Specifications
Description
Locality: Red River Floodway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Selenite is the clear, crystalline form of gypsum, a hydrated calcium sulfate (CaSO4·2H2O), the same mineral used to make drywall. Around Winnipeg, selenite grows as rosettes, many crystals radiating from a common centre, inside the thick clay left by glacial Lake Agassiz, which covered much of southern Manitoba during the Pleistocene. The crystals range from clear or very pale yellow to rich amber.
The Red River Floodway is a 49 km channel along Winnipeg's eastern edge, built to divert spring floodwater around the city. It was completed in 1968. Selenite was found in test holes and during construction from 1959 on, and rockhounds have collected rosettes from the floodway banks ever since. Later excavation to expand the floodway exposed more crystals that are normally about six metres underground.
The clusters begin as balls of intersecting crystals. Larger crystals can then grow outward from the centre, and these are often twinned into a shape that resembles a duck's bill. According to the Fluorescent Mineral Society, these duck bill crystals are known only from the Red River Floodway deposit. Under ultraviolet light they glow brightly and keep glowing for a while afterwards.
This one of a kind Golden Duck Bill Selenite specimen from Manitoba, Canada features a dramatic cluster of golden amber gypsum blades radiating from a darker smoky-brown crystalline center. The piece has several larger translucent “duck bill” crystals projecting outward, with flattened, curved terminations and fan-like internal growth lines. The contrast between the honey-yellow outer blades and the dense darker central crystal cluster gives the specimen strong depth, sparkle, sculptural display appeal, and an added collector interest from its natural phosphorescent quality.
Selenite is a crystalline variety of gypsum, a hydrated calcium sulfate mineral that commonly forms in evaporite environments where mineral-rich waters leave deposits behind. Manitoba Golden Duck Bill Selenite is especially known for its unusual flattened blade formations, often found in association with gypsum-rich clay deposits around the Red River Floodway near Winnipeg and the ancient Lake Agassiz basin. Unlike the long, clear selenite wands from other localities, these Canadian specimens are prized for their warm golden, amber, smoky, and root-beer colouration, clustered rosette growth and distinctive “duck bill” crystal habit. Collecting at the Red River Floodway is now restricted. The floodway is provincial flood-control infrastructure, and digging is only allowed with provincial permission, so new material rarely reaches the market.
Spiritually, Selenite is often associated with cleansing, calm, clarity, and peaceful energy. Golden and smoky varieties are sometimes connected with grounding, emotional balance, gentle protection, and warm uplifting energy. The radiating form of Manitoba Golden Duck Bill Selenite is often appreciated as a symbol of renewal, focus, and natural harmony, making it a meaningful display piece as well as a collectible mineral specimen, while its phosphorescent nature adds another unusual quality for collectors who appreciate rare optical features.
Chemical Composition: CaSO4·2H2O
Quantity: 1pc
With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph.