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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P4-06 | Pegmatites | P Wojdak | Quartz-feldspar pegmatite | white K-feldspar 75%; smokey grey quartz 23%; 2% black tourmaline | |||
| I4-05 (missing) | Pegmatites | T Richards | Pegmatite seam in schist | garnet-biotite-muscovite schist/gneiss with orange to white seams of quartz and K-feldspar with minor K-feldspar and muscovite; garnets are red-brown almandine | |||
| I4-04 (missing) | Pegmatites | T Richards | Muscovite quartz K-feldspar pegmatite | 20% large platy, silver-brown muscovite to 1 cm; 50% pale pink-white K-feldspar (orthoclase); 30% quartz; inclusions of dark brown-greenchloritic rock | |||
| I4-03 (missing) | Pegmatites | Nicola area | T Richards | Horblende-feldspar pegmatite | 10 cm wide band with 50% dark green sub to euhedral hornblende to 5 cm long and soft, pale pink altered K-feldspar (kaolinitic microcline) and hard grey-white plagioclase (albite). Gabbro is host rock. Associated with basic alkaline intrusions of the Nicola volcanics | ||
| I4-02 (missing) | Pegmatites | T Richards | Pegmatite vein in biotite tonalite | Vein 5-7 cm wide comprises 50% quartz, 45% large white, euhedral albite and minor platy biotite; some small crystals in vugs | |||
| I4-01 (missing) | Pegmatites | T Richards | Miarolitic pegmatite in granite | medium grained; minor chloritic mafics, epidote and clay indicates weak propylitic alteration; miarolitic cavity filled by 0.5 cm crystals of white albite, quartz and minor hornblende. Miarolytic cavities indicate high-level crystallization | |||
| P3-09 | Carbonatites | Mt. Grace, Revelstoke | Carbonatite | 80% beige-brown groundmass of fine-medium grained calcite; 5% rounded (resorbed?) nepheline 0.5-1 cm phenos; 10% biotite 3-5 mm but several 2-5 cm biotite-rich xenoliths. These xenoliths mght comprise 5% and contain much lesser hornblende and nepheline(?) | |||
| P3-08 | Carbonatites | Mt. Grace, Revelstoke | Biotite fenite | black; foliated; 60% biotite to 2 cm; 35% hornblende; 5% feldspar (plagioclase) | |||
| P3-07 | Carbonatites | Verity property, N Thompson | Carbonatite | pale buff; massive; foliated; 5% nepheline(?) 2-3 mm translucent phenocrysts; 10% biotite(?) in granular carbonate matrix | |||
| P3-06 | Carbonatites | Biotite fenite | bag of very coarse, mono-mineralic biotite | ||||
| P3-05 | Carbonatites | Mountain Pass, Nevada | T Hoy | Carbonatite | medium grained; light pink-grey; 85% carbonate; 2% black biotite; 1% galena; 12% dark green clasts of chloritic hornblende up to 2 cm. Clasts contain minor cpy. Patch of purple stain of uncertain origin - fluorite? | ||
| P3-04 | Carbonatites | NTS 82M, Perry River | T Hoy | Calcite biotite hornblende fenite carbonatite | weak to moderately foliated; medium grained; 70% mafics to 3 mm (black biotite, light brown phlogopite and slightly chloritic hornblende); 20% white calcite; 9% small, pale green sphene (generally with mafics); 1% magnetite. Epidote? on weathered surface. Metasomatic alteration halo around carbonatite | ||
| P3-03 | Carbonatites | NTS 82M, Perry River | T Hoy | Meta Nepheline syenite | weakly foliated (mafic minerals); 44% pale yellow to white plagioclase; 15% light grey nepheline; 40% mafics, half chloritic hornblende and half biotite with minor phlogopite; 1% disseminated magnetite. All crystals small and anhedral. Associated but distal to carbonatite intrusions. | ||
| P3-02 | Carbonatites | NTS 82M, Perry River | T Hoy | Meta-Intrusive carbonatite | fine to medium grained; very weakly banded; 55% white to pale orange calcite; 36% brown phlogopite and lesser black biotite; 5% hornblende; 2% magnetite; 2% chlorite; clasts to 1 cm evident on weathered surface | ||
