ROM's Most Amazing Minerals

Cavansite

15 x 8.5 x 10cm

Maharashtra,India

The mineral’s name is derived from its chemical composition: it is a calcium vanadium silicate. The ROM’s specimen is among the world’s finest. The blue colour, one of the most intense in all the mineral kingdom, contrasts vividly against white stilbite crystals.

Calcite

30 x 21 x 12cm

Faraday Mine,Bancroft,Ontario,Canada

This specimen of calcite from the Faraday uranium mine is one of the “classic” mineral specimens from Ontario that are sought by serious collectors. The beautifully formed crystals of calcite were overgrown by a bright layer of hematite

Catapleiite

9 x 7 x 4.5cm

Mont Saint-Hilaire,Quebec,Canada

This specimen is one of the best in existence. Its crystals are well-formed, enormous and aesthetically arranged.

Silver

11 x 10 x 4cm

Silver Islet Mine,Ontario,Canada

This is one of the finest known specimens from the Silver Islet mine. This infamous Canadian mine, located on a bare knob of rock that was barely above the surface of Lake Superior, was discovered in 1868. The location made mining activities difficult and hazardous. The Silver Islet mine was a very rich deposit and although it produced millions of ounces of silver, few specimens are known to have survived. Nearly all of the silver went to the crusher and smelter.

Millerite

7 x 7 x 0.5

Kerr Addison Mine,Ontario,Canada

This unusual specimen of millerite was found at the Kerr Addison gold mine in the Kirkland Lake area of northern Ontario. The delicate hair-like crystals are quite remarkable and a mineralogical oddity; such specimens are highly prized by collectors.

Rutile

19 x 14 x 6cm

Novo Horizonte,Bahia,Brazil

The golden rutile needles (a titanium oxide) on this specimen are arranged in six-ray stars, the arms at 60° to each other. This arrangement is being controlled by the crystal atomic structure of the central black hematite (an iron oxide) plates at the stars’ centres.

Serandite

12.5 x 11.5 x 4cm

Mont Saint-Hilaire,Quebec,Canada

Until the discovery of serandite crystals at Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, the mineral was known only as small grains and crystals, and poorly formed at best. In 1973, a large pegmatite 'pipe' was exposed in the 'floor' of the quarry at Mont-Saint Hilaire and yielded hundreds of superb serandite crystals. Among them was this enormous twinned crystal, which is arguably the world’s best specimen of the species.

All the information above was taken from the ROM's (Royal Ontario Museum) website.

To view there online gallery, click on the link below

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