Scapolite, with a Uranyl-Activated Coating - Papineau RCM, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada
Contributed by: FMS Admin
minID: DCM-R0E
Date: May 17th, 2026
Locality: Papineau RCM, Outaouais, Québec, Canada (See on Mindat)
Size: 4.9 x 2.8 x 9.4 cm
Description:
Very brightly fluorescent scapolite, from a new locality visited in October and November 2020 with one of my collecting partners. Unfortunately, I can mention only the general area and not the exact locale, since the occurrence is located on private land, and the owners asked us to keep this locality secret. This is one of my favorite specimens from this locality, where we also found lots of fluorescent phlogopite and diopside.
I managed to bring back a few buckets of phlogopite and diopside from this spot but found only about half a dozen pieces of scapolite; this is one of the two best ones. The second-best piece has less uranyl-activated green on it.
The first picture shows the specimen under LW + SW. Under longwave UV, the scapolite is very bright, but the uranyl-activated green barely reacts. Under SW, the fluorescence of the scapolite is unusually weak, compared to yellow-fluorescing scapolite from other localities in the Grenville geological province in Quebec and Ontario, for example "wernerite" from Grenville-Sur-La-Rouge.
Originally posted by Frédéric Messier Leroux on Nature's Rainbows in 2021.
Summary of luminescence responses:
Scapolite (Mindat) (RRUFF)
- Fluorescence under Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: Yellow