| P3-01 | Carbonatites | NTS 82M, Mt. Grave | T Hoy | Meta extrusive carbonatite | weakly foliated; black and white; 60% white to light grey calcite; 19% pale yellow ankerite; 20% small biotite flakes; 1% pyrrhotite associated with biotite. Weak banding apparent on cut surface due to tuff layering or metamorphic fabric; rounded dark grey inclusions of carbonate? or cabonate-nepheline? One green patch of fine green mica. Bumpy surface due to recessive weathering of finer grained carbonate | ||
| I2-05 (missing) | Calcalkaline Granites | Gabbro (missing) | fine grained; black and white; 10% quartz; 10% plagioclase; 80% hornblende and ?pyroxene?; moderately magnetic; minor fine epidote | ||||
| I2-03 (missing) | Calcalkaline Granites | Hornblende biotite diorite (missing) | medium grained; 5% quartz; 50% plagioclase; 20% K-feldspar; 25% biotite and slightly chloritic hornblende are moderately to strongly magnetic; rare py | ||||
| P1-06 | Granitic suite | T Richards | Coarse grained pink granite | grey and pink-orange; 15% quartz; 80% K-feldspar; 5% chloritic hornblende as fine crystals (some euhedral) and small masses; rare magnetite specks | |||
| P1-04 | Granitic suite | K-feldspar porphyry | pink-brown, aphanitic matrix; 20% pale grey to pink K-feldspar 2-8 mm, randomly oriented; 2-3% chlorite-altered hornblende(?); some feldspars show epidote(?) altered cores that indicates compositional zoning | ||||
| P1-05 | Granitic suite | T Richards | Hornblende granodiorite | white to grey, medium grained; 20% quartz; 45% plagioclase; 10% K-feldspar; 25% weakly chloritic hornblende; composition from poor sodium cobaltinitrite stain (yellow K-spar); moderately magnetic. One narrow apple green epidote veinlet with 0.5 cm halo of weak potassic? alteration. | |||
| I1-04 | Granitic suite | T Richards | Hornblende tonalite (quartz diorite) missing | medium grained, black and white; 30% quartz; 30% plagioclase; 40% mafics, mainly hornblende weakly chloritic) and minor dark brown biotite | |||
| P1-03 | Granitic suite | T Richards | Hornblende tonalite (quartz diorite) | black and white, medium to coarse grained; 30% quartz; 55% plagioclase; 15% mafic minerals, mainly weakly chloritized hornblende to 1 cm; very minor brown-black biotite; magnetite specks, rock is moderately magnetic | |||
| P1-02 | Granitic suite | T Richards | Hornblende quartz gabbro | medium grained, black and white; 15% quartz; 10% plagioclase; 75% hornblende (and pyroxene?); strongly magnetic; trace disseminated pyrite | |||
| P1-01 | Granitic suite | T Richards | Biotite granite | medium to coarse grained; 15% light grey quartz; 65% pale pink K-feldspar; 10% white plagioclase; 10% black biotite; 1-2 cm veinlets of quartz and fine grained K-spar | |||
| M9-08 | Penask Hornfels | T Richards? | Black argillite | finely bedded; primary sedimentary rock; no contact metamorphism | |||
| M9-07 | Penask Hornfels | T Richards? | Andesite hornfels | relict feldspar and augite are faintly visible; augite largely converted to hornblende; field mapping shows this rock is a breccia but baking has annealed the rock, over riding primary textures; minor epidote developed | |||
| M9-06 | Penask Hornfels | T Richards? | Argillite hornfels | brown colour indicates biotite; very fine grained white streaks of silica, a co-product of biotite formation, and become more prevalent with prograding of hornfels | |||
| M9-05 | Penask Hornfels | T Richards? | Black argillite hornfels | no biotite; sharp angular edges; concoidal fracture; hard | |||
| M9-04 | Penask Hornfels | T Richards? | Rusty argillite hornfels | typical hornfels, with no indication of biotite | |||
| M9-03 | Penask Hornfels | T Richards? | Argillite hornfels | slight brown tint suggests biotite; fractures cross bedding laminations | |||
| M9-02 | Penask Hornfels | T Richards? | Argillite hornfels | purple-black colour suggest presence of biotite; fracture jointing is stronger than bedding; concoidal fracture; pyritic fractures | |||
| M9-01 | Penask Hornfels | immediately North of Brenda Mine | T Richards? | Biotite hornblende granodiorite | even, medium grained; fresh; 10% quartz; 70% feldspar (cannot distinguish); 15% hornblende; 5% biotite | ||
