Polylithionite, Rhodochrosite, Microline

specimen number:
2354156

location:
Poudrette Quarry, Mt. St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada

description:
Silvery micaceous crystals of polylithionite to 1.0 cm in size quite thick across this microcline matrix with minor rhodochrosite. Good cabinet sized example for the species.

The Poudrette Quarry is situated within the Cretaceous-aged Mont Saint-Hilaire alkaline intrusive complex in Quebec, Canada, formed by rare magma intrusions that concentrated high levels of incompatible elements. Operating primarily as a commercial stone quarry, it became world-famous among mineralogists and collectors due to its complex pegmatite pockets and xenoliths, which have yielded hundreds of unique and rare mineral species found nowhere else on Earth. Intensive commercial quarrying operations over the decades exposed these rich cavity systems, allowing researchers and hobbyists to salvage an extraordinary diversity of pristine specimens before active extraction wound down.

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