| Abstract | Occurrences of minerals, rocks, and fossils are described from about 200 easily accessible localities on either side of the Ottawa River from Ottawa - Gatineau (Hull) to North Bay. They are reached by
following Highway 17 in Ontario and Highway 148 in Quebec.
Most of the collecting localities are in Renfrew County, Ontario. A wide variety of minerals are found in this area, and some localities are known for the museum-type specimens collected
from them. The earliest mines were the apatite and iron mines that were operated in the 1880s. Other deposits were subsequently worked for corundum, molybdenite, zinc, celestine, garnet, pyrite, beryl, marble, limestone, feldspar, rare-element
minerals, and dolomite.
Numerous former feldspar mines as well as deposits of kyanite, garnet, muscovite, niobium, and brucite occur in the Nipissing District. Some of these deposits are accessible only by boat.
The region north of the Ottawa
River between Gatineau (Hull) and Waltham was formerly mined for iron, mica, feldspar, apatite, uranium, molybdenum, lead-zinc, and limestone. A dolomite deposit is currently (2005) being operated. Occurrences of brucite, pyroaurite, szaibelyite,
cordierite, scapolite, and asbestos are also known. Farther west, in the Témiscaming - Kipawa area, a wide variety of minerals include garnet, kyanite, and amazonite, and the rare-mineral suite of the Kipawa complex. In recent years, the Témiscaming
area has been the scene of exploration for diamonds, and some diamonds have been reported from a location south of Lake Beauchêne.
Minerals and/or rocks that could be used for lapidary purposes include feldspar (peristerite, sunstone), rose
quartz, graphic granite, and corundum from Renfrew County; feldspar (peristerite, amazonite), jaspilite, and graphic granite from the North Bay area; peristerite and cordierite from the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. Ordovician fossils may be
collected from numerous roadcuts, rock outcrops, and quarries in the Ottawa - Pembroke and Aylmer areas. |