ROCK ROOM
Smithers Exploration Group's Collection of Cordilleran Rock Suites
Welcome to Smithers Exploration Group’s Rock Room, home to our classic collection of Cordilleran rock suites. This extensive collection of rock samples is representative of deposits and rock types from across British Columbia, with a focus on the northwest. It’s an important resource for the development of expertise on the geology of northern BC and the discovery of the next mines.
The collection was begun in the 1970s by local geologists and prospectors, as well as the BC Ministry of Mines, and was updated under the direction of former regional geologist Paul Wojdak. It is designed to give hands-on examples of the rocks that make up the regional geological framework of northern British Columbia. We are working hard to complete our collection: if there is a particular suite you are keen to see but we do not yet have, please let us know and we will prioritize the aquisition of those samples. If you have a suite that you would consider donating to help us fill in the gaps, please contact us.
The Rock Room occupies a spacious classroom at the Smithers Exploration Group office at #101 3423 Fulton Avenue in Smithers. We have almost 2000 rock samples catalogued, clearly labelled and stored in trays that can be removed for handling and close examination. The room is heated, well-lit and spacious .It is equipped with regular and zoom stereomicroscopes for detailed investigation.
The rock suites cover:
- Plutonic
- Volcanic
- Sedimentary
- Metamorphic
- Stratigraphy
- Mineral Deposits and Ore Deposit Types
- Rock-forming and Ore Minerals
Call 250-877-7883 or email rockroom@smithersexplorationgroup.com if you have questions about the Rock Room or the donation requirements for samples.
SEG’s Rock Room with its Cordilleran Rock Suites will make Smithers home to a unique tool for explorationists. It will attract industry and government attention to Smithers as a community committed to the growth of the minerals industry in BC.
Browse the Rock Room Collection
| Library No. | Suite Name | Location | Collector | Rock Name | Age | Description | Cart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V6-22 | Porphyries | T Richards | Granodiorite porphyry | 25% plagioclase, 0.5-1 cm; fine crystalline matrix of quartz, feldspar and 15% hornblende | |||
| V6-21 | Porphyries | T Richards | Feldspar porphyry rhyolite or rhyodacite | 25% K-feldspar; 75% pink, microcrystalline matrix of quartz-feldspar-biotite; probably sub-volcanic | |||
| V6-20 | Porphyries | Ootsa Lake Group | T Richards | Porphyritic rhyolite | 5% K-feldspar, pink, bladed; 5% plagioclase, euhedral, white, equant; 1% quartz, sub-mm size; 1% biotite, sub-mm size; 90% pink matrix; minor patchy kaolinite | ||
| V6-19 | Porphyries | T Richards | Feldspar porphyry andesite or dacite | 25% plagioclase, 3-8 mm; sparse quartz phenos on cut surface (1-2 crystals); possible hornblende; grey matrix; sub-volcanic or extrusive | |||
| V6-18 | Porphyries | T Richards | Quartz-eye rhyolite (felsite) | ivory white colour; 5% quartz eyes; massive; strong limonite developed on weathered surface | |||
| V6-17 | Porphyries | T Richards | Feldspar porphyry andesite | 30% plagioclase, 2-5 mm, grey-white colour; K-feldspar, one pinkish, corroded crystal, 1 cm size; 65% light grey-brown matrix; high-level intrusion or flow | |||
| V6-16 | Porphyries | T Richards | Feldspar porphyry andesite | 30% plagioclase, mm size; 70% brown-grey matrix | |||
| V6-15 | Porphyries | T Richards | Feldspar porphyry andesite | 50% pinkish plagioclase (probably) or K-feldspar, 1-4 mm, moderately flow aligned; 1% hornblende; sparse vesicles indicates extrusive rock | |||
| V6-14 | Porphyries | T Richards | Andesite | 5% euhedral augite to 5 mm; 5% plagioclase,1 mm and smaller; plagioclase crystals are smaller but more abundant than augite; medium green matrix | |||
