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
S16-10	Cronin Phyllonites			Slate		grey	Add Item
S16-09	Cronin Phyllonites			Micaceous siltstone		well foliated; prominent micaceous component; detrital grains visible	Add Item
S16-08	Cronin Phyllonites			Sandstone / quartzite		pink	Add Item
S16-07	Cronin Phyllonites	Atna Peak		Sandstone / quartzite		grey; crinkle folding produces lineation in muscovite	Add Item
S16-06	Cronin Phyllonites	Babine Range		Graphitic black argillite		lustrous black; slightly greasy texture suggests graphitic component	Add Item
S16-05	Cronin Phyllonites	Babine Range		Phyllite		grey to pink; fine grained; indistinct texture; probably sedimentary origin	Add Item
S16-04	Cronin Phyllonites	Babine Range		Lapilli tuff		70% purple matrix of intermediate (andesite) composition; 30% angular, aphanitic fragments, mainly felsic, a few green andesite	Add Item
S16-03	Cronin Phyllonites	Babine Range		Siltstone		thin bedded,	Add Item
S16-02	Cronin Phyllonites	Babine Range		Siltstone		thin bedded (mm to cm); pale grey silt grades up to dark grey argillaceous tops; distal turbidite	Add Item
S16-01	Cronin Phyllonites	Babine Range		Black argillite			Add Item
S15-67			P Schiarizza	Listwanite		white and green with strong brown iron weathered surface; banded with quartz, iron-carbonate, mariposite; 2-3% disseminated chromite	Add Item
S15-66			P Schiarizza	Mercury vein		cinnabar	Add Item
S15-65			P Schiarizza	Mercury vein		quartz and cinnabar	Add Item
S15-64			P Schiarizza	Stibnite-carbonate vein		stibnite is brecciated by carbonate	Add Item
S15-63			P Schiarizza	Stibnite-quartz vein		banded quartz and stibnite	Add Item
S15-62			P Schiarizza	Polymetallic vein		arsenopyrite; pyrite; sphalerite; galena; non-magnetic pyrrhotite(?)	Add Item
S15-61			P Schiarizza	Polymetallic vein		mainly arsenopyrite and quartz; minor pyrrhotite(?), non-magnetic; arsenopyrite is partially altered to grass-green scorodite	Add Item
S15-60	Bralorne Intrusions		P Schiarizza	Sodic granite		light grey; 60% feldspar; 30% quartz; 10% hornblende(?), chloritized	Add Item
S15-59	Bralorne Intrusions		P Schiarizza	Diorite		medium grained; massive; feldspar partially altered to pale green epidote	Add Item
S15-58	Bralorne Intrusions		P Schiarizza	Diorite		medium grained; massive; 75-80% plagioclase; 20-25% hornblende(?) altered to chlorite	Add Item
S15-57	Bralorne Intrusions		P Schiarizza	Gabbro		medium grained; massive; 40% plagioclase; 60% pyroxene	Add Item
S15-56	Bralorne Intrusions		P Schiarizza	Ultramafite		black to dark green; medium grained; foliated with secondary serpentine; 80% mafic minerals (olivine? Pyroxene?); 10-20% feldspar	Add Item
S15-55	Jackass Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Arkosic wacke	Lower Cretaceous	mottled grey and green; detrital quartz, feldspar and mafics; no bedding, massive	Add Item
S15-54	Jackass Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Sandstone / siltstone	Lower Cretaceous	medium grey; well bedded on mm scale	Add Item
S15-53	Jackass Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Greywacke	Lower Cretaceous	medium green; 95% of grains are mm size; 5% cm size clasts; includes one granitic clast	Add Item
S15-52	Jackass Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Greywacke / congomerate	Lower Cretaceous	dark brown; heterolithic; contains limestone clasts	Add Item
