Specifications
Description
Locality: Red River Floodway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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.
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 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 dense, rounded rosette formation with layered amber, golden-brown, smoky, and honey-toned gypsum crystal blades. The specimen is richly textured, with sharp flattened “duck bill” crystals rising from a darker central cluster and broader translucent blades forming around the outer edges. Its warm colour, glassy highlights, flower-like structure, and natural phosphorescent quality give it a dramatic display presence and make it a highly distinctive Canadian collector specimen.
Selenite is a variety of gypsum, a hydrated calcium sulfate mineral known for its softness, translucency, and delicate crystal formations. Golden Duck Bill Selenite from Manitoba is named for its flattened, beak-like tabular crystals, which often grow in radiating clusters or rosette formations. These specimens are especially associated with the Red River Floodway near Winnipeg, where gypsum-rich clay deposits connected to the ancient Lake Agassiz basin produced distinctive golden, amber, smoky, champagne, and root-beer coloured crystals. 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, clarity, peace, and energetic purification. It is commonly used as a calming stone for meditation, home display, and crystal collections, and is believed by many to help clear stagnant energy while promoting mental stillness. The warm golden-brown tones of this Manitoba Golden Duck Bill Selenite add a grounded, earthy character to the mineral’s traditionally gentle and clarifying associations, while its phosphorescent nature adds extra interest for collectors who appreciate unusual optical properties.
Chemical Composition: CaSO4·2H2O
Quantity: 1pc
With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph.