New Discoveries in Newfoundland

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND ROCKHOUNDING HELP TO UNCOVER FASCINATING TREASURES AND HISTORY

- ANTOINETTE RAHN

Understanding what brings and keeps people interested in rockhounding, mining history, and mineralogical study is as varied as the natural discoveries they make.

For Canada’s Jason White, one could say it dates back to his years as a Cub Scout in St. John’s, Newfoundland. During this time, a Scout leader presented him with a book about Newfoundland’s mineral deposits, written in the 1950s. Perhaps it was during the late 1990s when he staked his first claims, operating on little knowledge but a deep passion and excitement for what he may discover. It also could be when he was prospecting full-time and selling vegetables and herb transplants to afford money for fuel to get to the dig sites. Or, it could be each of these moments and many others that brought him to the place he is today, continuing to explore one of his most significant discoveries, amethyst from the La Manche mine.

LA MANCHE’S MINING LEGACY

The La Manche mine property consists of four claims on the western side of the Avalon Peninsula, which is adjacent to the former community of La Manche, in Newfoundland, Canada. In researching the mining and cultural history of the area, White, a technical writer, has mapped out a timeline of activity at the mine. As he explained, the La Manche mine was formally discovered in the 1850s, but the locals collected lead in the area for fishing weights long before that. There has been evidence of mining attempts dating to the 16th century in Placentia Bay (Basques, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English were the first Europeans to explore the region).