S15-51	Jackass Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Limey sandstone / wacke	Lower Cretaceous	medium dark grey; fossil remnants?	Add Item
S15-50	Methow Basin		P Schiarizza	Greywacke / sandstone	Mid Jurassic	green-brown; well sorted; fine grained, grains < 0.5 mm	Add Item
S15-49	Methow Basin		P Schiarizza	Greywacke	Mid Jurassic	similar to above, with argillite rip-up clasts to 3 cm	Add Item
S15-48	Methow Basin		P Schiarizza	Greywacke	Mid Jurassic	medium grey; 1-3 mm clasts, sub-round to sub-angular; heterolithic; well sorted; no bedding	Add Item
S15-47	Cadwallader Grp, Hurley Fm		P Schiarizza	Limey sandstone	Late Triassic	grey; strong acid reaction	Add Item
S15-46	Cadwallader Grp, Hurley Fm		P Schiarizza	Argillite	Late Triassic	purple-black	Add Item
S15-45	Cadwallader Grp, Hurley Fm		P Schiarizza	Sandstone	Late Triassic	green-brown; massively bedded	Add Item
S15-44	Cadwallader Grp, Hurley Fm		P Schiarizza	Coarse sandstone	Late Triassic	green-grey; clasts 3-4 mm	Add Item
S15-43	Cadwallader Grp, Hurley Fm		P Schiarizza	Chert pebble conglomerate	Late Triassic	80% pebbles; clast supported	Add Item
S15-42	Cadwallader Grp, Pioneer Fm		P Schiarizza	Diabase	Late Triassic	black; fine-medium grained; 50% acicular plagioclase laths; 50% acicular hornblende	Add Item
S15-41	Cadwallader Grp, Pioneer Fm		P Schiarizza	Basalt	Late Triassic	purple; 25% feldspar phenocrysts; 5% cavities, leached vesicles?	Add Item
S15-40	Tyaughton Grp		P Schiarizza	Conglomerate	Latest Triassic	grey-brown; clasts to 0.5 cm	Add Item
S15-39	Tyaughton Grp		P Schiarizza	Sandstone / Greywacke	Latest Triassic	grey; coarse; heterolithic	Add Item
S15-38	Tyaughton Grp		P Schiarizza	a. Siltstone; b. Wacke; c. Conglomerate	Latest Triassic	all 3 rocks are distinctive tan brown; conglomerate is heterolithic with 5% chert clasts	Add Item
S15-37	Lost Ck Fm		P Schiarizza	Greywacke / congomerate	Lo-Mid Jurassic	texture indistinct due to weathered surfaces	Add Item
S15-36	Lost Ck Fm		P Schiarizza	Siltstone	Lo-Mid Jurassic	grey silt; with thin black (organic?) beds; well bedded	Add Item
S15-35	Relay Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Chert pebble conglomerate	Jura-Cretaceous	well rounded clasts; dark grey matrix; looks to be matrix supported	Add Item
S15-34	Relay Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Sandstone	Jura-Cretaceous	brownish-grey; massive (no bedding) missing	Add Item
S15-33	Relay Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Silty black limestone	Jura-Cretaceous	cross-bedded; delicately bedded	Add Item
S15-32	Relay Mtn Grp		P Schiarizza	Argillite	Jura-Cretaceous	purplish black; finely bedded	Add Item
S15-31	Taylor Ck Dash Fm		P Schiarizza	Conglomerate	Up Lower Cretaceous	heterolithic; mainly 1 cm size pebbles but up to 5 cm cobble	Add Item
S15-30	Taylor Ck Eastern facies, Lizard Fm		P Schiarizza	Volcanic sandstone	Up Lower Cretaceous	very dark grey; well sorted fine sand, < 1 mm size; detrital mica	Add Item
S15-29	Taylor Ck Eastern facies, Lizard Fm		P Schiarizza	Volcanic sandstone	Up Lower Cretaceous	brown; well sorted fine sand, < mm size; detrital mica	Add Item
S15-28	Taylor Ck Western facies		P Schiarizza	Basalt epiclastic conglomerate	Up Lower Cretaceous	clasts and matrix are all derived from basalt	Add Item

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