The Balmat Mining District in southern St. Lawrence County, New York, is a former mining site known among collectors for its highly prized minerals. For more than 100 years, it was one of the world's most important sources of talc and zinc. Because most of the zinc ore was crushed underground and brought to the surface for separation, only mineral specimens brought out by miners and geologists have survived. Outstanding specimens from both the talc and zinc mines, preserved in only a few collections, are featured in this book--many for the first time. Some of the fine specimens included are hexagonite, manganocummingtonite, groutite, calcite, sphalerite, and magnetite. With more than 200 photographs, this book is the first comprehensive description of the history, geology, and mineralogy of this important mining district.

The Grenville Province, covering much of upstate New York, southeastern Ontario, and southern Québec, has been the source of many amazing mineral specimens. Its crystalline rocks are more than a billion years old, and unlike most mineralogical heritage sites, new discoveries are the rule rather than the exception.The province also contains deposits of commercially important minerals such as iron, zinc, talc, garnet, apatite, and mica. More than 400 photographs highlight specimens from the world-renowned collections of the Canadian Museum of Nature, the New York State Museum, and selected private collections. This pleasurable journey includes sections devoted to colorful gemstones and fluorescent minerals, and explains the mineralogical, geological, and historical significance of these minerals.