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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D34-10h | Snip Gold mine | Massive sulphide ore type | 75% pyrite; 20% magnetite; 5% quartz | ||||
| D34-10g | Snip Gold mine | Massive sulphide ore type | 35% pyrite; 40% pyrrhotite; 10% magnetite; 15% quartz | ||||
| D34-10f | Snip Gold mine | Massive sulphide ore type | 70% buckshot pyrite; 20% pyrrhotite; 10% chalcopyrite | ||||
| D34-10e | Snip Gold mine | Massive sulphide ore type | 6 cm sulphide band enclosed in biotite hornfels greywacke; 70% pyrrhotite; 25% chalcopyrite; 5% pyrite | ||||
| D34-10d | Snip Gold mine | Massive sulphide ore type | 60% pyrite; 30% pyrrhotite; 10% quartz | ||||
| D34-10c | Snip Gold mine | Massive sulphide ore type | 50% pyrrhotite; 15% pyrite; 35% chlorite | ||||
| D34-10b | Snip Gold mine | Massive sulphide ore type | 60% pyrrhotite; 10% chalcopyrite; quartz 30% | ||||
| D34-10a | Snip Gold mine | Massive sulphide ore type | 3rd or 4 ore types; 60% pyrrhotite; 15% pyrite; chlorite 20%; quartz 5% | ||||
| D34-09b | Snip Gold mine | Streaky calcite ore type | 30% carbonate; 10% quartz; 10% biotite plus chlorite; 50% pyrite | ||||
| D34-09a | Snip Gold mine | Streaky calcite ore type | 2nd of 4 ore types at Snip; good example; 60% calcite; 15% quartz; 10% chlorite; 5% biotite; 10% pyrite | ||||
| D34-08c | Snip Gold mine | Biotite-chlorite ore type | 5% biotite; 10% chlorite; 15% quartz; 60% calcite; 10% pyrite | ||||
| D34-08b | Snip Gold mine | Biotite-chlorite ore type? | 10% biotite; 15% chlorite; 40% quartz; 20% calcite; 10% pyrite + chalcopyrite | ||||
| D34-08a | Snip Gold mine | Biotite-chlorite ore type | 1st of 4 ore types at Snip; 25% biotite; 25% chlorite; 30% quartz; 10-15% pyrite; 1% chalcopyrite | ||||
| D34-07 | Snip Gold mine | 130 Haulage level, survey pin 260+5.5 m | Quartz-magnetite rock | black and white; 67% quartz; 30% magnetite; 3% pyrite; cf to quartz magnetite stockwork in the nearby Bronson Slope disseminated gold deposit | |||
| D34-06 | Snip Gold mine | Mafic volcanic schist (greenstone) | dark green; mainly chlorite; abundant slicken surfaces, evidence of shearing | ||||
| D34-05 | Snip Gold mine | Biotite lamprophyre dike | black; 25% biotite; 10% plagioclase; 65% undetermined mafic minerals; the dike is post-ore but in the same plane, thereby bisecting the ore | ||||
| D34-04 | Snip Gold mine | 130 Haulage level, survey pin 279+20 m | Biotite hornfels (Greywacke) - wallrock to Twin vein | dark grey; 70% quartz-feldspar groundmass; 30% biotite; 2-3 % disseminated pyrite | |||
| D34-03 | Snip Gold mine | 130 Haulage level, survey pin 267+12 m | Strongly sheared Red Bluff porphyry | light green; not easily identified as intrusion; streaky texture advanced to segragation of siliceous layers; faintly visible K-feldspar; many slickenside movement planes | |||
| D34-02 | Snip Gold mine | 130 Haulage level | Sheared Red Bluff porphyry | 15% K-feldspar, stretched producing streaky texture and boudined Kspar phenos, some crystals can clearly be recognized; intrusive texture of plagioclase can be discerned; 30% sericite; trace molybdenite | |||
| D34-01 | Snip Gold mine | UG ddh 1572 | K-feldspar megacrystic granodiorite (Red Bluff porphyry) | 5% K-feldspar, white, 0.5-1 cm; 35% plagioclase, 2-3 mm, grey, crowded, trachytic; 10% hornblende; veined by quartz with variable bleached (silicified) envelopes | |||
| D33-32 | Equity Silver | Main zone? | T Schroeter | Breccia | all clasts are same lithology, pale pinkish and could be finely crystalline intrusive rock with 5-15% pyrite; clasts are angular; matrix is dark grey with 50% pyrite | ||
