Euxenite-(Y) — J.G. Gole Quarry, Murchison Township, Nipissing District, Ontario ex. Melanson Collection

Ex. Wendy & Frank Melanson Collection

A museum-quality euxenite-(Y) crystal from the J.G. Gole Quarry, carrying provenance from the collection of Frank and Wendy Melanson — the Bancroft-area's most respected mineral dealers and field collectors, whose decades of work under the Hawthorneden name and stewardship of the Bancroft Gem and Mineral Club's museum collection have made them foundational figures in Canadian mineralogy and in documenting the Grenville Province's radioactive mineral suite specifically.

Euxenite-(Y), a complex yttrium-titanium-niobium oxide, is one of the more sought-after radioactive species from the Bancroft region — prized among collectors for its well-formed crystal habit and comparatively low radiation output relative to its size. At the Gole Quarry, euxenite-(Y) occurs as elongated crystals within the quartz-plagioclase pegmatite, though good examples are genuinely difficult to extract intact from the surrounding waste rock, making well-formed pieces a real find even among experienced field collectors. Like other Y-group niobate-titanates, euxenite's crystal lattice is partially metamict — structurally disordered by long-term self-irradiation — giving fine crystals their characteristic dark, glassy luster.

With direct Melanson provenance, this specimen carries both scientific and documented collecting-history value well beyond an ordinary Gole Quarry find.

Species: Euxenite-(Y)
Locality: J.G. Gole Quarry, Murchison Township, Nipissing District, Ontario
Provenance: Ex. Frank & Wendy Melanson Collection
Radioactivity: Present — handle and store per standard radioactive mineral practice
Approx. activity: