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Click here
for the mineral table in the kits. |
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The photos and information on this
page come from the rock
samples kit offered by Saskatchewan Industry and Resources to schools. |
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Mineral Name |
Thumbnail (Click
to enlarge) |
Information (simple) |
Location |
Uses |
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1. Amphibolite |
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The main minerals in this metamorphic rock are feldspar (grey) and amphiboles (dark black). Most of these latter come
from igneous rocks. |
80 km
north-northeast of La Ronge, |
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2. Basalt |
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Dark, fine-grained igneous rock,
usually composed of olivine, pyroxine and plagioclase. This sample also
contains white
calcite and green chlorite. Most basalts occur
as lava flows that erupted from volcanoes or fissures. |
3 km southeast of
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3. Bentonite |
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Clay, which has strong swelling properties (ability to swell many
times its dry volume when wet). Formed 70 million years ago. |
Avonlea area, 55
km southwest of |
well drilling
mud, kitty
litter |
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4. Chalcopyrite |
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A bright, brass-yellow mineral. |
80 km northeast
of La Ronge |
The major ore in
copper (pots, wires and coins) |
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5. Conglomerate |
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Slightly metamorphosed sedimentary rock with grains and pebbles
larger than 2mm. Deposited about 1800 years ago. |
2 km southeast of
Creighton |
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6. Copper |
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Yellow chalcopyrite with brown sphalerite
occur in sulphide ore veins in all rock types. This sample is taken
from a fine-grained volcanic rock called quartz-phyric rhyolite. The region
it comes from was a world class deposit from 1930-1992, with approximately 62
million tonnes of copper-zinc ore extracted from |
Creighton - Flin Flon area that straddles |
Copper is
extracted for pipes, wires and coins. Zinc oxide is used in diaper- rash creams. |
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7. Dolostone |
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Sedimentary rock consisting mostly of the mineral dolmite.
The sediments that formed this rock were originally deposited in a shallow
sea that covered much of |
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La Ronge |
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8. Gneiss |
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A banded metamorphic rock with alternating layers of dark and
light minerals. The dark layers contain biotite and hornblende, and the
light layers contain quartz and feldspar. |
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Lake area of |
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9. Gold |
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This rock contains mainly pale, brass-yellow pyrite (fool's
gold), and grey to white quartz. Gold occurs microscopically within
pyrite crystals. |
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area 50 km northeast of LaRonge |
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10. Granite |
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Coarse-grained igneous rock made up of quartz, alkali feldspar
and mica. |
Building stones
and ornaments |
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11. Granodiorite |
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Coarse-grained igneous rock made up of quartz, alkali, calcic
feldspars and biotite mica. |
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12 . Greenschist |
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Fine-grained green metamorphic rock with rare amygdaies of white
calcite and green chlorite. Greenschist is a low-grade
metamorphosed basalt. |
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2 km southwest of Creighton |
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13. Kaolonized Sand |
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Sedimentary rock composed of silica sand and kaolin clay. |
Kaolin clay is
white in color and often used as a filler or coating in high quality
paper. It is also used as an additive to plastic clays
to enhance their refractory properties and reduce shrinkage
in brick production. |
west of |
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14. Limestone |
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A sedimentary rock made up mainly of calcite. It forms
through both biochemical and chemical processes and often contains small
(microscopic to cm-size) marine fossils. |
Making concrete, and an excellent building stone |
10 km south of La Ronge |
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15. Metamorphosed Conglomerate |
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Weakly metamorphosed sedimentary rock with grains and pebbles
larger than 2mm enclosed by material of smaller grain size. This sample was
deposited about 1830 million years ago. |
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2 km southeast of Creighton |
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16. Mica Schist |
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Fissile rock (can be split along grains) made up of very fine,
silvery flakes of muscovite and flattened lenses of quartz (smoky grey) one
or more mm in diameter. |
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Southwest shore of La Ronge |
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17. Pegmatite |
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Very coarse-grained igneous rock with quartz (smoky grey),
feldspar (pink) and biotite and/or muscovite mica (shiny black and grey).
Most crystals are larger than 1 cm in diameter. |
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75 km
north-northeast of La Ronge |
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18. Potash |
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Middle Devonian age (385 million years ago). Mining up to
1100 m, potash is coarsly crushed, transported to the surface, and finely
crushed. Sylvite (KCl) is recovered by a flotation separation method.
This is dried and screened into different grades. |
Primarily in fertilizer |
Typical of the mines
at Rocanville, Esterhazy, Lanigan, Allan, Colonsay |
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19. Pyroxenite |
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Igneous rock composed mostly of Pyroxenes. |
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35 km north of La Ronge |
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20. Quartz |
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Pale grey, occurs as veins in rocks that have been fractured and
sheared, leaving a parallel cleavage. |
Sometimes host grains of gold. |
Jasper Gold Mine,
112 km northeast of La Ronge |
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21. Quartzite |
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Metamorphic rock. Originated as quartz sand, buried and
lithified to form sandstone. This was deeply buried, under rising
temperature and pressure to form an extremely hard and weather-resistant
rock. |
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6 km northwest of |
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22. Red Granite |
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Coarse-grained igneous rock made up of quartz, alkali feldspar
and mica. |
Building stones
and ornaments |
75 km northeast of La Ronge |
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23. Sandstone |
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Sedimentary rock with grain sizes from 0.062 to 2 mm.
Mostly quartz, cemented by
calcium carbonate, silica, and iron oxide. This sample is from the
Precambrian Athabasca group (1750-1700 million years ago). |
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La Ronge |
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24. Siltstone |
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Fine-grained sedimentary rock with grain sizes from 0.004 -
0.062 mm. Commonly deposited in marine and fluvial environments with
slow water movement. |
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3 km southeast of
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