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Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canadai
Regional Level Types
Bell mineMine
Thetford MinesMunicipality (Uncertain)
Les Appalaches RCMRegional County Municipality
Chaudière-AppalachesAdministrative Region
QuébecProvince
CanadaCountry

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PhotosMapsSearch
07506640017272027509100.jpg
Bell Mine No.1 shaft, Thetford Mines, QC

Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canada
02890730017272027512329.jpg
View of the Thetford talc and asbestos mining area, ca. 1920.

Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canada
00824020017272027529204.jpg
View of the Thetford talc and asbestos mining area, ca. 1920.

Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canada
07506640017272027509100.jpg
Bell Mine No.1 shaft, Thetford Mines, QC

Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canada
02890730017272027512329.jpg
View of the Thetford talc and asbestos mining area, ca. 1920.

Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canada
00824020017272027529204.jpg
View of the Thetford talc and asbestos mining area, ca. 1920.

Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canada
03723150017272027559731.jpg
Bell Mine No.1 shaft, Thetford Mines, QC

Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canada
02890730017272027512329.jpg
View of the Thetford talc and asbestos mining area, ca. 1920.

Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Les Appalaches RCM, Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, Canada
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
46° 5' 12'' North , 71° 18' 37'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
46.08694,-71.31028
GeoHash:
G#: f2jq1mc7y
GRN:
N31W36
Type:
Mine
Köppen climate type:
Dfb : Warm-summer humid continental climate
Nearest Settlements:
PlacePopulationDistance
Thetford-Mines25,704 (2016)0.8km
Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine1,319 (2016)14.0km
Adstock2,643 (2016)18.0km
Plessisville6,677 (2010)37.7km
Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce4,454 (2010)41.5km
Mindat Locality ID:
8621
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:8621:2
GUID (UUID V4):
0


Formerly: Bell mine, Thetford Mines, Mégantic Co., Québec, Canada

One of the largest and longest continuously operated (1878-2006?) asbestos mines in the area, extracting chrysotile asbestos from ultrabasic serpentinized rock. Started as an open-pit mine but later was operated by both open-pit and underground and eventually underground only operations.
Smith (1967) reports production in 1967 of 54,976 tonnes of fibre from 759,000 tonnes of rock mined, employing 452 people in mining and processing. The short list of minerals is due to the lack of interest of scientists, miners and mineral collectors to explore this mine.

Good specimens of green grossular and diopside are known from the mine.

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.


Mineral List


14 valid minerals.

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ Albite
Formula: Na(AlSi3O8)
ⓘ Antigorite
Formula: Mg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
ⓘ Awaruite
Formula: Ni3Fe
ⓘ Chrysotile
Formula: Mg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Description: Note: Whereas chrysotile (asbestos) has been known since ancient times from many localities, specimens from the Bell mine, one of the oldest mines in the Thetford Mines area (in operation since 1877), have been the subjects of most of the early structural studies, from which the chrysotile nomenclature was defined. These investigations identified clinochrysotile (Whittaker 1956a), orthochrysotile (Whittaker 1956b) and parachrysotile (Whittaker 1956c) from the Bell mine, which is the type locality for all of them. These were recognized as independent mineral species by the IMA for more than five decades. The three species were demoted to “polytypes or crystallographic variants of chrysotile” (Burke 2006), which is the valid replacement for the three.
ⓘ Diopside
Formula: CaMgSi2O6
ⓘ 'Fayalite-Forsterite Series'
ⓘ Grossular
Formula: Ca3Al2(SiO4)3
ⓘ Hemimorphite
Formula: Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O
ⓘ Magnetite
Formula: Fe2+Fe3+2O4
ⓘ Microcline
Formula: K(AlSi3O8)
ⓘ Molybdenite
Formula: MoS2
ⓘ Pectolite
Formula: NaCa2Si3O8(OH)
ⓘ Prehnite
Formula: Ca2Al2Si3O10(OH)2
ⓘ Quartz
Formula: SiO2
ⓘ 'Serpentine Subgroup'
Formula: D3[Si2O5](OH)4
ⓘ 'Stilbite Subgroup'
Formula: M6-7[Al8-9Si27-28O72] · nH2O
ⓘ Zoisite
Formula: (CaCa)(AlAlAl)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 1 - Elements
ⓘAwaruite1.AE.20Ni3Fe
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts
ⓘMolybdenite2.EA.30MoS2
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides
ⓘMagnetite4.BB.05Fe2+Fe3+2O4
ⓘQuartz4.DA.05SiO2
Group 9 - Silicates
ⓘChrysotile9.00.Mg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
ⓘGrossular9.AD.25Ca3Al2(SiO4)3
ⓘHemimorphite9.BD.10Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O
ⓘZoisite9.BG.10(CaCa)(AlAlAl)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)
ⓘDiopside9.DA.15CaMgSi2O6
ⓘPectolite9.DG.05NaCa2Si3O8(OH)
ⓘPrehnite9.DP.20Ca2Al2Si3O10(OH)2
ⓘAntigorite9.ED.15Mg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
ⓘMicrocline9.FA.30K(AlSi3O8)
ⓘAlbite9.FA.35Na(AlSi3O8)
Unclassified
ⓘ'Stilbite Subgroup'-M6-7[Al8-9Si27-28O72] · nH2O
ⓘ'Fayalite-Forsterite Series'-
ⓘ'Serpentine Subgroup'-D3[Si2O5](OH)4

