Rhodonite clearcut

Virtual Museum ID: 19-MEM20

Summary
Data
Geological Info
Images

Specimen Summary


Rhodonite is a pink manganese silicate mineral. Its composition is made up of iron, calcium, and magnesium. This mineral is found in metamorphic rocks that have manganese minerals. Rhodonite is uncommon, as its only found in small deposits around the world. It is pink to red in colour, has a pearly to vitreous lustre and triclinic crystal system. It is mainly used has a decorative stone and gemstone.

Specimen Data

 

The information listed below relates to the current holding location or collection that the sample is from, and whether the item is viewable at that location or is part of a private collection. Coordinates are given as guides, and we remind you that collecting specimens from these locations is not allowed. Caution is advised visiting such sites and Below BC assumes no responsibility for any injuries or trespassing charges that may occur as a result of the viewer entering these sites.

Collection Details

Original Collection:

Ministry of Energy, Mines & Petroleum Resources of Cranbrook (MEM)

Sub Collection:

-

Collection ID:

MEM_20

Virtual Museum ID:

19-MEM20

Accessibility:

Date Added to VM:

2019-06-14

Location Information

Sample Origin:

Greenwood

Specific Site:

-

UTM Easting:

382148

UTM Northing:

5450949

Datum:

11 (NAD 83)

Coordinate Accuracy:

Approximate

Specimen Details

VM Category:

Mineral

Primary Features:

Rhodonite clearcut

Primary Mineral Formula:

Mn2+SiO3

Primary Category:

silicate

Secondary Features:

Advanced Geological Information

 

The following section provides geological data relating to the specimen or the site it was collected from, when available. Information has been obtained from various sources including private and government datasets but may not be up to date. Any geological time periods or ages listed often relate to the primary geology of the area, and may not be the actual date of an event such as mineral formation.

Geological Formation:

Knob Hill Group

Geological Period:

Upper Paleozoic

Stratigraphic Age:

~260 to 300 Million Years

Geological Belt:

Omineca

Geological Terrane:

Slide Mountain

Minfile ID:

082ESE241

Minfile Link:

https://minfile.gov.bc.ca/Summary.aspx?minfilno=082ESE241

Site Details:

The Clearcut Rhodonite prospect is on the road leading to the microwave tower on Mount Roderick Dhu, 13 kilometres northeast of Greenwood.

The main exposure is a 10-metre long roadcut that displays pink pyroxmanganite and rhodonite coated with black manganese oxide. This rock has a sugary texture and grades into quartz-rich rock containing spessartine garnet and light coloured mica.

The host rocks are part of the Upper Paleozoic Knob Hill Group that outcrops in an southeast trending belt extending from the lower course of Clement Creek to Jewel Lake and thence to the area northwest of Mount Roderick Dhu. The Knob Hill Group consists of a variety of volcanic and sedimentary rocks converted to amphibolite and quartz-mica schists by regional metamorphism. The rocks are medium to fine grained, medium to dark coloured. Primary structures, such as bedding, are often confused with foliation and gneissosity. The metasedimentary rocks consist of quartz (15 to 90 per cent), plagioclase, biotite and some garnet and magnetite, and less commonly amphibole, chlorite, muscovite and occasionally andalusite. Because of recrystallization, metaquartzites and metacherts cannot be distinguished. The amphibolites generally occur as massive lenses - possibly derived from basaltic lava flows and pyroclastic rocks. Typically the amphibolites consist of 40 to 70 per cent green amphibole, and smaller amounts of plagioclase, quartz, magnetite and titanite. Epidote, calcite and quartz are present in abundance associated with small veins and fissures.

The Clearcut pyroxmanganite/rhodonite occurrence is a stratabound deposit associated with what appears to be the metamorphic equivalent of volcanic rocks and siliceous and pelitic sediments. The absence of the primary detrital textures within the silica-rich host rocks is consistent with a chemical precipitate protolith, either of sedimentary or hydrothermal origin. Many similar manganese deposits are considered distal equivalents of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits.

Additional Images