Princess Sodalite EarthCache
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The Princess Sodalite Mine and Rock Shop is highly regarded by mineral collectors as an important stop on their mineral expedition to the Bancroft area. The shop also has an extensive selection of local and international mineral specimens, candle holders, carvings, jewellery, and other fun stuff to choose from.
The geological location of Bancroft is part of the Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield, which is characterized by igneous and metamorphic rocks that date back more than 1 billion years. The area is especially known for minerals bearing nepheline, and specimens can be found in various mineral collections throughout the world. The mineral most people associate with this area is the blue sodalite, and the location best known for the solid blue sodalite is the Princess Sodalite mine.
Sodalite is a mineral made of sodium aluminum silicate with chlorine, and is apparently more common in regions where there was some volcanic action. The geological explanation for this is that thousands of years before the glacial age, the nepheline rocks were being invaded from below by sodium chloride, which gave the the rock it's deep blue coloring. Sodalite from the Princess mine was brought to worldwide attention at the World Exposition in Chicago in 1893, with a rough specimen was shown at an Ontario Provincial exhibit, and a polished one at the Geological Survey of Canada.
The first commercial operation of sodalite was in 1906, and the Princess Mine deposit has been worked intermittently ever since. Because of the interest by the British Royalty in the Bancroft sodalite, the deposit became known as the Princess Sodalite Quarry, but was renamed years later as the Princess Sodalite Mine. The mine workings are currently closed to the public, but sodalite is available in the shop or can be collected at the rock farm, which is open May to October during the year. Not only does the rock make a nice mineral specimen, but since it has a hardness of 5 1/2-6, it can also be made into carvings and jewellery too. It can also be used as a healing crystal.
Using the large boulders located at the front of the shop on the right, please email me the answers to the following 4 questions;
1. Using the largest boulder, what is the length and width of the sodalite strip embedded in the rock?2. Are some of the boulders a darker blue than others? If so, how many?
3. What chemical causes the rock to form its' blue coloring?
4. What other precious stone does sodalite closely resemble?
Cache placed with owner's permission
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