Hematite (Specimen #100206)

Mineral(s): Hematite 

Location: Errington Pit, Steep Rock Iron Mine, Yarrow Township, Atikokan, Ontario,  Canada 

Size:  7.0 x 6.3 x 2.0 cm

Provenance: Ex Ray Bernatchez collection   

Description: A jet black, lustrous, botryoidal hematite specimen from a classic location in northwestern Ontario.  This specimen is undamaged on matrix and shows well.  Many of the magnificent specimens from this site were personally collected by Ray Bernatchez while he was the mine geologist at Steep Rock.  This specimen is from Ray Bernatchez’s personal collection. 

Steep Rock Iron Mines are long closed, but during the mining period of the 1950s and 60s the mines produced world class specimens of hematite, geothite, quartz and siderite.  The ore body was discovered in 1938 and over 110 million yards of silt, gravel and rock were removed to expose the ore body.  The development of the mine was an unparalleled engineering feat at its time.