In this three volume series, ‘Rockhound’, we’ll explore what it means to collect minerals in the skarns and pegmatites of the Canadian Shield. We’ll visit forgotten settlements and ghost towns and I'll show you the famous mining camps of Cobalt, Eldorado and Gowganda. Directions within the ‘Rockhound Series’ will lead you to little known deposits that yield some amazing world-class specimens. When you apply what you’ve learned in the ‘Rockhound Series’ you’ll find crystals and minerals in a diversity of species that will astound you. Spilling from your pockets will be amazonite, tourmaline, zircon, gold, silver, coltan, beryl, fluorite, titanite and more.
Whether you’re a hard-core collector or a casual enthusiast, ‘Rockhound’ will take you where you need to go and show you what you never believed possible in the mines and forests of the north.
We’ll visit the fabled Eldorado Gold Mine and I’ll show you to Ontario’s silver rush where 420 million ounces of silver was recovered. In the rock just north of Toronto you’ll learn how to find gem feldspars, huge zircons, titanites and lime green prisms of apatite.
We’ll explore Ontario for rare and elusive crystals. I’ll show you where there are pockets of quartz crystals near Parry Sound and zircons near Arnprior. Just north of Kingston I’ll show you where there are incredible fissures of sea-green fluorite and mines with magnetite octahedrons.
You’ll learn of an abandoned sapphire mine near Bancroft and find barrel shaped corundum crystals beneath Robillard Mountain. I’ll introduce you to the exciting possibilities of coltan elements and down a ghost road we’ll explore for lustrous galena.
