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
T6-06	Epithermal Gold-Silver veins	Lawyers, Toodoggone	D Lefebure	Brecciated feldspar porphyry with quartz veins	Jurassic	multiple episodes of quartz veins; veins are banded to coxcomb texture	Add Item
T6-05	Epithermal Gold-Silver veins	Lawyers, Toodoggone	D Lefebure	Banded quartz vein in tuff	Jurassic	symmetrically banded, 1.5 cm chalcedonic quartz vein in pinkish-brown tuff; core of vein has some crystalline quartz with hint of amythest colour	Add Item
T6-04	Epithermal Gold-Silver veins	Lawyers, Toodoggone	D Lefebure	Plagioclase phyric tuff	Jurassic	layered; pink feldspar in reddish grounmass; feldspar in crystal-rich beds; feldspar is likely hematitized plagioclase, crystals do not resemble primary K-feldspar	Add Item
T6-03	Epithermal Gold-Silver veins	Lawyers, Toodoggone	D Lefebure	Dacite tuff	Jurassic	light brown; 10% plagioclase crystals, 1 mm size, orange in colour due to cloudy hematite; groundmass has pervasive chlorite (propylitic alteration)	Add Item
T6-02	Epithermal Gold-Silver veins	Al prospect, Toodoggone	D Lefebure	Quartz	Jurassic	white; drusy, minor open space; vein or silicified rock?	Add Item
T6-01	Epithermal Gold-Silver veins	Al prospect, Toodoggone	D Lefebure	Clay-alunite alteration	Jurassic	white; massive; fine grained; light density; bladed crystals evident on one weathered surface	Add Item
T5-12	Skarn			Epidote-calcite skarn		parent rock is andesite with abundant secondary calcite	Add Item
T5-11	Skarn	French Mine, Hedley		Biotite hornfels argillite		dark purplish-brown; very fine grained; colour indicates pervasive metamorphic biotite	Add Item
T5-10	Skarn	French Mine, Hedley		K-feldspar-epidote-chalcopyrite skarn		40% K-feldspar; 40% epidote; 15% chalcopyrite	Add Item
T5-09	Skarn	Nickel Plate mine, Hedley		Quartz-eye rhyolite dike		very pale grey; massive; aphanitic; 3-4% quartz phenocrysts; trace arsenopyrite	Add Item
T5-08	Skarn	Nickel Plate mine, Hedley		Sulphide skarn		75% pyrrhotite; 10% chalcopyrite; 10% pyrite; 5% arsenopyrite	Add Item
T5-07	Skarn	Hedley		Copperfield conglomerate marker horizon		cobbles to 8 cm; biotite hornfels of argillaceous matrix; composition is wrong to develop skarn	Add Item
T5-06	Skarn	French Mine, Hedley		Diorite		dark grey-green; fine-medium grained; 25% hornblende; 75% indistinguishable feldspathic groundmass	Add Item
T5-05	Skarn	Blue Grouse, Vancouver Is.		Feldspar porphyry diorite		green; medium grained; 60% feldspar; 25% hornblende; intrusion responsible for skarn development	Add Item
T5-04	Skarn	Blue Grouse, Vancouver Is.		Garnet-epidote-actinolite skarn		40% epidote; 25% garnet; 25% actinolite; 10% quartz	Add Item
T5-03	Skarn	Bob deposit, Banks Island		Arsenopyrite skarn		50% quartz; 30% arsenopyrite; 10% sphalerite; 5% chalcopyrite	Add Item
T5-02	Skarn	French Mine, Hedley		Garnet skarn		85% pink-brown garnet; 5% pyroxene; 5% quartz; 5-10% calcite	Add Item
T5-01	Skarn	Tasu		Magnetite skarn	Triassic	95% magnetite; 5% pyrite plus chalcopyrite	Add Item
T4-11	Skarn	Blue Grouse, Vancouver Is.		Garnet-epidote skarn		one rock cut in two, one half with no label; brown weathered makes minerals garnet and epidote difficult to recognize; 15% interstitial calcite	Add Item
T4-10	Skarn	French mine, Hedley		Magnetite skarn		95% magnetite; 5% pyrite plus chalcopyrite	Add Item
T4-09	Skarn	Nickel Plate, Hedley		Sulphide skarn		coarse grained; massive; 40% arsenopyrite; 30% pyrite; 20% pyrrhotite; 10% chalcopyrite	Add Item
T4-08	Skarn	French mine, Hedley		Pyroxene-bornite skarn		dense; fine grained; 10% bornite; 1% chalcopyrite	Add Item
T4-07	Skarn	Blue Grouse, Vancouver Is.		Diorite		same rock as in C2	Add Item
T4-06	Skarn	French mine, Hedley		Garnet-calcite skarn		25% garnet	Add Item
C1 05 (missing)	Skarn	French mine, Hedley					Add Item
T4-04	Skarn	Bob deposit, Banks Island		Hornblende granodiorite		85% feldspar (predominantly plagioclase, no K-feldspar observed); 10% hornblende; <1% biotite	Add Item
