road after an unsucessful attempt to find the Tripp Nu-age mine. I thought that I had found a new area for collecting rocks [...]

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The Abandoned Harcourt Graphite Mine near Bancroft

Abandoned Mine in Northern Ontario P1010856, originally uploaded by Mic2006. I had one heck of a time finding the Harcourt Graphite Mine, following directions from an old guide book only to discover that the directions were wrong. Simply put, the mine is only about 150 meters off highway 648 – just outside Harcourt. Being densely [...]

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fluor – richterite; its pretty rare and amazing orthoclase

Just scattered in the woods so densely you can hardly walk without standing on a crystal P1020064, originally uploaded by Mic2006. Check out these orthoclase feldspar crystals – or at least my guide told me they were orthoclase crystals. I have not had the chance to verify this. I met an interesting gent who runs [...]

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