Frank and Wendy Melanson are long-time members of the mineral communtiy. They were Canada’s prolific dealers in international minerals, under the dealership name Hawthorneden, for over 40 years – travelling the globe for minerals, and setting up at shows across North America and abroad. From extensive in-country travels, Frank brought back superb specimens that their business placed into museums and collections worldwide.

I’ve posted beautiful new natrolite specimens in this Mont Saint-Hilaire Update. These are from a relatively recent pocket – they are great crystals with sharp, glassy pyramid faces and they fluoresce bright green under short-wave ultraviolet light.

Excellent new specimens from Mont Saint-Hilaire. The specimens in this update are from finds 1988-2007. This selection of specimens represents several different unique finds, including beautiful serandites, terminated elpidite crystals, twinned rhodochrosite, sodalite var. hackmanite, narsarsukite, leucophanite, analcime and more.