🪨⛏️ D. Joyce Minerals Blog 🪨⛏️

Here, we report on our collecting trips, activities, post insightful entries, and publish mineralogical articles. Stay updated on our journey by joining the newsletter at the bottom of the page.

Baryte, Calcite and Marcasite Mineralization at Aguathuna, Newfoundland & Labrador

12/11/2024

By David K. Joyce Background The limestone quarry near Aguathuna, located on the Port-au-Port Peninsula along the west coast of Newfoundland, has become well-known in […]

Howlite Collecting: World Class Crystals at Iona, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

10/24/2024

By: David K. Joyce In September 2024, I visited the world’s only known source of well-formed howlite crystals. This small but significant location is nestled […]

Dr. Peter Tarassoff, Mineralogist and Collector

09/10/2024

Dr. Peter Tarassoff is an accomplished mineralogist and collector by any definition. We are pleased and honoured to offer you some of the interesting minerals […]

The Alfie Norville Gem and Mineral Museum Tucson, Arizona

04/06/2024

The Alfie Norville Gem and Mineral Museum is one of the newest, most beautiful gem and mineral museums in the world. It is dedicated to […]

The Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum

03/24/2024

by David K. Joyce Bisbee is a famous mining town, once a major source of copper metal. The area was discovered as a copper rich […]

Collecting Quartz Epimorphs near Patagonia, AZ

03/15/2024

by: Daniel and David Joyce We have been to an area near Patagonia, Arizona several times searching for quartz crystals. We've found many quartz crystals, […]

Bentley Lake Magnetite/Ilmenite

01/31/2023

A year and a half ago (hard to believe!), Chris, Matt and I visited the famous ilmenite and magnetite location that is located adjacent to […]

Safford, Spring, 2022, for Fluorescent Chalcedony/Opal

01/19/2023

I visited this locality with the D'Oliveiras a few years ago. There is another Recent Activity installment on that memorable trip at https://djoyceminerals.com/activities/recent-activities-safford-arizona-trip/, if you'd […]

Washington Camp, Arizona

01/17/2023

The "Washington Camp" mining area is famous for a number of mines, particularly the Duquesne and Holland Mines, amongst others. The deposits in the area […]

Patagonia-Gringo Gulch Area Quartz

01/16/2023

The town of Patagonia is relatively close to my Vail, AZ home and, so, it is an area that I often visit or pass through. […]

Iron Cap Mine, 2021, 2022

01/15/2023

My highly competent collecting friend Chris Rayburn and I visited the Iron Cap Mine during 2021 and 2022. We enjoyed our first trip there in […]

Cobalt-Gowganda Trips, Fall, 2022

10/27/2022

This fall, I made two trips to the Cobalt-Gowganda areas: one with Normand Breton and the other with both Normand and Daniel Joyce. We visited […]

Thunder Bay Amethyst

06/14/2022

This article is jointly authored by Raymond McDougall, David K. Joyce and Ian Nicklin. Except as otherwise credited, all photographs are R. McDougall photos. Just […]

Tanco Mine, Bernic Lake Manitoba

06/14/2022

Background The Tanco Mine is a tantalum-cesium-lithium producer located in Southern Manitoba, Canada, east of Winnipeg. The pegmatite, which does not outcrop to surface, was […]

Sudbury Mining District – History, Geology and Mineralogy

06/13/2022

By David K. Joyce, Newmarket, Ontario and Roger Poulin, Val Caron, Ontario Introduction The Sudbury Mining Area is one of the most prolific metal mining […]

Steep Rock Iron Mine – Memories from 1969

06/13/2022

In 1969, I was fourteen years old. I was a very keen mineral collector and my brother Brian and I were members of the “Rockids”, […]

Seasonal Mineralization as Aid to Sports Fishing

06/13/2022

General For an extended period of time, each year, during winter in Canada, huge deposits of a common mineral, ice, inundate us. The focus of […]

The Road to the Red Cloud Mine

06/12/2022

Introduction I’m new to Arizona. I’ve grown up in and lived most of my life in Canada. That means the desert landscapes, flora, fauna and […]

Quiruvilca Mine Visit

06/12/2022

In 2013, my collecting partner, Ray McDougall, and I had a unique opportunity visit and collect at the Quiruvilca Mine in Peru. Ray is a […]

The Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia

06/12/2022

I have visited the Bay of Fundy area many times in the past few years, mostly together with my friend and collecting partner Raymond McDougall. […]

Mines of the Cobalt-Gowganda Area

06/12/2022

This listing of mines of the Cobalt-Gowganda area is a distillation of the mines listed in “Silver Cobalt Calcite Veins of Ontario, Ontario Department of […]

