Wendy & Frank Melanson Collection Frank and Wendy Melanson put together a world-class thumbnail collection over the years, and one strength of the collection is the depth of certain Canadian localities. Although by no means comprehensive, the Mont St. Hilaire suite is particularly strong with fine examples of a wide array of species and associations. Mont St. Hilaire is one of the world’s greatest mineral localities with over 400 species represented, and it is the type locality for more than 60 of them.

There is lots of fibrous pectolite in the world, but sharp crystals like this one don’t appear from too many places. This cluster of two gemmy crystals is white to colorless with great luster, and once was part of the Bill Pinch collection that was purchased by the National Museum of Canada in Ottawa. Frank and Wendy Melanson acquired the specimen from the collection in 1990.