Events - Field Trips, Meetings, Shows

** 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.

  • DeWitts Corner Spinel Field Trip

    DeWitts Corner 1950 Christie Lake Road, Perth, Ontario, Canada

    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. Other minerals besides spinel...

    Free
  • Beryl Pit Field Trip #2

    Quadeville - meet at Kauffeldt's Grocery Store Quadevilles, Ontario, Canada

    The Beryl Pit is an open pit with a large field of mine dump material that has been bulldozed for easier finding. Originally, beryl was discovered in 1897 then the mine opened in the 1920s. There are a variety of minerals that can be found here including beryl, pyrite, columbite, euxenite, tourmaline, fluorite, various quartz,...

    $15.00 – $20.00
  • OVMC October 2025 Meeting – Mineral Photography and Annual General Meeting

    Canadian Museum of Nature 240 MacLeod Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    6:00 PM Mineral Identification and Swap Shop “Rock Doctor” Clinic: Starts at 6:00, ends at 6:30 PM. Members are free to bring in a reasonable number of samples or specimens to be identified by the expert mineralogists in the club. This has been a very popular activity for the membership (at times exceeding our capacity to...

  • Long Lake Zinc Mine Field Trip #2 (Evening)

    NW of Parham, ON Parham, Ontario, Canada

    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. Minerals that can be found in the mine dumps (as shown above) are: aragonite, calcite, chondrodite, diopside, dolomite, hydrozincite, smithsonite, galena, chalcopyrite, molybdenite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, quartz, sphalerite...

    Free
  • OVMC November 2025 Meeting – The Pleasures of Micromounting

    Musée canadien de la nature 240, rue McLeod, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    6:00 PM Mineral Identification and Swap Shop “Rock Doctor” Clinic: Starts at 6:00, ends at 6:30 PM. Members are free to bring in a reasonable number of samples or specimens to be identified by the expert mineralogists in the club. This has been a very popular activity for the membership (at times exceeding our capacity to...

  • OVMC December 2025 Meeting – Extraordinary Mineral Diversity at Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec and Mineral Auction

    Musée canadien de la nature 240, rue McLeod, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Join us for Door Prizes, Auction and Christmas Treats 6:00 PM Mineral Identification and Swap Shop “Rock Doctor” Clinic: Starts at 6:00, ends at 6:30 PM. Members are free to bring in a reasonable number of samples or specimens to be identified by the expert mineralogists in the club. This has been a very popular activity...

  • OVMC January 2026 Meeting – The Geology of the Ottawa Area and Silent Auction

    Canadian Museum of Nature 240 MacLeod Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    NOTE: We have rented the Museum's Theatre in the basement for a much more comfortable and quieter space. When you enter CMN, go to the back of the Lobby and go down the stairs, turn left at the bottom and go under the stairs through the door where you will find the theatre. 6:00 PM...

  • OVMC February 2026 Meeting – Fossils of the Ottawa Area

    Canadian Museum of Nature 240 MacLeod Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    6:00 PM Mineral Identification and Swap Shop “Rock Doctor” Clinic: Starts at 6:00, ends at 6:30 PM. Members are free to bring in a reasonable number of samples or specimens to be identified by the expert mineralogists in the club. This has been a very popular activity for the membership (at times exceeding our capacity to...

  • OVMC March 2026 Meeting – Mineral Cleaning Demystified: Practical Tips to Maximize Mineral Beauty

    Canadian Museum of Nature 240 MacLeod Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    5:30 PM Mineral Identification and Swap Shop “Rock Doctor” Clinic: Starts at 5:30, ends at 6:00 PM. Members are free to bring in a reasonable number of samples or specimens to be identified by the expert mineralogists in the club. This has been a very popular activity for the membership (at times exceeding our capacity to...

  • OVMC Meeting – Mineral Palette: Decoding the Colours of Minerals

    Musée canadien de la nature 240, rue McLeod, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Meeting Location: Canadian Museum of Nature in the Theatre downstairs 5:30 PM Mineral Identification and Swap Shop “Rock Doctor” Clinic: Starts at 5:30, ends at 6:30 PM. Members are free to bring in a reasonable number of samples or specimens to be identified by the expert mineralogists in the club. This has been a very popular...

  • EY Centre Gem and Mineral Show

    EY Centre Ottawa

    The OVMC will have a booth at the EY Centre Gem and Mineral Show. Explore an extraordinary collection of crystals, fossils, gemstones, and handcrafted jewelry—each a masterpiece shaped by the forces of nature and time. Show Hours Thursday to Saturday | 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM Sunday | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Details Admission:...

  • OVMC Youth Program

    Canadian Museum of Nature 240 MacLeod Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    6:00 PM Youth Program Workshops Location: Canadian Museum of Nature in the large area past the restaurant Four workshop facilitators will hold two workshops.  Much appreciation is extended to Inna Lykova, PhD, Research Scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature for organizing this Youth Program. 1st Workshop:   Symmetry in minerals: unveiling crystal patterns followed by...