The Tanco pegmatite deposit is located approximately 180 kilometres east-northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is situated near the Manitoba-Ontario border on the northwestern shore of Bernic Lake. Argyle’s Outdoor Educational Classroom has a series of samples that it obtained from a geologist who works at the Tanco pegmatite deposit.
What is a pegmatite?: A pegmatite is a very coarse grained igneous rock.
Beryl is used in jewelry, art, production of wire, and in the space shuttle.
Quartz is used in sandpaper, optics, glass, computer components, circuit boards, watches, etc.
Albite is used in the manufacture of ceramics.
Spodumene is a major source of lithium (lithium is used to make lubricants, welding supplies, batteries and anti-depressant drugs).
Apatite is used in making fertilizer (contains phosphorus).
Pollucite is mined for cesium (cesium is used in drilling fluids).
Tantalum (used in Tantalum capacitors in electronic equipment).
Amblygonite can be mined as an ore of lithium.
Gabbro can be used as graveyard headstones, paving stones, and facing stone.
Lepidolite is an ore of lithium.