Mineral Occurrences in the Paleozoic Rocks of Southwestern Ontario

06/11/2022

Background There are about 40 limestone and dolomite quarries in south-western Ontario but only a few of them have produced significant mineral specimens. All of […]

Mineral Collecting in Morocco

06/11/2022

General Last November, mindat.org, the awesome internet mineralogical database and forum, plus the Spirifer Geological Society, from Poland, organized a mineralogical conference in Morocco. The […]

Mary River Iron Project

06/11/2022

General During August of 2007, I was privileged to visit the Mary River Project of Baffinland Iron Mines Ltd. (Baffinland), in the Arctic region of […]

Examination of Sperrylite-Bearing Sulphide Specimens with a CT Scanner

06/10/2022

David K. Joyce, Newmarket, OntarioDr. Donald V. Doell, Grafton, Ontario Introduction In 2016, David K Joyce (DKJ) met up with co-author Dr. Donald V. Doell […]

The Musselwhite Mine

06/10/2022

The Musselwhite Mine The Musselwhite gold mine has quietly grown into a giant deposit since it first opened in 1997. It is wholly owned by […]

Campbell Red Lake Mine Gold Specimen Recovery

06/10/2022

The Campbell Red Lake Mine The Campbell Mine is one of the great gold mines of the world, having produced well over 11.15 million troy […]

Red Lake Mine Gold Specimen Recovery Project

06/10/2022

About the Red Lake Mine and Specimen Recovery General The Red Lake Mine, owned by Goldcorp Inc., of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is, currently, the highest […]

Gibson Road East: Collecting in the Calcite Vein-Dykes

06/09/2022

By David K. Joyce and Raymond McDougall The land around Gibson Road East, near Tory Hill, Ontario abounds with calcite vein-dykes and the minerals that […]

The Engineer Mine, Atlin, British Columbia

06/08/2022

Introduction The Engineer Mine has been an intriguing source of gold for over a century. Born as an offshoot of the Klondike gold rush, the […]

Cubanite From Canada

06/08/2022

INTRODUCTION Cubanite is a relatively common constituent of sulphide mineralization containing copper. For instance, most people think that all of the copper recovered in the […]

Quartz Japan-Law Twins at Foley Peak, British Columbia

06/08/2022

Dave Van Dieren came to visit me at my home in Kamloops back in 1986. He is a mining and mineral processing engineer and he […]

World Class Howlite Crystals in Nova Scotia

06/08/2022

General One of my favourite collecting spots is the howlite locality at Iona, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. It is the only place in the […]

Copper Collecting at Mamainse Point, Ontario, Canada

06/08/2022

Mamainse Point has long been known as a source of copper, in particular, native copper. Since the earliest times in North America, prospectors, explorers and […]

Copper Crystals at Cape D'Or, Nova Scotia

06/08/2022

I’ve always liked the idea of living in Nova Scotia, since I graduated from the Haileybury School of Mines many years ago and have had […]

An overview of History, Geology and Mineralogy

06/07/2022

Introduction The Cobalt-Gowganda Silver mining area (Cobalt Camp) of Ontario was one of the most prolific silver mining areas in the world. Over 600 million […]

Broken Hammer Mine

06/06/2022

Introduction The Broken Hammer PGE-copper deposit was originally discovered by Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd geologists in the fall of 2003, using grass-roots exploration techniques. The […]

Arsenic – Darkening Upon Exposure

06/06/2022

A while back I was trimming some pieces of native arsenic from the occurrence at Port Alberni, British Columbia. I was surprised when I first […]

Bancroft Gem and Mineral Club Mineral Museum

06/06/2022

There is a new mineral museum in Canada! The Bancroft Gem and Mineral Club Mineral Museum (Mineral Museum) is located in Bancroft, Ontario. Bancroft is […]

An Encounter With Poison Ivy!

06/06/2022

In October of 2009, the Walker Mineralogical Club had a trip to the Pinchin Quarry, actually, a series of old marble quarries and waste dumps […]

Cobalt Mining Camp

06/06/2022

View the locations of the famous mines and other interesting data. This is the Cobalt Mining Camp as it existed in 1913.To view the various […]

The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum

06/04/2022

I have been fortunate, over the years, to visit the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum of Michigan Technological University several times. The Museum is located in […]

Recent Activities - Red Cloud Mine Reprise February 2022

02/05/2022

The Red Cloud Mine is one of the best localities for wulfenite and one of the premier localities of the world to boot! (in my […]

Recent Activities -Keuhl Lake

09/14/2021

The old Keuhl Lake Mine was actually a small mine that was worked for Zircon Crystals. I'm not sure what the original motivation was but […]