| M8-18 | Meta-ultramafic | Dunite | olive green; massive; dense; sugary texture; 99% olivine, primary or regenerated by metamorphism?; 1% chromite | ||||
| M8-17 | Meta-ultramafic | Cassiar | Serpentine with asbestos | green; waxy; greasy; veins of chrysotile with fibres 0.5 to 1.5 cm long | |||
| M8-16 | Meta-ultramafic | Pyroxenite | dark green; very coarse grained, crystals to 4 cm; monomineralic enstatite pyroxene; not serpentinized | ||||
| M8-15 | Meta-ultramafic | Nephrite jade | mottled light and dark green; fine grained; hard, siliceous; chrome mica as bright green specks (good crystals on weathered surface) | ||||
| M8-14 | Meta-ultramafic | Cassiar | Serpentinized peridotite with nephrite jade | mottled light and dark green; fine grained; hard; jade developed in irregular layers | |||
| M8-13 | Meta-ultramafic | Magnesite vein with uvarovite | white; fine grained; 2.5 cm wide vein with hairline silica veinlets within, parallel to vein orientation, and crosscutting green, fine grained chrome garnet veinlets to 1 cm wide; silica veins cross garnet | ||||
| M8-11 | Meta-ultramafic | Massive green garnet (uvarovite) | bright green; fine grained; heavy; chromite as sparse black, 2-3 mm squarish crystals; pervasive carbonate alteration; one 1.5 cm clast of pale green epidote(?) | ||||
| M8-10 | Meta-ultramafic | Cassiar | T Richards | Banded serpentinite with asbestos | medium to dark grey and grey-green; poorly banded; bands of serpentinite (dark) and medium green chrysotile (pyroxene asbestos fibres) perpedicular to band direction; strongly magnetic. Asbestos forms in fractures in brittle unfoliated serpentinite that fracture rather than slip with stress | ||
| M8-09 | Meta-ultramafic | Shulaps Range | T Richards | Serpentinized peridotite | dark green; fine grained; fractured; brownish weathered surfaces are siderite/ ankerite; patchy strong magnetism; pyroxene crystals (dark green to brown hypersthene) to 1 cm visible on weathered surface | ||
| M8-08 | Meta-ultramafic | T Richards | Massive talc | light grey-green; fine grained; greasy feeling; few remnant phenocrysts of pyroxene visible; alteration of serpentinite | |||
| M8-07 | Meta-ultramafic | Chilcotin River | T Richards | Serpentinized peridotite | dark green; fine grained; strongly magnetic; disseminated magnetite (and chromite?) | ||
| M8-06 | Meta-ultramafic | Lillooet area | T Richards | Rodingite (massive calcium garnet) | very pale brown-white-grey; mottled; fine grained; hard; powdery carbonate-rich clay on weathered surface | ||
| M8-05 (missing) | Meta-ultramafic | L Warren | Nephrite Jade (missing) | dark green; fine grained; hard; dense; massive; few hairline fractures; minor magnetite as 2 mm specks; green chrome garnet (uvarovite) visible on cut surface | |||
| M8-04 | Meta-ultramafic | Shulaps Range | T Richards | Banded magnesite vein | light brown-white; fine grained; 1 mm to 1 cm bands, wavy and crenulated around clasts of carbonate and wallrock; wallrock replaced by magnesite; weak clay alteration | ||
| M8-03 | Meta-ultramafic | Shulaps Range | T Richards | Magnesite-quartz vein | white with pale brown bands; fine grained to crystalline; euhedral platy magnesite visible on weathered surface; yellowish bands likely ankerite; wallrock is jasper/chert and silicified ultramafic | ||
| M8-02 | Meta-ultramafic | Shulaps Range | T Richards | Massive serpentinite | medium green; fine grained; greasy feeling; from a narrow shear and exhibits slickensides; banded on broken surface indicates several stages of formation; carbonate-rich weathered surface | ||
| M8-01 | Meta-ultramafic | Shulaps Range | T Richards | Serpentinized peridotite (missing) | dark green-grey; fine grained; aphanitic matrix; 25% serpentinized phenocrysts (hypersthene?) to 1 cm; light brown iron/magnesium carbonate throughout; blebs and bands of black, massive magnetite; | ||
| M7-19 | Wollastonite skarn | massive |
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