| V6-13 | Porphyries | T Richards | Feldspar hornblende porphyry | 25% feldspar, 1-5 mm, variably pink but appears to be plagioclase "dusted" with hematite to appear like K-feldspar; 5% euhedral hornblende, 1-2 mm; light grey, microcrystalline matrix indicates a sub-volcanic intrusion | |||
| V6-12 | Porphyries | T Richards | Augite porphyry basalt | 25-30% augite, 2-6 mm, best seen on weathered surface; 70% nearly black matrix | |||
| V6-11 | Porphyries | T Richards | Bladed feldspar porphyry | 25% plagioclase, 0.5-1 cm, strongly trachytic; 1% pyroxene, 1 mm; 75% dark grey matrix, not green indicating no alteration to epidote, this rock is fresh; andesite or basalt flow or dike | |||
| V6-10 | Porphyries | T Richards | Nepheline(?) porphyry | 50% nepheline, 1-3 cm, zoned hexagonal (but not equant shape as in V6-06); 50% grey microcrystalline matrix; probably a high-level intrusion | |||
| V6-09 | Porphyries | T Richards | K-feldspar porphyry granite | 25% K-feldspar, 1-3 cm; 25% quartz; 40% plagioclase; 5-8% hornblende and biotite; distinctive rock from Fourth of July pluton, Atlin | |||
| V6-08 | Porphyries | T Richards | K-feldspar porphyry granite | 10-15% K-feldspar, 1-3 cm; matrix of 40% plagioclase, 35% quartz, 5% biotite | |||
| V6-07 | Porphyries | T Richards | Feldspar biotite porphyry | 25% plagioclase, 2-10 mm; 1% biotite, mm size; very fine grained pink matrix rich in K-feldspar; random crystal alignment suggests it | |||
| V6-06 | Porphyries | T Richards | Pseudoleucite(?) porphyry | 65% hexagonal pseudoleucite, 3-4 mm, closely packed; equant size; 35% grey matrix; intermediate alkalic composition; from Galore Ck? | |||
| V6-05 | Porphyries | T Richards | Bladed feldspar porphyry | 35% plagioclase, 1-2 cm; prominent trachytic texture; strong sausserite (epidote) altereation; 65% dark green matix; basalt or andesite flow or dike | |||
| V6-04 | Porphyries | T Richards | Augite porphyry basalt | dark green; 40% crowded black augite phenocrysts, euhedral; <5% interstitial plagioclase | |||
| V6-03 | Porphyries | T Richards | Bladed feldspar porphyry | 30% plagioclase, euhedral, 1-2 cm, weakly flow aligned; dark green matrix; prominent epidote vein; flow or dike of andesite/basalt composition | |||
| V6-02 | Porphyries | T Richards | Dacite porphyry dike | pink to grey matrix; massive, no crystal alignment; 5% plagioclase to 0.5 cm; 5% K-feldspar 1-2 mm; 5% euhedral hornblende; 0.5% biotite; | |||
| V6-01 | Porphyries | T Richards | Feldspar-quartz porphyry | 20% feldspar (plagioclase) 1-2 cm; 5-7% quartz, 0.5 cm; 1-2% biotite or hornblende, 1-2 mm; 70% light grey matrix; likely a subvolcanic intrusion of rhyodacite composition | |||
| V5-03 | Submarine Basalt | Volcanic siltstone | Dark grey, v. fine grained, x-cut by Fe carb rimmed calcite veining with grey cores, smaller orange calcite-Fe Carb veinlets parallel to bedding, faint phyllic appearance. | ||||
| V5-06 | Submarine Basalt | Basalt breccia | Triassic | scoraceous; amygdaloidal; fine grained; limestone fragments in basalt, complex texture due to chemical reaction of hot basalt with limey mud; a pepperite | |||
| T-362 (missing) | Submarine Basalt | Vesicular microporphyritic basalt | Triassic | ||||
| V5-05 | Submarine Basalt | Terrace area | Scoriacous basalt breccia | Triassic | breccia includes limestone clasts, with poor fossil impressions (collector) | ||
| V5-04 | Submarine Basalt | Pillow basalt | Triassic | pillow is not vesicular, suggesting deep water eruption; chilled rind around the pillow is altered to chlorite on the outer part and inwards to epidote | |||
| S5-05 (missing) | Submarine Basalt | F Ferri | Volcanic sandstone | Triassic | dark reddish grey; similar to QL-1 but finer detrital grains only visible on cut surface and that mainly cannot be identified; 10% rounded volcanic cobbles that are same composition as the matrix | ||
