** NOTE: Mineral collecting field trips will begin again in the Spring. Click on Previous Events below to browse past field trips, meetings and other events. Come to our monthly meetings which are held every second Thursday each month. Bring your rocks and minerals to have experts identify or exchange for other minerals plus attend fascinating presentations. Presentations are in English but bilingual club members would be happy to translate questions.
Give us feedback or suggest speakers in the Comments section on the Home page.
The Miller Property includes the Smart Mine established around 1880. Apatite was the main target because of its phosphate used as fertilizer. The main minerals that can be found are apatite, fluorapatite, calcite, biotite, microcline felspar, amazonite, titanite and zircon. Parking is fairly close to the diggings although low cars may want to park a...
Amherst Island is located just south of Kingston. We will meet at the Ferry at 10:00 am. After a short ferry ride at 10:30 am, we plan to visit two fossil locations: 11:00 am at Topsy Farms and in the afternoon at the far south-east end of island near the bird sanctuary. Note: We did...
Members can choose to attend just one day or both days. Reserve a motel in Bancroft early if staying overnight. Please register at the bottom of this page for each day. Saturday: Schickler Fluorite Occurrence and Desmont Mine Near Wilberforce (about 30 minutes from Bancroft) are two mineral locations. We will meet at the Bancroft...
The former Parker Mine in Quebec just north of Ottawa was mined in the early 1900s for mica in pyroxenite but is more famous for excellent crystals of olivine and spinel. Although a wide variety of mineral are possibly found, we are seeking spinel and forsterite (magnesium end member of olivine group). Hypersthene pyroxene, calcite, phlogopite mica,...
There is a road cut in Quebec is about an hour's drive from Ottawa where graphite is found as well as diopside and a few other minerals such as tourmaline. This trip is for a small group since the mineral area is not very large. More details will be provided to those registering.
The owners of the Beryl Pit have turned over the dumps/tailings so fresh minerals are more available. The Beryl Pit is an open pit with a large field of mine dump material that has been bulldozed for easier discovery. Originally, beryl was discovered in 1897 then the mine opened in the 1920s. There are a...
DeWitts Corner, south of Perth, is known as one of the finest spinel crystal locations in Canada. It was originally a calcite mine for feeding a local kiln back in the 1840s. Note: View Doug Scott’s Blog article about Dewitts Corner being lost and found again for a fascinating deep dive. Members of the Ottawa Valley Mineral...
This trip is planned to be there at dusk or after dark to see and locate the best fluorescent minerals. The Long Lake Zinc Mine (Sometimes called the Richardson Mine) started in 1897 with a number of mining operations in the early and mid 1900s focusing on zinc and lead ores. It is world-renowned as...