T4-03	Skarn	Bob deposit, Banks Island		Sulphide skarn		70% arsenopyrite; 10% sphalerite; 5% pyrite; 15% quartz; reported to contain 0.59 oz/t Au, 0.29 oz/t Ag, 9.98% Zn	Add Item
T4-02	Skarn	Bob deposit, Banks Island		Garnet skarn		90% garnet; 2% pyroxene; 6% calcite	Add Item
T4-01	Skarn	Tasu		Magnetite skarn	Triassic	95% magnetite; 5% pyrite plus chalcopyrite; same as C2 01	Add Item
T3-11	Manto & Sedex			Mudstone with barite laminae	Devonian	white barite as fine laminations, <1 mm thick in black mudstone	Add Item
T3-10	Manto & Sedex	Sullivan		Bedded pyrite-pyrrhotite in shale	Proterozoic	same as B1 07	Add Item
T3-09	Manto & Sedex	Cirque		Massive barite	Devonian	crudely bedded; bedding disrupted; recrystallized barite; minor galena	Add Item
T3-08	Manto & Sedex	Mt. Alcock		Semi-massive barite	Devonian	very fine grained; dense; 5% fine galena (similar to B1 05)	Add Item
T3-07	Manto & Sedex	Midway		Massive sulphide	Devonian	70% pyrite; 20% galena; 5% sphalerite; not bedded	Add Item
B2 01 (missing)	Manto & Sedex	Midway		Bedded shale	Devonian		Add Item
T3-06	Manto & Sedex	Sullivan		Bedded pyrite-pyrrhotite in shale	Proterozoic	black, very fine grained shale or cherty shale(?); finely bedded sulphide beds, some predominantly pyrite, some pyrrhotite and others mixed; evidence of sulphide recrystallization leading to increased grain size	Add Item
T3-05	Manto & Sedex	Cirque		Massive sulphide	Devonian	massive pyrite with 6% sphalerite, 1% galena	Add Item
T3-04	Manto & Sedex	Mt. Alcock		Massive barite	Devonian	pale grey; disrupted bedding and coarse recrystallization of barite; 3-5% galena seams	Add Item
T3-03	Manto & Sedex	Mt. Alcock		Massive sulphide	Devonian	dark grey; very fine grained; dense; reported to comprise pyrite, sphalerite and galena but only galena can be identified; probably contains barite	Add Item
B1 03 (missing)	Manto & Sedex	Midway		Shale breccia with pyrite-carbonate cement			Add Item
T3-02	Manto & Sedex	Midway		Tectonic shale breccia with sulphide cement	Devonian	identical specimens; brittle breccia healed by coarse pyrite, galena and sphalerite	Add Item
T3-01	Manto & Sedex	Midway		Shale with pyrite bed	Devonian	drill core of very thin bedded shale3 cm thick pyrite bed; pyrite is recrystallized into minute cubes	Add Item
A2 12 (missing)	VMS	Tyee deposit, Mt Sicker, Vancouver Is.		Ferrocrete	Recent		Add Item
T2-11	VMS	Lynx deposit, Myra Falls		Kuroko black ore (bedded pyrite-chalcopyrite-sphalerite)	Devonian	30% sphalerite; 30% pyrite; 10% chalcopyrite; 20% silica gangue	Add Item
T2-10	VMS	Lenora Pit, Mt Sicker		Chert with pyrite-chalcopyrite veins		chert is well fractured and broken with in-filling of sulphide veins to 2 cm wide; pyrite to chalcopyrite ration is 10:1	Add Item
T2-09	VMS	HW deposit, Myra Falls		Massive pyritic ore	Devonian	layered but only vaguely bedded; 60% pyrite; 5% chalcopyrite;30% silica (and perhaps barite); no galena seen but likely a few % sphalerite	Add Item
T2-08	VMS	Windy Craggy		Chlorite-pyrrhotite tuff		10% pyrrhotite, finely bedded within massive chlorite, likely a fine tuff or basalt-derived mud; weakly magnetic	Add Item
T2-07	VMS	Kutcho		Recrystallized massive pyrite	Lower Triassic	80% fine to coarse pyrite; the coarse pyrite (to 1 cm) is associated with remobilized chalcopyrite (3%), bornite (3%) and coarse quartz (10%)	Add Item
T2-06	VMS	Lenora Pit, Mt Sicker		Chalcopyrite ore	Devonian	25% chalcopyrite in silica-barite groundmass; quartz and carbonate "clasts" these are tectonic in origin, detached from enclosing beds during deformation and recrystallization of sulphides and is called durchbewegung texture	Add Item
T2-05	VMS	Tyee deposit, Mt Sicker, Vancouver Is.		Kuroko black ore	Devonian	60% sphalerite (and galena?); 20% pyrite; 15% barite; <5% calcite as durchbewegung clasts	Add Item

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