Goethite

specimen number:
2262119

location:
BridgevilleMines, Pictou Co., Nova Scotia, Canada

description:
Velvety stalactitic crystallized goethite across the front of matrix. In good condition with slight rubbing present as seen, neat locality example for the species.

The Bridgeville area, located in the East River Valley of Pictou County, Nova Scotia, is renowned for its unique deposits of secondary iron oxides. Geologically, the mineralization is found within the Contact Zone where Carboniferous Windsor Group limestones and shales meet older Silurian rocks, forming massive pockets and veins of iron ore through hydrothermal replacement and groundwater leaching. The locality is highly regarded by mineralogists for its exceptional velvety botryoidal goethite, which occurs as dark brown to black, radiating fibrous masses with a soft, satin-like surface luster. Historically, mining and quarrying in the Bridgeville district began in the late 1820s, but reached its peak industrial activity between 1891 and 1904 to supply the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company's furnace at Ferrona. Operations consisted of several pits and shafts, such as the Saddler and Black Diamond mines, which provided high-grade limonite and goethite until the depletion of easily accessible ore led to a decline in production.

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