| V5-02 | Submarine Basalt | Horsefly, Quesnel Lake | T Richards | Augite-feldspar basalt/ andesite | Triassic | 25-30% augite; 25-30% augite; reddish colour; even grained chilled matrix suggests this might be subaerial, where Takla/Nicola Group volcanic rocks built up volcanic islands | |
| V5-01 | Submarine Basalt | Horsefly, Quesnel Lake | T Richards | Volcanic sandstone | Triassic | 25% detrital pyroxene; 25% detrital feldspar; 10% rounded amygdaloidal volcanic pebbles up to 4 cm; the remainder is too fine to identify; could easily be mis-identified as volcanic rock | |
| V4-14 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Topaz(?) rhyolite | medium grey; massive; 1% pale amber, vitreous, translucent phenocrysts - topaz(?) to 1 mm; wide-spaced 2 mm vugs, but much more fine open-space visible under hand lens; very fine grained matrix possibly containing feldspar; fine porosity enables interaction between solid and vapour phase, a necessary requirement to fix fluorine from volcanic gas into the rock as topaz | ||||
| V4-13 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Quartz - feldspar porhyry rhyolite | ivory to pale pink; massive; 5% euhedral K-feldspar to 2 cm; 5% rounded, resorbed quartz to 0.5 cm; similar to S1-18A, probably Shingle Creek porphyry | ||||
| V4-12 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Dacite | light grey; massive, no texture; very fine grained except for 2 possible phenocrysts (very sparse); can be scratched, not a rhyolite | ||||
| V4-11 | Rhyolite & Dacite | T Richards | Feldspar porphyry dacite | 25% feldspar phenocrysts; trace-1% biotite; crowded texture; flow banded; absence of quartz suggests this rock is dacite, not rhyolite as submitted | |||
| V4-10 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Chilcotin | T Richards | Porphyritic rhyolite | pale pink; massive; sparse (5%) phenocrysts of quartz, feldspar and biotite; pink matrix; probably a flow rock | ||
| V4-09 | Rhyolite & Dacite | T Richards | Green lapilli lithic tuff | 20% grey, aphanitic rhyolite or dacite fragments; unsorted; <%5 quartz, feldspar and biotite clasts; light green matrix (celadonite?) that is probably devitrified glass | |||
| V4-08 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Ootsa Lake | T Richards | Flow banded rhyolite | Tertiary | zebra appearance caused by anastamosing cream and wine coloured flow bands; small spherules that cross (post-date) primary flow bands; aphanitic matrix with onion-skin perlite cracks | |
| T-419 (missing) | Rhyolite & Dacite | SE Yukon | S Gordey | Flow banded rhyolite | Tertiary | colour banded; irregular bands indicate turbulent flow; small phenocrysts of quartz, biotite and feldspar; layering bends around crystals | |
| T-0020 (missing) | Rhyolite & Dacite | K-feldspar porphyry | bimodal K-feldspar phenocrysts in ultra fine grained matrix | ||||
| V4-07 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Cascade Mtns, USA | Feldspar porphyry dacite | 15% white feldspar (plagioclase), 1-3 mm, subhedral; 2% black, elongated amphibole; trace light brown mica; light grey, fine grained matrix; likely a flow | |||
| V4-06 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Shingle Creek, Penticton | Quartz - feldspar porhyry rhyolite | Tertiary | 5% quartz eyes, terminated and corroded, to 1 cm; 6-8% pink K-feldspar to 1 cm size; minor biotite, <1%; high level rhyolite dike, feeder to eruptives | ||
| V4-05 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Nazko River | T Richards | Flow banded rhyolite | bands of glassy obsidian alternate with reddish, oxidized and devitrified glass and clay altered glass | ||
| V4-04 | Rhyolite & Dacite | SE Yukon | S Gordey | Vesicular rhyolite | Tertiary | hematite-red colour; 20% grey silica-lined vesicles | |
| T-498 (missing) | Rhyolite & Dacite | SE Yukon | S Gordey | Flow layered rhyolite | Tertiary | ||
| V4-03 (2 samples) | Rhyolite & Dacite | Pumice | larger specimen has 2% quartz crystals and abundant minute, crystal-lined cavities that likely are result of volcanic gas; the smaller specimen has sparse quartz crystals and a chalky texture | ||||