| D33-31 | Equity Silver | Main zone | T Schroeter | Breccia | heterolithic breccia, three or more rock types, all felsic - 1. feldspar porphyry with 20% feldspar, 2. pale coloured clasts with 20% coarse pyrite, 3. light tan clasts with no feldspar and no pyrite; clasts are mainly angular but some are sub-round; matrix is rock flour(?) and fine pyrite (some coarse py) that contrasts with coarse pyrite in clasts | ||
| D33-30 | Equity Silver | Southern Tail zone | T Schroeter | Massive chalcopyrite-pyrite ore | host rock is brecciated dust tuff; minor arsenopyrite(?) and specularite | ||
| D33-29 | Equity Silver | Main zone hangingwall(?) | T Schroeter | Fractured dust tuff | Hematite(?) and pyrite fill fractures | ||
| D33-28 | Equity Silver | T Schroeter | Brecciated dust tuff | pyrite and tourmaline fill fractures | |||
| D33-27 | Equity Silver | Southern Tail zone | T Schroeter | Ore breccia | infilling of arsenopyrite and tourmaline, lesser pyrite and chalcopyrite; dust tuff host | ||
| D33-26 | Equity Silver | Southern Tail zone | T Schroeter | Ore breccia | infilling of specularite, pyrite, chalcopyrite | ||
| D33-25 | Equity Silver | Southern Tail zone ? | T Schroeter | Brecciated dust tuff(?) cemented by chalcopyrite and specularite | brittle fracture, no reaction between ore fluid and host rock | ||
| D33-24 | Equity Silver | Southern Tail zone | T Schroeter | Brecciated dust tuff cemented by sulphides | coarse vein of sphalerite-galena-pyrite crosscut arsenopyrite-pyrite veins | ||
| D33-23 | Equity Silver | Main ore zone | T Schroeter | Arsenopyrite-cemented breccia | angular, very fine grained black fragments are probably tourmaline; abundant pyrite; lesser chalcopyrite; brecciated lava dome texture featured in D33-21 is evident at one end of the specimen | ||
| D33-22 | Equity Silver | Main ore zone | T Schroeter | Intense pervasive tourmaline alteration | original rock texture obscured by tourmaline replacement; thin section would show andalusite; pyrite and chalcopyrite | ||
| D33-21 | Equity Silver | Main ore zone (principal ore material) | T Schroeter | Brecciated dacite/rhyolite (lava dome?) | Lower Cretaceous | tan, aphanitic fragments in dark sulphide-silicate matrix; all fragments are same composition; two-stage breccia; first stage fragments are widely separated and cannot be reassembled (the lava dome?); second stage breccia is jigsaw style, the fragments can be visually reassembled; thin section study shows fragments are very fine grained sericite and lesser quartz, matrix contains andalusite, quartz, less sericite plus minor tourmaline, dumortierite, rutile, pyrite, tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite | |
| D33-20 | Equity Silver | Hangingwall of Main zone | T Schroeter | Felsic tuff, highly fractured | 25% coarse pyrite, no visible chalcopyrite; high pyrite alteration is typical of hangingwall, contains no ore minerals | ||
| D33-19 | Equity Silver | Hangingwall ? | T Schroeter | Lapilli tuff | light tan colour clasts, 1 cm size are highly pyritized with 25% pyrite; white, siliceous matrix; cut by vein of tourmaline, pyrite, chalcopyrite | ||
| D33-18 | Equity Silver | D Lefebure? | Main zone ore breccia | coarse volcanic breccia, clasts to 6 cm; felsic composition with black tourmaline and lesser pyrite irregularly disseminated in matrix; possible dumortierite where tourmaline concentration is highest | |||
| D33-17 | Equity Silver | Main ore zone adjacent gabbro stock | T Schroeter | Massive pyrrhotite-pyrite-chalcopyrite-magnetite | contact metamorphism of Main ore zone near gabbro-monzonite stock and major dikes | ||
