Spinel with Forsterite

specimen number:
2062186

location:
Parker Mine, Notre-Dame-Du-Laus, Quebec, Canada

description:
Lustrous black octahedral crystals of spinel to 0.9 cm in size embedded within a matrix with blocky crystals of forsterite measuring to 1.3 cm. Collected in August, 1999.

The Parker Mine, located in the Gatineau region near Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette in Quebec, Canada, is a classic Grenville Province locality famous for its remarkable crystals. Geologically, the site consists of a phlogopite-rich pyroxenite dike that intruded into Precambrian marble and gneiss, creating a skarn-like environment during the high-pressure metamorphism of the Grenville Orogeny. This environment produced world-class specimens of phlogopite mica and, most notably, large and well-formed crystals of magnesium-rich spinel and dark, lustrous phlogopite "books." Historically, the mine was primarily worked for amber mica (phlogopite) to be used as electrical insulation, with the most active period of extraction occurring between 1890 and 1910. Although small-scale compared to modern industrial operations, it gained international recognition among mineralogists for the sheer quality and size of its specimens. Today, the mine is no longer commercially active, but it remains a legendary site in Canadian mineralogy, celebrated for its unique silicate and oxide mineral assemblages.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.