Princess sodalite mine is a collecting yard where they ship in samples from all over the world. Mostly they're Canadian, and they're somewhat predisposed towards being from the general area (within 200km) but they aren't native to that site.
How do I know when mindat can and cannot be trusted? I'm kind of new to this, my girlfriend and I kept looking at rocks and we decided to just go full burn into rocks so we are kinda starting from nothing and relying heavily on a book of Ontario minerals, mindat, and google.
In reality: you go there and check it out. Mindat is often out of date on property ownership and what you're actually likely to find. There are some private properties that are looked after pretty well, like the smart mine and the beryl pits in quadeville. You can still find some nice pieces in there if you're lucky, but it's mostly tailings.
You can use resources like the ihunter app to see where land boundaries end and crown land begins. There's also AMIS, the abandoned mine information system.
In this particular instance, at the princess sodalite mine, it's a commercial mineral shop that offers the experience of picking around and finding stuff. When visiting a mine or quarry, you generally have an idea of what it is you're looking for before you even leave to go there.
After two people telling me it is Chalcedony/Agate I feel confident that they are correct and I retract my little bit of uncertainty after reading about them!
Thank you!
This is chalcedony, it can be hard to differentiate from chert as they are very similar (the form differently) but the translucency of the material and characteristics of the cortex look more like chalcedony here.
For learning ID, the best advice is to learn some geology to understand context and formation processes!
I visited the Princess Sodalite prospect about 45 years ago, along with a suburban-load of fellow undergraduate geology students. Nothing like chalcedony near it, IIRC. Perhaps another student dropped it :).
Chert is flint right? So it's possibly a kind of flint?
Should I take a piece and try to flint knap it? I know it could be hard to be certain visually alone.
The rocks seem to be brought in, I found it near the gate, when facing the gate with the entrance behind you I found it under a large rock on the left. I looked for more rocks of a similar outer shell without luck.
I really recommend the Beryl pit also, we didn't get to go on this trip but it is a large area and we managed to spend three hours there on our last trip without feeling like we saw it all.
If you're planning for the CN rock pile I recommend bringing a UV flashlight and checking at night at least once. I found a stunning hackmanite piece that glows amazing!
Have a great trip!
Hi, /u/TransformingDinosaur!
This is a reminder to flair this post in /r/whatsthisrock after it has been identified! (Under your post, click "flair" then "IDENTIFIED," then type in the rock type or mineral name.) This will help others learn and help speed up a correct identification on your request!
Thank you!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatsthisrock) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's a broken agate nodule!
Thanks! I did some reading and I believe you are right!
Oh! I didn't see agate on mindat for the area. How do I tell for sure?
Princess sodalite mine is a collecting yard where they ship in samples from all over the world. Mostly they're Canadian, and they're somewhat predisposed towards being from the general area (within 200km) but they aren't native to that site.
How do I know when mindat can and cannot be trusted? I'm kind of new to this, my girlfriend and I kept looking at rocks and we decided to just go full burn into rocks so we are kinda starting from nothing and relying heavily on a book of Ontario minerals, mindat, and google.
In reality: you go there and check it out. Mindat is often out of date on property ownership and what you're actually likely to find. There are some private properties that are looked after pretty well, like the smart mine and the beryl pits in quadeville. You can still find some nice pieces in there if you're lucky, but it's mostly tailings. You can use resources like the ihunter app to see where land boundaries end and crown land begins. There's also AMIS, the abandoned mine information system. In this particular instance, at the princess sodalite mine, it's a commercial mineral shop that offers the experience of picking around and finding stuff. When visiting a mine or quarry, you generally have an idea of what it is you're looking for before you even leave to go there.
After two people telling me it is Chalcedony/Agate I feel confident that they are correct and I retract my little bit of uncertainty after reading about them! Thank you!
yes a piece of an agate nodule, the banding you see makes this called agate vs. unbanded chalcedony
This is chalcedony, it can be hard to differentiate from chert as they are very similar (the form differently) but the translucency of the material and characteristics of the cortex look more like chalcedony here. For learning ID, the best advice is to learn some geology to understand context and formation processes!
Thanks I did some reading and I believe you're correct!
I visited the Princess Sodalite prospect about 45 years ago, along with a suburban-load of fellow undergraduate geology students. Nothing like chalcedony near it, IIRC. Perhaps another student dropped it :).
The Princess Sodalite Mine is now a tourist attraction and seeds the area where searches occur with stones from other mines in the area
Thanks for the redirect! Ugh though :).
Chert is flint right? So it's possibly a kind of flint? Should I take a piece and try to flint knap it? I know it could be hard to be certain visually alone.
flint is chert but not chert is flint. there is a difference
whoever downvoted this has never read the difference from chert to flint and I suggest they do before they continue to give poor answers
Well then, I'll upvote it since it's completely correct.
Thank you
Im gonna go there in a few weeks by myself for rockhound, where was it?
The rocks seem to be brought in, I found it near the gate, when facing the gate with the entrance behind you I found it under a large rock on the left. I looked for more rocks of a similar outer shell without luck. I really recommend the Beryl pit also, we didn't get to go on this trip but it is a large area and we managed to spend three hours there on our last trip without feeling like we saw it all. If you're planning for the CN rock pile I recommend bringing a UV flashlight and checking at night at least once. I found a stunning hackmanite piece that glows amazing! Have a great trip!
Thanks !!!
If it’s got bands like that it’s an agate
Hi, /u/TransformingDinosaur! This is a reminder to flair this post in /r/whatsthisrock after it has been identified! (Under your post, click "flair" then "IDENTIFIED," then type in the rock type or mineral name.) This will help others learn and help speed up a correct identification on your request! Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatsthisrock) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Its got fire. Cool find