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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D28 10 | Epithermal Textures | Sphalerite vein | massive, fine grained sphalerite (65%) intergrown with lesser galena (15%); irregular bands of pyrite-chalcopyrite (15%) and knots (vein fragments) of quartz, 5%; low temperature vein, possibly the deep roots of an epithermal system | ||||
| D28 09 (2 pieces) | Epithermal Textures | Bryanne | Argillite-chalcedony breccia | black phyllite host; pale orange silica/ chalcedony tectonized clasts | |||
| D28 08 | Epithermal Textures | Multiphase quartz-sulphide breccia | matrix is white to orange chalcedonic quartz; fragments include: 1) angular grey chalcedony (wallrock to last brecciation) 2) angular to subround welded ash tuff, 3) well rounded fragments of semi-massive arsenopyrite-pyrite in fine grained silica; arsenopyrite more abundant than pyrite; arsenopyrite itself is rounded and fractured indicating a very early brecciation | ||||
| D28 07 | Epithermal Textures | Wolf(?) 093F 045 | Quartz brecciated felsic volcanic | purple-red oxidized; vuggy; multiple brecciation events evidenced by partial chalcedonic quartz rims on fragments; no sulphides; comparable to other Wolf(?) samples | |||
| D28 06 | Epithermal Textures | Nechako, Wolf 093F 045 | Rhyolite and quartz vein breccia | pink-red, aphanitic to fine grained quartz; patchy disseminated sulphides - pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite? | |||
| D28 05 | Epithermal Textures | Nechako, as above, Water Two | Chalcedonic quartz vein breccia | ||||
| D28 04 | Epithermal Textures | Nechako, Nithi River, C.H. | Chalcedonic quartz and quartz-breccia veins in welded ash tuff | weakly banded chalcedonic quartz; streaky banded red and white welded ash tuff; streaky red is alteration (oxidation) feature that is irregularly layered and rims fragments | |||
| D28 03 | Epithermal Textures | Wolf(?) 093F 045 | Quartz-calcite vein | two generations of quartz, early pale green and later white to clear vuggy quartz; coarse calcite associated with pale green quartz; vuggy quartz may be replacing calcite but no clear textural evidence, but boxwork silica is suggestive; two intensely altered wallrock fragments on one face | |||
| D28 02 | Epithermal Textures | Banded amysthine quartz vein | comb textured and vuggy | ||||
| D28 01 | Epithermal Textures | Wolf(?) 093F 045 | Quartz-specularite-pyrite vein | 50% fine drusy quartz; 50% dark brown-black specular hematite(?); bladed texture in quartz possibly indicative of calcite replacement during boiling of hydrothermal fluid; hematite is hard, metallic, compact with poor crystal form, hardness 5-6 but streak is not red | |||
| D27-07 | Quesnel Black Phyllite | Black phyllite | ankerite porphyroblasts are proximal to gold-quartz veins; very small specimen | ||||
| D27-06 | Quesnel Black Phyllite | Black phyllite | small knots of carbonate (ankerite) porphyroblasts; mm-wide, foliation parallel quartz veins, about 2 or 3 per cm, and contain pyrite; 1% disseminated pyrite cubes in phyllite; ankerite crystals apparently in close association with gold-bearing quartz veins | ||||
| D27-05 | Quesnel Black Phyllite | Black slate - phyllite | irregular bedding or foliation controlled bleaching; some bands are cross-cutting; no evidence of reported chlorite | ||||
| D27-04 | Quesnel Black Phyllite | Altered phyllite to schist | abundant brown-weathering ovoids reported to be ankerite porphyroblasts | ||||
| D27-03 | Quesnel Black Phyllite | Quartz vein | host is sheared graphitic phyllite; may be ore-grade gold; circled area is probably not gold | ||||
| D27-02 | Quesnel Black Phyllite | Black slate, regional lithology | dark grey to black; featureless | ||||
| D27- 01 | Quesnel Black Phyllite | Black phyllite | slightly bleached proximal to gold mineralization; ovoid-shaped porphyroblasts of ankerite, some strung out as thin lenses; | ||||
| D26-08 | Pinchi Mercury | Mineralized vein breccia | black argillite host rock; angular vein clasts to several cm size; vein quartz is grey, no crystals evident; fine grained cinnabar in quartz; highest cinnabar content of the suite; massive aggregates of black needle crystals of stibnite(?) or jamesonite(?) | ||||
| D26-07 | Pinchi Mercury | Antimony-mercury vein | messy, disrupted quartz-calcite vein in graphitic argillite; white clay(?) alteration of argillite; stibnite as clusters of radiating crystals; disseminated cinnabar and (according to submitter) very fine native mercury | ||||
| D26-06 | Pinchi Mercury | Quartz vein breccia | cinnabar is non-crystalline, brick-red colour, estimated several per cent; dark grey quartz might be due to fine disseminated sulphides in quartz | ||||
| D26-05 | Pinchi Mercury | Graphitic argillite, strongly contorted | foliation parallel quartz sweats and stringers; isoclinal chert fold hinge | ||||
| D26-04 | Pinchi Mercury | Graphitic argillite | strongly foliated and folded; folded chert bed | ||||
| D26-03 | Pinchi Mercury | Quartz vein | mottled light to dark grey; banded; dark colour may be due to fine sulphides in the vein | ||||
| D26-02 | Pinchi Mercury | Ankerite alteration? | dun-colour indicative of ankerite-altered metasediment or ultramafic; fine grained, no original texture; strong brittle fractures filled by network of quartz-cinnabar veins, 0.5 cm wide; fine milled wallrock fragments in quartz veins; vuggy, open-space texture | ||||
