Ontario Fluorescent Minerals

Ontario has produced a nice variety of minerals that respond to shortwave or longwave ultraviolet radiation. Some, like sodalite and scapolite, are famous among fluorescent mineral collectors. This is far from a complete list.

Calcite, mild to bright pink, and orange, SW

- crystals from the McGregor Quarry, near Windsor, fluoresce a nice orange              

- numerous localities, Bancroft district and elsewhere

Chabazite, green, SW

- Hwy 62 roadcut, near Bancroft; Mineral News, V11,#1, p. 4

Chondrodite, bright yellow-orange, SW

- Cameron Quarry, near Carleton Place 

- fluorescent chondrodite/norbergite said to occur at the York River Skarn Zone, near Bancroft; Robbins, p.249

Diopside, bright blue, SW

- grains with fluorescent "wernerite" from Bancroft; Robbins, pp.264-265             

- grains with fluorescent phlogopite from Bancroft; Robbins, pp.273-274

Dolomite, dark pink, LW

- Texmont/Fatima Mine, Timmins, A.Sabina, 1974, GSC Paper 73-13, p.151

Eucryptite, bright red, SW

- a pegmatite near Nakina, Thunder Bay district, CM V8 #3 p.377

Fluoborite, white, SW

- prisms to 2 cm, Crystal Lake roadcut, Bancroft, A. Sabina, GSC Misc.Rep't.39, 1986, p. 61

Fluorapatite, bright reddish pink, or sometimes blue, SW

- Hickey-Murphy Lead Mine, Kingston, A.Sabina, 1974, GSC Paper 73-30, p.17

- Bancroft, Manuel Robbins, Rocks & Minerals V70#3,pp.193-197

 

- blue fluorescence mentioned by Robbins, p.89

Fluorite, light yellow, yellowish-white, white, bright blue, SW

-Madoc area mines

- cubes from the Dundas Quarry, near Hamilton, fluoresce a bright yellowish

 

- roadcut on North Baptiste Lake Rd, about 250 m west of its intersection with Hwy 62, Herschel Twp., Bancroft, has produced small green octahedra that fluoresce bright blue in a matrix of red-fluorescing calcite (N.Schachtman)

Meta-autunite, brilliant yellow, SW

-Faraday/Madawaska Mine, Bancroft, author's collection                                   

- also disseminated FL material in marble, probably a product of uraninite decomposition, at Faraday Hill, Monk Road roadcut, Faraday Twp.,  (N.Schachtman), and minor amounts known from other localities

Opal, bright green, SW

- minute botryoidal masses to a few mm, Beryl Pit, Quadeville

Phlogopite, bright lemon yellow, SW

-Bancroft district, with fluorescent blue diopside, Robbins, pp.273-274

Powellite, shades of yellow, LW & SW

- Parham Moly Pit; Leach, p.33

 

- also Faraday Hill, Monk Road roadcut, Faraday Twp., rimming molybdenite, noted by N. Schachtman

Pyroxene group, greenish white, SW

- Boyce Mine, Kingston, A.Sabina, 1974, GSC Paper 73-30, p.34

Scapolite group, reddish pink, SW

- various localities, Kingston - Bancroft districts

Scapolite group, yellow, SW and orange, LW

- Bancroft district, one of the more famous Canadian fluorescent minerals; Robbins, pp.282-283

Scheelite, brilliant blue-white, SW

-National Graphite Mine; Leach p.54

-Sharbot Lake, Bancroft, and others

Sodalite, from colorless to pink/purple, SW, orange, LW

- world famous color-change variety, Bancroft district

Stevensite, intense green, SW

- a roadcut north of Wilberforce produced numerous fine green diopside crystals, coated with a brownish film that fluoresces bright green and "gives an X-ray pattern for stevensite." - George Robinson, Min.Rec.V17 #5, p.339

Strontianite, cream, SW

- the off-white balls collected several decades ago at the Dundas Quarry, near Hamilton, fluoresce and phosphoresce

Tourmaline group, bright yellow, SW

- Kaladar Marble Qu., tiny colorless xls, Sabina 1970,p.94

 

- Timmins Mine, Westport, A.Sabina, 1974, GSC Paper 73-30, p.29 & p.46

Tremolite, bright yellow, SW

- road cuts in Perth area, Sabina, Paper 69-50, p.76

Uranophane, weak yellow, SW

- Madawaska/Faraday Mine, Bancroft

Uranophane-beta, weak yellow, SW

- Madawaska/Faraday Mine, Bancroft

Zircon, pale yellow, SW

- Beryl Pit, near Quadeville,

- McLaren Mine, near Perth, and doubtless others in the Bancroft area

Further Reading:

FLUORESCENCE, Gems and Minerals Under Ultraviolet Light, Manuel Robbins, Geoscience Press, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona, 1994