| V4-02 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Nevada | Welded ash flow tuff | crystal, lithic and vitric fragments; 5% quartz and K-feldspar crystals; 10% flattened pumice fragments (vitric, fiamme, i.e. welded); 50% lithic (rock) fragments | |||
| V4-01 | Rhyolite & Dacite | Mexico | D Ethier | Obsidian | black, glassy; conchoidal fracture | ||
| V3-14 | Subaerial Basalt | Vessicular basalt | Dark brown, red or grey in color. Vessicular to scoriaceous. 5 samples | ||||
| V3-12 | Subaerial Basalt | Klastline Plateau | J Souther | Palagonite basalt breccia with large olivine nodule | breccia fragments to 1 cm size; 1% broken feldspar crystals; one 5 by 10 cm nodule of medium grained olivine, 5-8% chromite and several grains of emerald-green chrome diopside | ||
| V3-11 | Subaerial Basalt | Calcite amygdule basalt | dark grey; 25% calcite-filled amygdules that are leached to voids on weathered surface; 5% of amygdule filling is green montmorillonite or chlorite |
Samples in your order cart
| Library No. | Suite Name | Location | Collector | Rock Name | Age | Description | Cart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S2-13 | Stewart suite | Mt Dilworth Fm | D Alldrick | Tuffaceous mudstone | Jurassic | light green; fine grained; dull; waxy; conchoidal fracture; somewhat fractured; dark patches of carbon and calcite | |
| S2-16 | Stewart suite | Premier / Big Missouri mine | D Alldrick | Dacite crystal lithic tuff | Jurassic | light to medium grey-green; mottled; soft; 50% sub-angular fragments to 1.5 cm; 5% small K-feldspar in matrix; fragments are dark green andesite porphyry or grey-brown siliceous tuff | |
| T6-17 | Epithermal Gold-Silver veins | Al prospect, Toodoggone | D Lefebure | Quartz-barite vein | Jurassic | coarse grained; bladed barite | |
| S2-30 | Stewart suite | D Alldrick | Granodiorite (2 specimens) | Jurassic | demonstrates the compositional range of the Texas Creek pluton from more mafic than typical to more felsic; felsic sample has a low colour index, contains 5% hornblende, a few grains of primary biotite, no quartz and no K-feldspar | ||
| S1-13 | Telkwa Volcanics | T Richards | Hematitic basalt porphyry | Jurassic | light grey-brown; fine grained; soft; 20% subhedral augite to 5 mm, altered to epidote; cavities (amygdules?) filled with white radiating zeolite (natrolite), minor orange K-feldspar and minor grey to translucent chalcedony | ||
| G2 05 (missing) | Mesothermal gold veins | Scottie Gold, Stewart | D Lefebure | Massive pyrrhotite vein | Jurassic | ||
| S5-12 | Takla Group | NTS 93L | T Richards? | Basalt breccia | dark green; clasts are mainly angular and all of same composition; clast supported; infilling of white calcite and silica | ||
| S3-07 | Coldfish Volcanics | Cry Lake | H Gabrielse | Flow banded rhyolite | pink-orange; fine grained; hard; flow banded; 5% scattered, pale orange feldspar (K-spar?) phenos to 3 mm; minor small, anhedral mafic phenos; hairline fractures filled with calcite or silica | ||
| S2-18 | Stewart suite | Unuk River Fm | D Alldrick | Dacite dyke | medium green; 20% aphanitic matrix; 50% sub to euhedral plagioclase phenocrysts to 3 mm and weakly aligned; 5% K-feldspar 5-15 mm; 24% fine mafics (hornblende?) 0.5 to 8 mm; 1% diss pyrite 2 mm cubes; pervasive carbonate alteration | ||
| T8-11 | Mesothermal gold veins | Taurus mine, Cassiar | D Lefebure | Lamprophyre dike | grey; fine grained; massive; 3% mm size feldspar in felted amphibole (hornblende) matrix | ||
| S2-15 | Stewart suite | Unuk River Fm, upper andesite unit, Premier mine | D Alldrick | Altered andesite | Jurassic | grey-green; fine grained; intense chlorite and weak carbonate alteration; pyrite fine, disseminated | |
| S5-13 | Karmutsen | Pillow basalt | very fine grained; dark grey; centre of specimen is a coarse grained igneous xenolith (bomb?) | ||||
