Antimony

Here is a chunk of antimony vein material, primarily consisting of a fine-grained mixture of quartz, stibnite, and perhaps other minerals, with a large clot of tin-white native antimony in the middle. This rich ore is a significant locality specimen from an important antimony mine, started in the late 1860s. The specimen is mostly heavy, metallic, fine-grained native antimony, with some secondary antimony oxides on the bottom or back.

The locality described herein has been known by various names over the years, including "Ham Sud," "South Ham," "Quebec Antimony mine," or "Lac Nicolet" antimony mine. The first two names refer to the township within which the locality is situated, while the Quebec Antimony mine name comes from a small exploration company that evaluated the property in the early 1970s. The name "Lac Nicolet," is derived from the mine's proximity to Lac Nicolet and has become the common term used today. Despite the multiple names and locality descriptors, there is only one principal occurrence, located approximately 500 meters south-southeast of the village of St-Martyrs-Canadiens, South Ham Township, Wolfe County, Quebec, Canada, at 45°51'09" N latitude and 71°32'00" W longitude (Warwick topographic sheet 21 E/13, Dept. Energy Mines & Resources, Canada, 1971).