Chromite

specimen number:
2262281

location:
Star Chrome Mine, Quebec, Canada

description:

Black masses of chromite throughout matrix. The specimen comes with a previous collection data card with an original acquisition date in 1956.

The Star Chrome mine, located near Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine within the Les Appalaches region of southeastern Quebec, Canada, was a notable historic open-pit operation developed exclusively for metallurgical-grade chromium ore. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the famed Southern Quebec Ophiolite Belt, specifically localized inside the heavily altered ultramafic core of the Thetford Mines ophiolite complex. Hydrothermal and magmatic processes within the oceanic lithosphere generated podiform accumulations of massive, dense chromite ores crosscut by complex structural fracture zones, resulting in localized mineralized cavities that produced highly distinctive crystals of chromite alongside rich secondary serpentine and vesuvianite group assemblages. Historically, the outcrop was discovered in 1904, sparking initial surface exploration, with systematic commercial quarrying and open-pit mining accelerating intensely during the strategic metal shortages of World War I to supply the North American defense industry. Following the war, production became sporadic due to shifting global economics and the availability of cheaper international ore sources, operating intermittently through subsequent decades under various small syndicates until declining reserves and the exhaustion of accessible near-surface pods led to the permanent cessation of all extraction by the mid-twentieth century.

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