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Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI000000002296| Deposit Name(s) | Yooperlite Source - 2018, Crazy Corner - 2018 |
|---|---|
| Deposit Status | occurrence |
| Date Created | 2019-Jun-13 |
| Date Last Modified | 2020-May-01 |
| Created By | T Pettigrew |
| Revised By | T Pettigrew |
Primary Commodities: sodalite, mineral specimen
Township or Area: McCoy
Latitude: 48° 47' 41.89" Longitude: -86° 29' 55.35"
UTM Zone: 16 Easting: 536816 Northing: 5404785 UTM Datum: NAD83
Resident Geologist District: Thunder Bay South
NTS Grid: 42D16SW
Point Location Description: From ILSG field trip guidebook, p. 109
Location Method: data compilation
Access Description: This stop is at a broad curve in Highway 17 and one should be very careful of vehicles.
No assessment reports were found on file.
Province: Superior
Subprovince: Wawa
Intrusion: Coldwell Complex
Geological Age: Precambrian
| Rock Type | Rank | Composition | Texture | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| syenite | 1 | nepheline syenite | host |
06/13/2019 (T Pettigrew) - Outcrops on the east side of the highway of grey to buff pyroxene-amphibole syenite contain orange fluorescing hackmanite, a variety of sodalite. This mineral can only readily be seen with a UV lamp. The syenite contains numerous mafic xenoliths up to 25 to 30 cm in maximum length. The xenoliths are subangular to subrounded and the mafic minerals within the syenite tend to occur in clots. The larger xenoliths may have feldspar phenocrysts or porphyroblasts up to 1.0 cm (Hinz, 2019).
| Rank | Mineral Name | Class | Economic Mineral Type | Alteration Mineral Type | Alteration Ranking | Alteration Intensity | Habit Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sodalite | economic | ore |
06/13/2019 (T Pettigrew) - In 2018 the US media was a-buzz over the discovery of a new “mineral” with the unofficial name of “yooperlite”. In a 2018 paper, Laughlin et al. (2018) reported that yooperlite is a fluorescent sodalitebearing syenite which occurs in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as beach pebbles and cobbles. The authors indicate that it is probable the bedrock source is likely the Coldwell Alkaline Complex in Ontario. Centre 2 of the Coldwell Complex hosts amphibole-natrolite-nepheline syenite within which, the fluorescent mineral hackmanite, a sulphur-bearing variety of sodalite, has been identified. It can be postulated that the yooperlite pebbles and cobbles found along the Lake Superior shoreline of Michigan originated from this unit and were glacially transported to their current location and subsequently wave-washed and tumbled (Hinz, 2019).
Publication - Field Trip 7 - Building and Ornamental Stone Sites of the Marathon Area, Ontario; In: 65th Annual Meeting Institute on Lake Superior Geology, Field Trip Guidebook, p. 109-110
Publication Number: ILSG 65 Date: 2019
Author: Hinz, P.
Publisher Name: ILSG
Reference Location: ILSG website
Journal - A New Find of Fluorescent Sodalite from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; In: Mineral News, vol. 34, no. 5
Publication Number: Min News 34 Date: 2018
Author: Laughlin, R., Carlson, S.M., Olds, T.A., Mills, O.P.
Publisher Name: Mineral News
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For detailed information regarding this mineral deposit please contact the Thunder Bay South Resident Geologist District Office