Labradorite from Paul Island, Labrador, Canada

Labradorite from Paul Island, Nain Complex, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Quite an uncommon find - Paul Island is the type locality for Labradorite - or, in other words, where the mineral was first identified and described.

It was originally discovered in around 1770; since then deposits have been found in other regions of Canada, as well as deposits in Finland, Ukraine, the USA, and the most commonly known - Madagascar.

This isn't something I'm likely to get another of anytime soon.

It measures 152.3x83.6x17.3MM and is polished on both sides - however, the slice is unfortunately cut at the wrong angle for the flash or labradorescence to show up well, although with a raking light and the right angle a blue colour covering around half of the face is visible. It may be possible to find a stand to hold it at this angle. This has been very frustrating to photograph, to be honest.

The specimen comes from an older collection, with a german language label stating:

Mineral: Spectrolith (Labradorith)

Fundort: St Pauls Insel.*

Chr. Schupp

EDELSTEINE

* This is incorrect - the location is actually Paul Island. There is another St Pauls Island in Canada but this is unrelated.