Over 100 vendors opened up their booths on Thursday to kick off the 59th Rockhound Gemboree.
MY Bancroft Now spoke with Rob and Pat Cook of Groundstar Minerals as they were setting up for the day.
The Cooks are based in Coldwater, Ontario and say they have been collecting for years, but just recently decided to become vendors.
My Bancroft Now asked Rob to show us some of his favorite specimens.
The first one was from Morocco, called Vanadanite, a deep orange glittering piece.
“These are very large crystals. Morocco is famous for this material, where it is much sought after. There’s some you find in the southwestern US, but they’re very small micro crystals. So these Moroccan ones, they’re pretty sought after.”
He also showed My Bancroft Now a unique specimen from Quebec.
“It’s mica, sheets of mica, with specialtine garnets embedded in it. And it’s one mine in Quebec that you find these in, and again, they’re quite unusual.”
Cook went on to display something from even closer to home, a mineral called fluorapatite.
“This is not common, but it’s fairly readily available in the Bancroft area. This is the mineral that really started a lot of the old mines”
Cook explained that the mineral was mined because it is a phosphate.
“They would crush it up and, believe it or not, they would send it to the United Kingdom and they used it as fertilizer.”
We asked Cook where apatite might be found now, for the layperson out looking.
“A lot of these minerals in this area come from what are called vein dikes, so they look like a trench on the surface and there’s a depression. And you dig and you find these just in the dirt.”
Anyone might come across these trenches, just walking in the woods.
“Lots of people find them on their farms or on their property. They see trenches, they don’t really know what’s there. Most of them probably hold appetite or other minerals”
“One of the most famous properties is called The Miller Property, up near Eganville, which is not too far from here. And it’s just a series of long trenches, just in the woods”
The Gemboree is taking place until Sunday at the North Hastings Community Center and the Curling Club. You can find more information here:
Rockhound Gemboree (bancroftrockhoundgemboree.ca)
