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Gemboree is back on schedule! After 2 years off due to...you know that virus that halted all our lives, the largest mineral show in Canada was on!
We had a large booth at this show for more than 20 years going back to 1996, and though we stopped doing shows a few years back, we haven't missed a single Gemboree, and this year was no exception.
We brought my 6 year old daughter (Mila) with us this year, and it was her first time camping out, and all I can say is, it was definitely not her last!
We also visited the famous princess Sodalite mine, to teach the future treasure hunter how to look for rocks, and Mila found some beautiful Sodalites and other neat stones, and still can't stop talking how much fun she had being a geologist for the day.
The show was a lot of fun, seeing all our old friends, catching up, seeing what treasures were unearthed and of course adding a lot of new stuff to our always-growing inventory.
Hope you enjoy the picture stories :)
Someone is excited to get the tents up for her first camping experience haha
Thumbs up all the way!
Getting beauty sleep for the long day ahead, who needs Hilton right?
I believe the fun is this way!
For those who aren't familiar with this town, its 3 hours north of Toronto, a couple hours west of Ottawa, and just beside the world famous Algonquin park. Its also very significant in the mineral industry of the area
Mila had a $50 budget, and must say, she has a wonderful taste and got some beautiful pieces for her collection.
Elena with our old friend
Valeri teaching Mila what causes Rose Quartz to be pink in color
Beautiful view from a nice hike up the mountain called the eagles nest
Great starting point for any junior geologist, princess sodalite mine is free to visit and you can bring your own tools to dig for a variety of rocks
Didn't take long to find some Sodalite boulders, now to open them up to expose the beautiful blue colors
Theres a nice fella
Cute teaching moment
Love this picture :)))
Mila with her treasures. She promised her teachers she would bring them all a souvenir, and what can be better than something that she found herself!
Elena with some massive Sodalites
some of the treasures Mila dug up
To finish the trip, a must visit is the Granite, a nice restaurant on a hill overlooking some parts of Bancroft
Having some laughs with our good friend Ken from the Gneiss Guy
Also, in case some of you are wondering about more details of Bancroft, here is a very well written summary about this city form their website:
Why is Bancroft known as the “Mineral Capital of Canada”? Because of the variety and quality of the mineral species found here. This area lies on part of the Canadian Shield that is estimated to be 1.1 to 1.8 billion years old. Due to the excellent quality of the mineral deposits, in the 1880 there was much mining activity. However, the mineral veins proved to be small, so the size of the mines and quarries in the area remained at a modest size. After a while, the mines and quarries closed, as they could not compete with the larger producers throughout Canada and the United States. Mining activity in the area re-commenced after World War II as the search for uranium was on. Four major uranium mines opened in the area. These were Bicroft, Faraday, Dyno and Greyhawk. These mines were open from approximately the mid 1950’s to the early 1960’s. After this time, they were closed down due to the high cost of mining such small deposits of uranium. Some other mineral species that were mined in this area are corundum, feldspar, nepheline, graphite, talc, quartz, radium, fluorite, gold, iron, lead, barite, apatite, mica, beryl, molybdenum, sodalite and marble. Interestingly, the marble mined here was of such high quality, it was used in the construction of the parliament buildings in Ottawa and Toronto. Also, many types of specimens taken from the Bancroft area can be found in museums and collections all over the world, including the Smithsonian Institute.
Until next year :)
The Global Stone team
