Allanite-(Ce) — Atlin-Ruffner Prospect, Wilberforce, Ontario, Canada

Allanite-(Ce) from the Atlin-Ruffner Prospect, Wilberforce, Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada. Grenville Province. A sooty black mass of allanite-(Ce) matrix from the Atlin-Ruffner prospect near Wilberforce, deep in the heart of Ontario's Grenville Province. Allanite is a complex epidote-group sorosilicate enriched in rare earth elements — predominantly cerium in this variety — along with calcium, iron, and aluminium. The mineral's characteristic resinous to submetallic black lustre and blocky to irregular habit are well-represented here, with the dense, heavy character expected from a high-REE, moderately radioactive mineral carrying both uranium and thorium as trace substitutes. Wilberforce sits within the Bancroft domain of the Grenville Orogen, a terrain renowned among mineral collectors worldwide for its extraordinary diversity of rare phosphates, silicates, carbonatites, and radioactive accessory minerals. The Atlin-Ruffner occurrence is a pegmatitic-metamorphic setting typical of the region, where high-grade Proterozoic metamorphism and fluid activity concentrated rare earth elements and created the conditions for allanite crystallization. Allanite is often metamict — the crystal structure progressively destroyed over geological time by internal alpha-particle bombardment from its radioactive thorium and uranium content. Metamict specimens emit low levels of ionizing radiation and should be stored in accordance with your local regulations. Locality: Atlin-Ruffner Prospect, Wilberforce, Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada. Approx. specimen size: 80mm x 75mm x 30mm Approx. specimen weight: 209.79 grams Approx. specimen activity on an SE International Ranger EXP: 900 CPM