Recent Activities -Titanite Hill, Tory Hill, Ontario, 2021

07/30/2021

During 2021, Daniel Joyce and I visited Titanite Hill, as it is popularly known, on Gibson Road East, near Tory Hill. Early in the year, […]

Recent Activities -Return to the Planet Mine, Winter, 2020

12/01/2020

I've been to the Planet Mine before with Paul Wray, the Yukon miner, Yukon Rock Shop owner and rockhound extrordinaire. I did NOT find the […]

Recent Activities -Return to Gibson Road East, Fall, 2020

10/15/2020

Every Fall, a group of us descend on Gibson Road east to collect minerals. We go at it very hard and usually end up with […]

Recent Activities -Return to Craigmont Corundum Mine!

07/10/2020

Daniel and I decided to give the Craigmont Corundum Mine a shot. The last time I was there was 11 years ago with Ray McDougall […]

Recent Activities -BBC Mine, La Paz County, Arizona

04/05/2020

Recently, I visited the BBC Mine, near Bouse, in La Paz County, Arizona. The BBC Mine is also called the BCC Mine and I've heard […]

Recent Activities -Red Cloud Mine Visit, February, 2020

02/15/2020

The Red Cloud Mine is one of the most famous and recognizable mineral localities in the world. It is famous for the many iconic red […]

Recent Activities -Total Wreck Mine Visit, January, 2020

01/10/2020

I've always wanted to explore the Total Wreck Mine. Which is fairly close to my Arizona home. The opportunity came when a mindat acquaintance, Chris […]

Recent Activities -Safford, Arizona Trip

09/10/2019

In mid-March of 2019, I went on a collecting trip with friends Joe and Jinette D'Oliveira from Sudbury, Ontario. They spend a significant amount of […]

Recent Activities -Keweenaw Week

04/15/2019

During August, 2018, I had the opportunity to go on a field trip of the Walker Mineralogical Club that was tied in with "Keweenaw Week", […]

Recent Activities -Keweenaw, Copper Harbour Iron Manganese Mine

04/10/2019

After the Keweenaw Week copper collecting activities, Dr. Chris Stefano was kind enough to escort members of the Walker Mineralogical Club to the old Manganese […]

Recent Activities -Dog Lake, Collecting Diopside

07/06/2018

During July, 2018 the Walker Mineralogical Club went on a field trip to Dog Lake, near Battersea, north of Kingston, OntarioThe goal was to find […]

Recent Activities -Alice Mine Visit, California

06/16/2018

This past April, my friend Paul Wray, of Quartzite/Whitehorse, and I visited the Alice Mine, Riverside County, just north of Blythe, CA. Paul and his […]

Recent Activities -Nova Scotia, Spring, 2016

06/17/2016

Ray McDougall and I made a trip to Nova Scotia recently to meet up with some of our collecting buddies there and try and find […]

Recent Activities -Flamboro Quarry, June, 2016

06/05/2016

I recently had the opportunity to visit and collect a the wonderful Flamboro Quarry. The Flamboro operating management do not allow collectors into the quarry […]

Recent Activities -Trip to Poland, July, 2014

07/14/2014

As you may know, I recently released a CD recording of mineral collecting and mining songs called "Nuggets and High Grade". As a result, I […]

Recent Activities -Planet Mine, Arizona

02/18/2013

Every January-February, I head to the big Mineral Show at Tucson Arizona in search of unique specimens for my minerals business and to meet other […]

Recent Activities -Silver Crater Mine Collecting

10/20/2012

During October, 2012, Michal Adamowicz, Andrew Johns and I visited the Silver Crater Mine near Bancroft, Ontario. My two collecting companions have been into the […]

Recent Activities, Fall Colours !

10/18/2012

Recent Activities, Fall Colours ! We are lucky to live in a part of the world where, in the early Fall season, the green leaves, […]

Recent Activities -Antimony Mine, West Gore, Hants Co., Nova Scotia

05/30/2012

The Antimony Mine near West Gore, started operations in 1884 and operated off and on until 1917. Antimony was mined and shipped to Wales for […]

Recent Activities -Collecting Zeolites in Nova Scotia

05/10/2012

Recent Activities -Collecting Zeolites in Nova Scotia During May, 2012, I visited the Bay of Fundy area to collect minerals. The trip was actually a […]

Recent Activities -Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, 2012 -A Little Bit of It!

01/20/2012

Here are a few images from my recent trip to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. I did not take a lot of pictures but […]

Recent Activities -A vist to the Milan Museum of Natural History

05/20/2011

The Milan Museum of Natural History or "Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano" as it is properly known in Italian is a beautiful old […]

Recent Activities -Michael Bainbridge Comes to Visit!