| S5-02 | Takla Group | NTS 93N | F Ferri | Andesite lithic tuff | dark green; 50% phenocrysts, mainly euhedral augite (to 5 mm), minor feldspar, hard to distinguish; lithic fragments to 1.5 cm; weak pervasive carbonate-epidote-chlorite alteration throughout | ||
| S5-10 | Takla Group | NTS 93L | T Richards? | Tuffaceous argillite | well bedded; alternating grey, black and buff beds on mm to cm scale; very fine grained. Commonly interbedded with green tuff and volcanic breccia, clear evidence of submarine origin | ||
| S5-07 | Takla Group | NTS 93N | F Ferri | Basalt breccia with micritic limestone | light grey, very fine grained micritic limestone infills dark green-black basalt breccia; fragments are are broken, angular, to 8 mm; dark reddish hematite patches and minor epidote in basalt; moderately magnetic. Likely flow-top breccia infilled by limy mud precipitated from seawater | ||
| S5-01 | Takla Group | NTS 93N | F Ferri | Dacite crystal tuff | grey-green; fine to medium grained; 20% small, poorly visible feldspar phenocrysts; 10% small anhedral mafic phenocrysts (altered to chlorite/sericite); weak apple-green epidote patches; pale brown carbonate in hairline fractures with siliceous envelopes; weathered surface has cpy bleb oxidized to malachite | ||
| S5-11 | Takla Group | NTS 93L | T Richards? | Vesicular basalt | grey; aphanitic; 10% irregular shaped vesicles; weak calcite on vesicle margins contributes to pocked weathering; prominent malachite and weak azurite(?) on vesicle margin; likely basalt flow top, perhaps originally with native copper | ||
| S4-12 | Toodoggone Volcanics | NTS 94E | H Gabrielse | Feldspar hornblende andesite crystal tuff | medium grey; 20% aphanitic matrix; 30% plagioclase and lesser K-feldspar (1-2 mm); 20% hornblende (1-2 mm); hornblende is reddish (hematitic); one hornblende-rich lithic fragment; feldspars mildly altered to clay; tuff features visible on weathered surface | ||
| S4-13 | Toodoggone Volcanics | NTS 94E | H Gabrielse | Dacite crystal flow tuff | mauve and white, partially banded; non banded part is 50% dark purple aphanitic matrix with 10% feldspar (0.5-2 mm) and 5% mafics (<0.5 mm). Banded portion is 3 cm wide with white 1-2 mm stringers; soft material of bands is altered feldspar(?); partial hematite alteration | ||
| S2-05 | Stewart suite | Unuk River Fm, middle andesite unit, north end of Long Lake | D Alldrick | Andesite porphyry | Jurassic | medium green; fine grained; 30% mafic phenocrysts (augite or hornblende?); minor feldspar phenos, poorly visible; | |
| S5-04 | Takla Group | NTS 93N | F Ferri | Amygdaloidal basalt flow | dark green-black; fine grained; 30% mafic phenocrysts, entirely chloritized augite(?) to 5 mm; 20% rounded, elongate amydules (to 8 mm long) filled with calcite; amygdules are aligned, in flow orientation(?); visible magnetite, strongly magnetic | ||
| S3-02 | Coldfish Volcanics | Spatsizi | H Gabrielse | Amygdaloidal andesite | dark brown; fine grained; 40% amygdules filled with chlorite and calcite; amygdules are round to elongate up to 8 mm long; small amygdules filled only by chlorite, larger have chlorite rim and calcite core; weathered surface appears vesicular | ||
| T6-14 | Epithermal Gold-Silver veins | Specogna (Cinola, Babe) Haida Gwai | D Lefebure | Quartz-healed breccia | breccia clasts cemented by drusy quartz; siliceous clasts rimmed by 1-3 mm black rind (unknown, possibly organic) with very narrow pyrite rim on surface of black material | ||
| S5-06 | Takla Group | NTS 93N | F Ferri | Argillite | dark grey; fine grained; weakly foliated; partings show shiny chlorite and calcareous material; calcite veinlets (5 mm) with red-orange siderite selvage; weathered surface has grey calcite with unusual shapes. Occurs at base of Takla volcanics | ||
| S5-09 | Takla Group | NTS 93L | T Richards? | Green tuff | pale green; very fine grained; massive; pervasive weak epidote |