| D33-16 | Equity Silver | Hangingwall of Main ore zone, south end | T Schroeter | Welded rhyolite tuff, intensely altered | Lower Cretaceous | pale, off-white colour; streaky lines show welding; 25% spherules concentrically zoned; tourmaline rim to mauve dumortierite and many with a tan-colour core that is likely andalusite and perhaps rutile; 3% disseminated pyrite, some as discontinuous streaks; under original terminology this would be "porcellaneous dust tuff" | |
| D33-15 | Equity Silver | Volcanic sequence | T Schroeter | Welded crystal-lithic tuff, tourmaline altered | Lower Cretaceous | 5-8% quartz and feldspar crystals, < mm size, feldspar is altered brown; 20% flattened (welded) aphanitic fragments in very pale grey matrix; 15% radiating black tourmaline clots and crystal masses | |
| D33-14 | Equity Silver | T Schroeter | Copper-silver ore | ten diverse polished core sections for microscopy | |||
| D33-13 | Equity Silver | Volcanic sequence | T Schroeter | Rhyolite lapilli tuff | Lower Cretaceous | 30% light grey angular fragments to 3 cm size; 70% white matrix; all hard and aphanitic | |
| D33-12 | Equity Silver | T Schroeter | Altered (border phase?) quartz monzonite | 50 Ma ? | 1% mm size feldspar; 1% mm size biotite; aphanitic pink matrix | ||
| D33-11 | Equity Silver | T Schroeter | Bladed feldspar-pyroxene porphyritic andesite dike? | derived from gabbro-monzonite stock, feeder to Goosly trachyandesite flows; dike(?) cuts heterolithic lapilli tuff grey, red and pale felsic volcanic fragments; calcite amygdules in dike | |||
| D33-10 | Equity Silver | T Schroeter | Gabbro - monzonite | 49 Ma ? | 75% bladed plagioclase laths; 1 cm long by 2-4 mm wide; flow-aligned (trachytic); interstitial epidote quite unusual; gabbro-monzonite is multiphase with many rock names including diorite, syenodiorite, syenomonzonite; all are characterized by bladed feldspar phenocrysts | ||
| D33-09 | Equity Silver | T Schroeter | Altered quartz monzonite? | 50 Ma ? | pink; fine-medium grained; 1% chloritized hornblende; trace primary biotite | ||
| D33-08 | Equity Silver | T Schroeter | Altered biotite quartz monzonite | 50 Ma ? | altered feldspar in siliceous matrix; biotite preserved; fine-medium grained igneous texture; relict hornblende nucleates secondary pyrite; narrow quartz veinlets (weak stockwork); 1% disseminated pyrite | ||
| D33-07 | Equity Silver | Footwall sequence (?) | T Schroeter | Volcanic sandstone (possibly ash tuff) | Lower Cretaceous | pale grey; well sorted; rhyolite material; 3% disseminated black tourmaline (too hard to be biotite) | |
| D33-06 | Equity Silver | Volcanic sequence | T Schroeter | Lapilli tuff | Lower Cretaceous | light grey; heterolithic; fragments to 5 cm but mainly 0-1 cm; angular to subround; most are aphanitic rhyolite but a few large fragments are pinkish intrusive or porphyritic volcanic; tourmaline alteration as narrow rim around fragments and disseminated in matrix, controlled by porosity; pyrite on fractures and disseminated with tourmaline | |
| D33-05 | Equity Silver | Footwall sequence | T Schroeter | Volcanic sandstonewith rip-up clasts, Skeena Group | Lower Cretaceous | light green; well bedded sand and siltstone; sand bed contains angular black to dark green rip-ups to 6 cm, appear to be andesite or argillite but much too hard | |
| D33-04 | Equity Silver | Footwall sequence | T Schroeter | Volcanic sandstone, Skeena Group | Lower Cretaceous | pale green; alternating sand and silt beds; similar to D33-3 | |
| D33-03 | Equity Silver | Footwall sequence | T Schroeter | Volcanic sandstone, Skeena Group | Lower Cretaceous | light green-grey; uniform size, well-sorted sand grains <1 mm; subround to angular; some are dark green volcanic, most are indeterminate; faint bedding |
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