Rockhounding Activities

Bennet Lake

By invitation only. OLMC members made a request to a property owner to visit a disused feldspar open-pit mine at Bennet Lake, north-west of Perth. Feldspar has a number of industrial applications, including the use as a flux agent in ceramics. There used to be a number of small mines in the area: mica, phosphate and feldspar.

Fishscale Peristerite

A household in Perth is willing to allow some rockhounding on their property in exchange for a fee per person and maximum 5 pounds of material per person, plus the usual good etiquette. This is a great privilege, as the site was closed for a long time due to some bad apples in the rockhounding community. The equipment required is minimal. If you have them, bring a rock hammer, a small sledge, chisels, a collection container (cloth bag or bucket) and a small garden rake. Also bug repellent, gloves and sun protection is wise. Lunch is optional, and there are some good restaurants in Perth.

Just a refresher about the conditions:

• This is a privilege extended only to club members as the owners do not want the public to have access to their property
• Whatever is taken to the site is to be taken back out - don't leave trash or tools behind
• Take a maximum of 5 lb of material per person
• Cost is $10 (2015) per person regardless of age

Perthite

There is a site near the Rideau Ferry, just past Glenn Drive on Elm Grove Road in Perth. The location has limited space, so people must take turns getting material. There is a great amount of top quality material to be found and it is right at the side of the road. If each person takes only a half kilogram or so of material, everyone should get enough to cut some nice stones.

If you have time, check out nearby Murphy's Point and the Silver Queen Mine. The mine is a turn-of-the-(20th)-century mica mine that is an educational side trip. Bring gloves, a hat, sturdy shoes or boots, and it is recommended to bring a chisel, a hammer, and some lunch.

Quadeville Beryl Pit

This is a popular place to visit, and it is open to anyone willing to drive 2.5 hours to Quadeville. There is a fee to enter the pit, payable at the corner store across from the poutinerie. There is an outhouse there, if needed. Park on the road, and follow the trail to the dumping pit. You will find: beryl, peristerite, amazonite, smokey quartz, black tourmaline, weak perthite, weak rose quartz. Bring lunch, bug repellant, gloves, hammer chisels, goggles, buckets/bags, spray bottle.

Craigmont Mine

Even if you are not interested in rockhounding, the Craigmont site still has beautiful views, the old adit and remains of buildings. Everyone who goes will be guaranteed a piece of corundum. You may want to bring a small shovel, chisel and hammer, and other safety gear. Bug spray is a must-have in this swampy area.

Mountain Grove

A pleasant 90-minute drive southwest on Highway 7 leads to Mountain Grove. Five minutes south of the town is a rock cut containing green unakite. If you do take stone from this area, please be mindful that parts of the rock cut are on private property. Also be mindful of traffic.

Smart Mine near Golden Lake

There is a $10 charge to enter this property. Materials to be found are: apatite, titanite, feldspar and hornblende. As an addition to the digs, members may want to take in the very good museum in Eganville, which has a good collection of local minerals and fossils. There is also a geological walk in Eganville, with posters explaining the local geology. Finally, the Bonnechere caves are also nearby. Equipment: hammer, chisel(s), bucket or carrying bag and the usual bug repellent, water, lunch etc. Participants must assume responsibility for their own safety. There are open trenches on the property.

Quebec Highway 5

The site is north of Chelsea, Quebec, and consists of rock cuts from highway expansion. If safety teams touring the area find anyone acting in a reckless manner, they may kick them out. Please be mindful of safety no matter how nice the rock may look!

What to wear: CSA Certified Hard Hats (yellow construction hat), CSA Certified (Green Triangle) Steel toed boots, Eye protection (only when swinging hammer though), Orange Safety Vest (overcoat vest used by all road construction crew), Long pants, sleeved shirts, and working gloves.

What else to bring: Chisel, prying bar, and masses (as you wish; many samples can be picked from the ground); Newspaper and pails or cloth bags to wrap and carry your specimens; Water and food. There are groceries and restaurants that are not far around, but it may be best to bring at least a bottle of water and some snacks.

What you may find: Scapolite, Tremolite, Diopside, Galena, Pyrite, Unknown florescent minerals (over five species so far!), Serpentine, Magnesite, Apatite, Biotite, Phlogopite, Calcite crystals, Quartz crystals, and much more, including a bunch of fellow rock hounds enthusiast!

Quebec Highway 50

The site near Hawkesbury is located close to a bridge. Known for flourescent calcite and scapolite, the best time to go may be in darkness when a UV light will make the material highly visible.

Bancroft and Titanite Hill

Bancroft in the Hastings County is close to several sites: Millside Park, Marmoraton Mine, Titanite Hill. The town also hosts the Rockhound Gemboree in the summer. This is a worthwhile trip, very relaxing and social. Search for calcite, apatite, titanite, zircon, magnetite, and more.

Titanite Hill: Near Bancroft, and now on private property with a collection fee, and reachable by a logging road, the area contains small titanite crystals and feldspar.

Cabonga

Book a cabin for a few days at Le Domaine and rockhound in the area, or go fishing. Guests are encouraged to bring their own drinking water or boil the local water before consuming. A small campground at nearby Lac Rapide may have places available, too. Camping or parking your RV on the shore of the reservoir is free, but the only service available is a portable outhouse. Club members visited here to hunt for blue corundum, but there are many different minerals available.

Bowmanville - St. Mary's Quarry

The NPGS sometimes organizes trips to this site, and it is open to card-carrying OLMC members.

Kaladar

Tourmalinated Quartz locality north of Kaladar, southwest of Ottawa and between Bancroft and Kingston. It is about a 2.5 hour drive down Highway 7, then north on Highway 41, and then down logging roads. Minerals to collect include Tourmalinated Quartz (black Schorl Tourmaline) and Amphibolinated Quartz (brown Actinolite).

Explore Ontario Highlands

Over the years, many people have taken the time to survey sites and provide information on where certain types of stone are located, and how to get to them. The problem is keeping the information up-to-date. The OLMC library has a collection of geological surveys and lists of locations, but none are recent. The latest attempt is the Mineral Deposit Inventory for the Province of Ontario (MDI). It is an index of all documented mineral occurrences in the records of the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS). Property status information, such as whether a particular Lot is Crown, or privately owned, is now available through OGS products such as the online mapping applications, ClaiMaps and Geoclaims, and datasets available for viewing in Google Earth. This is not a guarantee of free public access or reward, however, because there are certain errors and inaccuracies in the system, and there are other non-property rights such as unpatented mining claims which are subject to change and can affect certain types of acces. Michael Bainbridge is member of the Ontario Highlands Tourism Organization, who has provided a partial listing of Hastings County from the MDI. He would ask that people:

• use the MDI#s (links) in the attached document to view the original records to determine which sites you might feel are worth visiting
• use the advice and information contained within the Informational Resources for Recreational Geology and Recreational Access Toolkit documents to verify property status and secure permission to collect where necessary (download here)
• assess the site
• Document the findings, and provide feedback to OHTO