Heritage Atlas of Hastings County / / Bancroft is regarded as the "Mineral Capital of Canada" because of the great variety and quality of mineral specimens found there. This wide range of mineral types is a result of the many different geological environments that have occurred in this region. Approximately one billion years ago this region was the eastern edge of the continent. Plate tectonic activity caused the formation of a mountain range through this area (roughly running through Parry Sound, Haliburton, Bancroft and Pembroke). The plate below the Proto-Atlantic Ocean moved westward and dipped under, or subducted under, the North American plate. This action pushed sedimentary rock from the coast back onto the continent and folded the coastal rock, a process we can see in the Rocky Mountains today. Magma from the melting plate descending under the continent rose up as intrusions into this mixture, where in places it melted and mixed with sedimentary rocks. The great variety of minerals found in the Bancroft region was a wonderful boon to the pioneers of the area who developed mines to extract many of these minerals: feldspar (ceramic products, abrasives and fillers), corundum (abrasives), fluorite (flux and chemicals), apatite (fertilizer phosphate), mica (insulation and roofing granules), nepheline (ceramics and glazes), marble and granite (building stone), garnet (abrasives), graphite (refractory products), molybdenite (steel alloy and high-temperature lubricant), sodalite (ornamental stone and jewellery), gold, iron ore, and much later, uranium. With the exception of uranium almost all of Bancroft's mining activity took place roughly between 1880 and 1930. The mineral deposits of the North Hastings region are numerous, and generally show good ore grades, but are characteristically small in size, and are uneconomic by today's mining standards. Uranium provided a second mining boom for the area during the 1950s and 1960s as governments scrambled to find material to feed newly developed power plants and weapons. Bancroft was a known source of uranium and as such attracted numerous companies and prospectors who scoured the countryside in search of the element. Four mines were eventually developed: Bicroft (1956-1963), Canadian Dyno(1954-1960), Greyhawk (1957-1959) and Faraday/Madawaska Mines (1957-1964 and 1976-1982). Today the former mine sites and prospect pits make excellent mineral collecting sites which feed a major part of the North Hastings tourism industry. The annual Rockhound Gemboree, held in Bancroft during the Civic Holiday weekend, is Canada's largest gem and mineral show, attracting in excess of 15,000 people each year.

Bancroft is regarded as the "Mineral Capital of Canada" because of the great variety and quality of mineral specimens found there. This wide range of mineral types is a result of the many different geological environments that have occurred in this region. Approximately one billion years ago this region was the eastern edge of the continent. Plate tectonic activity caused the formation of a mountain range through this area (roughly running through Parry Sound, Haliburton, Bancroft and Pembroke). The plate below the Proto-Atlantic Ocean moved westward and dipped under, or subducted under, the North American plate. This action pushed sedimentary rock from the coast back onto the continent and folded the coastal rock, a process we can see in the Rocky Mountains today. Magma from the melting plate descending under the continent rose up as intrusions into this mixture, where in places it melted and mixed with sedimentary rocks. The great variety of minerals found in the Bancroft region was a wonderful boon to the pioneers of the area who developed mines to extract many of these minerals: feldspar (ceramic products, abrasives and fillers), corundum (abrasives), fluorite (flux and chemicals), apatite (fertilizer phosphate), mica (insulation and roofing granules), nepheline (ceramics and glazes), marble and granite (building stone), garnet (abrasives), graphite (refractory products), molybdenite (steel alloy and high-temperature lubricant), sodalite (ornamental stone and jewellery), gold, iron ore, and much later, uranium. With the exception of uranium almost all of Bancroft's mining activity took place roughly between 1880 and 1930. The mineral deposits of the North Hastings region are numerous, and generally show good ore grades, but are characteristically small in size, and are uneconomic by today's mining standards. Uranium provided a second mining boom for the area during the 1950s and 1960s as governments scrambled to find material to feed newly developed power plants and weapons. Bancroft was a known source of uranium and as such attracted numerous companies and prospectors who scoured the countryside in search of the element. Four mines were eventually developed: Bicroft (1956-1963), Canadian Dyno(1954-1960), Greyhawk (1957-1959) and Faraday/Madawaska Mines (1957-1964 and 1976-1982). Today the former mine sites and prospect pits make excellent mineral collecting sites which feed a major part of the North Hastings tourism industry. The annual Rockhound Gemboree, held in Bancroft during the Civic Holiday weekend, is Canada's largest gem and mineral show, attracting in excess of 15,000 people each year.