03/30/2011

I've known Michael Bainbridge for many years but somehow he had never been to my home or had a look at my collection. We had […]

Recent Activities -Ecole des Mines, Paris, France

03/10/2011

The Ecole des Mines is a famous school of mines and, over the years, has acumulated a wonderful mineral collection. While in Paris, recently, I […]

Recent Activities -Craigmont Corundum Mine

02/20/2011

This fall, I visited the old Mine at Craigmont, Ontario, with my collecting partner Raymond McDougall, in an attempt to collect curundum crystals. Hopefully, we'd […]

Recent Activities -A visit to Kongsberg, Norway

11/20/2010

In 1996, I was fortunate to attend a conference on mining in the Arctic in Svalbard, Norway. On the way back from Svalbard, I stopped […]

Recent Activities -Cobalt, October, 2010 Trip

10/20/2010

I try to visit Cobalt a couple of times a year, at least. This year, I had just a short visit in September and then […]

Recent Activities -Tucson, 2010

09/21/2010

A few weeks ago, I made the annual pilgrimage to Tucson for the "Gem and Mineral Show". In fact there are several dozen shows, mostly […]

Recent Activities -Whitehorse Area, Yukon Territory Visit

05/10/2010

Carol and I made a trip to the Yukon Territory in late May, 2010. What a beautiful place! We saw only a small portion of […]

Recent Activities -Collecting Corundum at the Logan Cuts

01/06/2010

The Walker Mineralogical Club, of which I am a member, is active in organizing field trips. One of the field trips this past year was […]

Recent Activities -British Columbia Collecting, 2009

06/21/2009

Last Summer, I went to British Columbia (BC), to collect quartz crystals at Foley Peak with Lloyd Twaites and Dave van Dieren. Unfortunately, the weather […]

Recent Activities -Collecting at the Lost Mine, Eganville, Ontario

06/20/2009

The "Lost Mine" is a calcite vein-dyke locality in the vicinity of the Smart and Meany Mines, close to Lake Clear. This calcite vein-dyke locality […]

Recent Activities -ROM Mineral Gallery

06/10/2008

Finally, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in partnership with Teck Corporation, the large, Canadian mining company, has opened the Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures. […]

Recent Activities -Tucson Show, 2007

07/10/2007

OK, so it is NOT so recent now!! Better late than never. While in Tucson, in February I tried to capture some images of some […]

Recent Activities - Timmins and Cobalt Trip, October, 2006

10/15/2006

Every once in a while, I head to the north country to talk to mining companies, to collect and to buy specimens. Last month, I […]

Recent Activities -Aguathuna, Newfoundland Barite Locality

09/10/2006

This isn't exactly a "Recent Activity" but I thought that you might like a look at the Aguathuna barite locality from a visit that I […]

Recent Activities -Rogers Mine-Marmora Mine-Ackerman Mine Field Trip

08/22/2006

Recently, the Kitchener Waterloo Gem and Mineral Club undertook a field trip to the Madoc-Marmora area of Southern Ontario. We visited three localities and recovered […]

Recent Activities - Summer, 2006 Trip to Nova Scotia

07/10/2006

Nova Scotia is one of my favourite parts of Canada. Four out of the past five summers, I have spent at least one week in […]

Recent Activities -July, 2005 and March and May, 2006 Trips to Red Lake

05/22/2006

I have been to Balmertown twice, so far, in 2006. I always enjoy these trips, NOT just because I get to handle and prepare all […]

Recent Activities -Tucson, 2006

02/22/2006

This news is not as recent as I'd like but here are a few images of people and minerals from the Tucson Gem and Mineral […]

Recent Activities -Collecting at the Bear Lake Diggings

12/10/2005

Well this may not be a "recent" activity but since I have some decent photo's I thought I'd offer a glimpse into collecting at the […]

Recent Activities -Collecting at the Lafarge Quarry, Clappison's Corners, Ontario

10/22/2005

There is a limestone quarry near Dundas, Onrtario, actually closer to a crossroads called "Clappison's Corners" where I have been collecting since I was a […]

Recent Activities -Trip to Peru

10/01/2005

Late last year, I went to Peru to buy minerals and to see some of the wonderful sights that Peru is famous for. I was […]

Recent Activities -Collecting Howlite Crystals, Iona, Cape Breton Island

09/29/2005

Years ago, I purchased the mineral collection of Peter Von Bitter, of Toronto, Ontario. There were some very nice crystals of a clourless mineral that […]