I remember seeing Mohs’ hardness scale when I was a kid. On it, quartz is 7, corundum 9, and diamond 10. \u00a0I think in grade five, we spent a week on minerals. \u00a0Additionally, we watched educational films on Thursday afternoons; eventually, one happened to be about minerals.<\/p>\n
I was never interested in minerals as a kid, but I knew there was a big world about them for those who were. \u00a0In the film we saw about them, the voice said, “The hardest mineral you’ll probably find is quartz.” \u00a0Having lived on rocky coastal areas much of my life, I knew I’d seen quartz already. \u00a0Corundum, however, was among the minerals of which I’d never heard. \u00a0Why, I wondered, would I not find it?<\/p>\n
The week ended, life continued, and I soon forgot about finding corundum. \u00a0I was eleven years old, living in Nova Scotia. \u00a0While I<\/em> never found corundum, someone else did.<\/p>\n Corundum is the mineral that makes sapphires and rubies. In an article dated 2005<\/a>, Hans Durstling tells of the discovery of rubies in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The discovery was, ironically, in a quarry that had produced dolomitic limestone for twenty years. He points out that rubies would likely have been shipped out in the limestone, overlooked.<\/p>\n Nova Scotia is a geological curiosity for more than one reason. I don’t know much about it, but I hear bits and pieces.<\/p>\n I’ll be discussing geology, Nova Scotia, corundum, and other minerals in future posts. Like the discovery of rubies in Cape Breton, this topic is a rich find that comes from re-examining the past:)<\/p>\n Sources<\/em>:<\/p>\n virtualfundy.com<\/a><\/p>\n Wolley, Alan. Spotter’s Guide to Rocks and Minerals<\/em>. New York: Mayflower Books, 1979.<\/p>\n maplandia.com<\/a><\/p>\n