Dresserite, Marcasite

Balls of white dresserite piled up in the vug of this limestone sample from the long closed Francon Quarry. The dresserite is accompanied by metallic marcasite blades. It's not very often we come across this incredibly rare mineral anymore these days!

Dresserite is an incredibly rare barium aluminum carbonate species only found in the alkalic sill of  limestone at the Francon Quarry located in the central part of the City of Montreal. The site closed in 1981 and will never operate again. The species was named after Canadian geologist, John Dresser in 1968. Dresser made large contributions to the knowledge of the Monteregian Hills in which Dresserite finds its type locality at the Francon Quarry.