Gemology of Bancroft EarthCache
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-- THIS IS AN EARTHCACHE, PLEASE READ BELOW FOR LOGGING REQUIREMENTS --
PRE-REQUISITES:
- Collect a mineral Specimen - Gather it from the local trails, or from the nearby stream in town.
- Ensure you can visit the museum when it is open!
For Hours of Operation, click here:
(last update) Tuesday to Friday10am-5pm, Saturday 9am-2pm
There is a 5$ Donation to enter the Mineral Hall, it is run by the Bancroft District Chamber of Commerce.
Geology of the Bancroft Area:
Bancroft is known as the "Mineral Capital of Canada" and an area with a rich geological history and mining heritage. Over 1600 mineral species have been found in the area, including corundum, feldspar, nepheline, graphite, talc, quartz, radium, fluorite, gold, iron, lead, barite, apatite, mica, beryl, molybdenum, sodalite and marble. The Marble mined from this area was deemed such a high quality, that it was used for the construction of the Parliment buildings and Queens Park in Toronto. Many types of specimens taken from the Bancroft area can be found in museums and collections all over the world, including the Smithsonian Institute.
The area surrounding Bancroft lies on the Canadian Shield that is 1.1-1.8 billion years old, composed of Igneous and Metamorphic rocks set down before life on earth was big enough to be seem without a microscope.
Due to the excellent quality of the mineral deposits, in the 1880 there was much mining activity. However, the mineral veins proved to be small, so the size of the mines and quarries in the area remained at a modest size. After a while, the mines and quarries closed, as they could not compete with the larger producers throughout Canada and the United States. Mining activity in the area re-commenced after World War II as the search for uranium was on. Four major uranium mines opened in the area. These were Bicroft, Faraday, Dyno and Greyhawk. These mines were open from approximately the mid 1950's to the early 1960's. After this time, they were closed down due to the high cost of mining such small deposits of uranium.
This Earthcache will take you to the Bancroft Gem and Mineral Club Mineral Museum, inside the old railway station, which displays prime examples of some of the minerals that have been mined from the area. Answer the following 3 questions from the plaques on the wall, then identify a sample that you found on the trails near the museum (I suggest looking for washouts and rivers for the best samples).
Logging Requirements:
To log this cache you must find an interesting Mineral on the Trails in the Brancroft area, and attempt to identify it using the displays at the museum.
Email me through my profile the answers to the following questions:
- Find a map, and determine the type of Precambrian bedrock that is beneath the location of the museum
- Using answer from question 1: What is the chief component of this type of rock? (you will find the answer by reading some of the displays)
- Using answer from question 2: Crushed into a powder, what is this mineral a major component in? (you will find the answer by reading some of the displays)
Post with your found Log:
- (optional) Post with your log a picture of the mineral you brought to the museum. Explain the colour, texture, size and shape of the mineral in your log, as well as your identification of the mineral based on the displays at the museum.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)