List of minerals for each chemical element

HHydrogen
Hⓘ AntigoriteMg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Hⓘ ChrysotileMg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Hⓘ HemimorphiteZn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O
Hⓘ PectoliteNaCa2Si3O8(OH)
Hⓘ PrehniteCa2Al2Si3O10(OH)2
Hⓘ Stilbite SubgroupM6-7[Al8-9Si27-28O72] · nH2O
Hⓘ Zoisite(CaCa)(AlAlAl)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)
Hⓘ Serpentine SubgroupD3[Si2O5](OH)4
OOxygen
Oⓘ AlbiteNa(AlSi3O8)
Oⓘ AntigoriteMg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Oⓘ ChrysotileMg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Oⓘ DiopsideCaMgSi2O6
Oⓘ GrossularCa3Al2(SiO4)3
Oⓘ HemimorphiteZn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O
Oⓘ MagnetiteFe2+Fe23+O4
Oⓘ MicroclineK(AlSi3O8)
Oⓘ PectoliteNaCa2Si3O8(OH)
Oⓘ PrehniteCa2Al2Si3O10(OH)2
Oⓘ QuartzSiO2
Oⓘ Stilbite SubgroupM6-7[Al8-9Si27-28O72] · nH2O
Oⓘ Zoisite(CaCa)(AlAlAl)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)
Oⓘ Fayalite-Forsterite Series
Oⓘ Serpentine SubgroupD3[Si2O5](OH)4
NaSodium
Naⓘ AlbiteNa(AlSi3O8)
Naⓘ PectoliteNaCa2Si3O8(OH)
MgMagnesium
Mgⓘ AntigoriteMg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Mgⓘ ChrysotileMg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Mgⓘ DiopsideCaMgSi2O6
Mgⓘ Fayalite-Forsterite Series
AlAluminium
Alⓘ AlbiteNa(AlSi3O8)
Alⓘ GrossularCa3Al2(SiO4)3
Alⓘ MicroclineK(AlSi3O8)
Alⓘ PrehniteCa2Al2Si3O10(OH)2
Alⓘ Stilbite SubgroupM6-7[Al8-9Si27-28O72] · nH2O
Alⓘ Zoisite(CaCa)(AlAlAl)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)
SiSilicon
Siⓘ AlbiteNa(AlSi3O8)
Siⓘ AntigoriteMg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Siⓘ ChrysotileMg3(Si2O5)(OH)4
Siⓘ DiopsideCaMgSi2O6
Siⓘ GrossularCa3Al2(SiO4)3
Siⓘ HemimorphiteZn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O
Siⓘ MicroclineK(AlSi3O8)
Siⓘ PectoliteNaCa2Si3O8(OH)
Siⓘ PrehniteCa2Al2Si3O10(OH)2
Siⓘ QuartzSiO2
Siⓘ Stilbite SubgroupM6-7[Al8-9Si27-28O72] · nH2O
Siⓘ Zoisite(CaCa)(AlAlAl)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)
Siⓘ Fayalite-Forsterite Series
Siⓘ Serpentine SubgroupD3[Si2O5](OH)4
SSulfur
Sⓘ MolybdeniteMoS2
KPotassium
Kⓘ MicroclineK(AlSi3O8)
CaCalcium
Caⓘ DiopsideCaMgSi2O6
Caⓘ GrossularCa3Al2(SiO4)3
Caⓘ PectoliteNaCa2Si3O8(OH)
Caⓘ PrehniteCa2Al2Si3O10(OH)2
Caⓘ Zoisite(CaCa)(AlAlAl)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)
FeIron
Feⓘ AwaruiteNi3Fe
Feⓘ MagnetiteFe2+Fe23+O4
Feⓘ Fayalite-Forsterite Series
NiNickel
Niⓘ AwaruiteNi3Fe
ZnZinc
Znⓘ HemimorphiteZn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O
MoMolybdenum
Moⓘ MolybdeniteMoS2

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate

This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.

References

SMITH, G.W. (1967) Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd. 1878-1967. Publ. by Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd. 103p.
GAUDARD, S. (1993) Voyages au coeur des Appalaches. Published by: Musée Minéralogique et Minier de la région de l’amiante, Thetford Mines, Québec, (pgs. 88, 93).
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