The Francon Quarry, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

摘要

The Francon quarry ranks as the second most prolific type locality in Canada after Mont Saint-Hilaire. It has yielded ten new mineral species: weloganite, dresserite, hydrodresserite, strontiodresserite, sabinaite, franconite, doyleite (co-type-locality), hochelagaite (co-type-locality), montroyalite and voggite. Weloganite, described in 1968, established the quarry as a world-famous mineral collecting site. Weloganite was the first known zirconium carbonate, and remarkably, it occurs as attractive, well-formed crystals up to 6 cm in size. Ninety species have been documented from the quarry, mostly from the unique, dawsonite-rich carbonatized phonolite sills which are genetically part of the Monteregian Hills alkaline igneous province.