Anhydrite, Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada (From the money pit area)

One of my favorite specimens - anhydrite core sample from Oak Island, NS

I have a chance to visit Oak Island in person in  April 2019.  Oak Island, NS.

Images of Yooperlites from Pebble beach, Marathon, Ontario

Yooperlites from Pebble beach, Marathon, Ontario

Yooperlites are an uncommon fine to coarse-grained gray igneous rock named syenite. It is composed mainly of alkali feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals such as hornblende.  Yooperlites are very ordinary looking igneous in normal but when exposed to long wave ultraviolet light has a fluorescent mineral is variety of sodalite, which glows orange.

           (Updated) A nicer photo with truer color.  Used my trusty 40 year old Raytech UV light.

Yooperlites at Pebble beach, Marathon, Ontario

This last week, my family and I took a mineral collecting vacation to Thunder Bay, Ontario.  The last stop on the trip was Pebble Beach in Marathon, Ontario in search of yooperlites or 'glow-in-the-dark' rocks are the locals know them.

The yooperlites is the name these rocks have in upper peninsula of Michigan, along the southern shore of Lake Superior.  I purchased on for reference.  The specimen is a very common looking gray and white mottled igneous rock containing fluorescent sodalite.

Ref :https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michigan-man-discovers-glowing-florescent-rocks-called-yooperlites/

So, I started doing some research (using my software Digital Rockhound's companion) and found areas where syenite (silica deficient rock composed mainly of alkali feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals such as hornblende and in certain locations sodalite.  Famous area is Bancroft, Ontario (much further east) where sodalite has been mined.  I was looking for a source closer to Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  In the images below, the red is syenite and there is a large deposit located in city of Marathon.  

These images were created in DRC 4.0 (not released yet August 2019!) using geology of Ontario shapefile from the Ontario Ministry of Mining, Bing aerial view in Mapsui for WPF.

Researching Marathon, I discovered Pebble Beach, which could be renamed cobble or boulder beach.

Ref: https://anotherwalkinthepark.com/2015/09/12/pebble-beach-marathon-ontario/

Some images from Pebble beach:

I purchased 6 high powered long wave ultraviolet lights from Wish.com.  A word of caution, these flashlights are 100 UV LED light source that is very bright.  Some people are sensitive to blue-purple frequency light.  I know in indoors using one of these flashlights on my mineral collection I get a head-ache after about 15 mins of use but outdoors these are fine.  You can spot a strongly fluorescent mineral at 3-4 feet away.

My family scanning about 1 km of beach with the lights.

In the end, we found about 8 fluorescent stones, 3 very nice ones and 4 larger cobbles with single fluorescent crystals, and one odd stone fluoresces pale red (still researching this one).

Here are two of the nicer stones.

(Updated) A nicer photo with truer color.  Used my trusty 40 year old Raytech UV light.

Things to know before you go...

• During bug season, you will need bug spray.  Gnats, mosquitoes, and black flies were very  thick the evening we were on the beach.
• Pebble Beach is a local park and is well marked with parking and playground nearby.
• It is a steep walk down to the beach and the beach itself is difficult, high ankle hiking boots are recommended.
• Go to the beach before sunset to get the lay of the land before exploring the beach after sunset.

View of Lake Superior at Marathon.

Panorama Amethyst Mine, Shuniah Ontario.

Today, we visited our second amethyst mine in the Thunder Bay area: Panorama Amethyst Mine, in nearby Shuniah Ontario.

Web site:http://www.amethystmine.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmethystMinePanorama/
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/zjFPFFsPakEt9dUo9

Things to know before you go...

• As of June 2019, it costs $10.00/person plus you are charged $4.00 /lb for any material you collect.   
• The staff is very friendly and helpful.  We did get a personal tour of the active mine area by the owner
• You cannot collect in the active mining areas but that is okay.  The staff has freshly mined rock dumped through out the area and some very very nice can be found. (Turns out this is Canadian law issue about who can and cannot be in an active mine area).
• Bring hats, gloves, deep woods bug repellent and drinks.  The bugs can be thick.
• This mine does produce some very dark purple amethyst suitable for lapidary and tumbling as well as nice drusy crystals.
• The is located about 6 km in off the main road on unpaved gravel road.  There was a steep hill but the mini van made it fine.
• Mine does accept credit cards.  We used up the last of our cash and had to put a little of the purchase on credit.

Photos:  Road to the mine:

Cool display pieces outside the visitor center:

Collecting area:

Active mine area (tour no collecting)

In closing, well worth the stop.  Very friendly staff and owner, we had a blast collecting and talking with everyone.