| D26- 01 | Pinchi Mercury | Calcite vein | massive white to grey; coarse but no crystals evident; cinnabar is fracture-controlled, brick-red coloured | ||||
| D25-12 | Massive sulphide | Devonian | irregular (crude) laminations; 60% pyrite; 20% galena; 20% sphalerite; 10% calcite; sulphides are hard to distinguish | ||||
| D25-11 | Massive sulphide | Devonian | very well bedded; finely laminated; 60% galena; 20% sphalerite; 20% pyrite | ||||
| D25-08 (3 pieces) | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | Bedded barite | Devonian | light to medium grey; dense; finely laminated; similar to D25-06 | ||
| D25-10 | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | Black shale | Devonian | finely laminated; similar to D25-01 | ||
| D25-09 | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | Black shale | Devonian | weakly laminated | ||
| D25-07 (5 pieces) | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | D MacIntyre | Massive sulphide | Devonian | extremely fine grained; sulphides difficult to recognize; density and white hydrozincite on weathered surface are key | |
| D25-06 (3 pieces) | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | D MacIntyre | Bedded sedimentary barite | Devonian | medium-dark grey; dense; barite may or may not accompany lead-zinc mineralization; occasionally hosts mineralization | |
| D25-05 | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | D MacIntyre | Black shale | Devonian | black weathered surface; black fresh surface | |
| D25-04 | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | D MacIntyre | Gritty black shale | Devonian | 10% quartz clasts, 0.5 - 1 mm size | |
| D25-03 | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | D MacIntyre | Greywacke | Devonian | dark grey; fine quartz veinlets | |
| D25-02 | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | D MacIntyre | Nodular black shaley limestone | Devonian | ||
| D25- 01 | Gataga Area (Driftpile?) | N Rocky Mtns | D MacIntyre | Finely laminated black shale | Devonian | grey weathered surface; black fresh surface | |
| D24-13 | Taseko River | Taylor Windfall occurrence | P Wojdak | Quartz-corundum-pyrite rock | strong advanced argillic alteration; blue corundum; sample is from adjoining property on the same altered and copper-gold mineralized zone | ||
| D24-12 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Quartz rock | recrystallized quartz mosaic due to strong acid leach; minor magnetite, pyrite, chalcopyrite | |||
| D24-11 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Quartz rock | recrystallized quartz mosaic due to strong acid leach; pitted | |||
| D24-10 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Andalusite - pyrophyllite - corundum rock (Lambert) | very difficult rock, P Wojdak does not recognize dark grey andalusite or blue corundum that is reported; minor pyrite | |||
| D24-09 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Quartz diorite | medium grained; 30% laths of zoned plagioclase; 15% hornblende replaced by biotite and chlorite; 50% indeterminate pinkish-grey matrix; unaltered intrusion below advanced argillic alteration zone | |||
| D24-08 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Quartz-magnetite rock | chalcopyrite present; interval assays 1.5% Cu, 0.04 oz/t Au | |||
| D24-07 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Quartz-magnetite rock | 50-60% magnetite; relict breccia texture visible on wet surface | |||
| D24-06 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Quartz rock | interlocking, sugary quartz mosaic; minor pyrophyllite and pyrite | |||
| D24-05 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Quartz rock | grey quartz intimately mixed with unknown mineral (cannot be plagioclase as reported) | |||
| D24-04 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Plagioclase - pyrophyllite - andalusite rock (Lambert) | very difficult rock; P Wojdak does not believe plagioclase is present, advanced argillic minerals form by destruction of feldspar; andalusite, if present, cannot be seen; interval assayed 0.73% Cu, 0.30 oz/t Au | |||
| D24-03 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Plagioclase - pyrophyllite - andalusite rock (Lambert) | very difficult rock; mottled light to medium grey; P Wojdak does not believe plagioclase is present, advanced argillic minerals form by destruction of feldspar; corundum reported but not seen; black crystals might be tourmaline | |||
| D24-02 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Plagioclase - pyrophyllite - andalusite rock (Lambert) | very difficult rock; pocked, pitted by intense acid leaching alteration; P Wojdak does not believe plagioclase is present, advanced argillic minerals form by destruction of feldspar; abundant pyrophyllite (pale green to silvery, very soft, nice crystals locally; pinkish hard mineral is alunite or andalusite? | |||
| D24- 01 | Taseko River | E Lambert | Quartz - andalusite - pyrophyllite altered rock | very difficult rock, Lambert's mineralogy must be based on thin section work; P Wojdak sees 50% medium grey, patchy quartz; 10% waxy white, soft streaks, pyrophyllite(?); 20% very small, light tan to faintly pink prismatic mineral that might be andalusite |
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