I’ve posted excellent new Nova Scotia laumontites (click here).

These excellent laumontite specimens are from two finds: one at Stronach Brook in the summer of 2021 and another at Harbourville in 2020. While Harbourville is well known for several species, Stronach Brook is a locality that is usually not rich in fine mineral specimens. These pieces exhibit the habit typical of the best Nova Scotia laumontite specimens – they are hemispheres and mounds of very sharp, bright crystals.

Laumontite is a relatively common zeolite group mineral (that can occur in excellent specimens!) but because it usually dehydrates relatively quickly in air (and can then turn to powder), it is not so commonly preserved and encountered in mineral collections.

These laumontite specimens have been stabilized. After experimentation with various methods and materials, it has been found that a technique using a mixture including water-soluble glue is the most effective, with no impact on the visual appearance of the specimens (colour or lustre). Nova Scotia laumontite specimens stabilized using this method have proven stable over longer than 20 years, with no indication that such stability will change (in mineral cabinets, at approximate normal indoor humidity levels – ranging from approx. 25-75%). Specimens in my own collection are as good as the day they were stabilized.

Here are some of the gorgeous laumontites from Stronach Brook and Harbourville:

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Field of view 4.5 cm

Same specimen as above – width 7 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Field of view 4.0 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Field of view – 3.2 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 3.7 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 5.8 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.8 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.8 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 5.3 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.1 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 5.1 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Field of view – 3.5 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.5 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Width 3.6 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.8 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.8 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.2 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Field of view 1.5 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Field of view 1.5 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Width 4.0 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Field of view 2.5 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Field of view 2.8 cm

Laumontite, Stronach Brook, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Canada
Width 3.2 cm

Laumontite, Harbourville, Kings Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.4 cm

Laumontite, Harbourville, Kings Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.6 cm

Laumontite, Harbourville, Kings Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.4 cm

Laumontite, Harbourville, Kings Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 4.8 cm

Laumontite, Harbourville, Kings Co., Nova Scotia, Canada – 3.2 cm