Big Red
the
Alberta Ammonite
with Rainbow Ammolite Gemstone
Take a drive out through the beautiful Saskatchewan prairies and visit the tiny town of Liebenthal to find one of Canada's smallest museum with the largest collection of Minerals found within the arid Canadian basin.
The basin Liebenthal is part of, was once the bed of a giant ocean path, named the Western Interior Seaway which flowed from the North through to South America, linking the vast Arctic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico. It had separated the North American continent in two, creating two large land masses which scientists call Laramidia in the West and Appalachia in the East.
This seaway was the home, 65 million years ago, to giant squids called Cephalopods also called Placentaceras Costatum, that ruled the waterways and was a top predator of this prehistoric ocean!
Millions of years later, here in Saskatchewan it is a much different picture then what it once was when these beasts swam about!
We are now in an "arid" basin of the Western Canadian Prairies, where grains grow and antelope roam and gophers burrow deep below the ground. This was what John Palliser, the explorer from 1857 to 1860, discovered and he recorded that this area was more of a desert and not habitually welcoming and even "useless"!
Well, he was not quite right about that!
Not only was his predictions of farming not entirely correct, but the mining factor was missing treasures that were waiting to be unearthed, never could he ever have even dreamed of what lay beneath the surface!
Going to depths deeper beyond where the prairie dogs burrow, within the layers of mudstone called the Bearpaw shale, rests these incredibly preserved creatures. Beautiful beasts of their time, resting and waiting for Alberta Fossil Hunters and Miners to uncover so many different varieties of prismatic raw beauty.
46 years later from when John Palliser trekked across this area of Canada, in 1906, the Geological Survey of Canada made an exciting discovery...
They uncovered the very first intact Ammonite with the layers of Ammolite Aragonite mineralisation within the shell matrix, exposed on the surface of the body of the ancient sea creature. They had in their possession a iridescent rainbow covered fossil which flashed in the sunlight for the handler to see. Even throughout earlier history, this rainbow shell material was used by traditional Canadian and American Indigenous cultures for centuries for spiritual practice. But there was a missing step needed to make this material shine from distances away...
You need the Artist!
Soon this became Alberta's newest unknown resources that was soon to be shared to communities all across the globe. Once it is unearthed, then it is to be processed and finished properly by skilled professional artists!
So many years passed after this official valued scientific gemstone discovery was made and the rock-hounds of the world, geologists, scientists and mining companies began a incredible journey to learn more about it over time!
In 1981 it became officially recognized by the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and they officially designated and recognized Ammolite as a semi-precious gemstone. Ammolite was then viewed as one of only three gemstones that was awarded Jewellery-worthy-material of high grade classification to be recognized within the last 300 years for lapidary artists.
This boosted the local Canadian Mining history to add a new special Albertan treasure to the Mining & Resources industry!
It looks fun, but this is not an easy treasure to be found, and takes a lot of prehistoric hunting, skill and knowledge and most importantly, time!
Heavy equipment machinery, and blood, sweat and tears is what Canadian Ammolite miners sacrifice years of dedication for. To cut through the tough layered ironstone mineralisation that these creatures rest within. To find that special location that has the newest unearthed Alberta gemstone discovery, can take months and sometimes years! Many Miners give up years to failures to find the newest best patterns and colors that set them aside from other hunters, but without their hard work, the mining industry of ammolite would not be as far as it is today. Remember, Mistakes are our best teachers and for all miners, you just never know what you will discover until you try!
But for one Canadian miner, Jason Berkholtz (Alberta Fossil Family), his dream became a reality! Uncovering this incredible 65 Million year old gemstone-covered fossil and then reconstructing the parts with his family, had been the strength that brought this living creature back to life.
The Passion, time and effort to preserve it, is what an Ammolite gemstone Artists express through every one of their creations. This is an important part of Alberta Ammolite Gemstone, so that such specimens like Big Red can be enjoyed and appreciated by many and preserved for years to come!
This Ammolite Big Red has traveled to many places and has been showcased for demonstrations in person or through you tube, of how to protect and take passionate care of these once swimming animals, so that the future learners could enjoy and understand more about this incredible animal.
Its always a good day to learn something new and you never know who might want to become an amazing Ammolite miner in their near future too!
So thanks to this talented Miner and Ammolite Jewellery Artist, Jason Berkholtz and his wonderful Alberta Fossil Family family team, they have donated this large whole Ammonite (Cephalopods, also called Placentaceras Costatum) to the Dusty Compass, to be able to offer a hands on learning experience for all our visitors to enjoy!
So we invite you to come to our little museum, to bring your friends and family to have the chance of a lifetime!
To come and place your curious hands on this massive gemstone covered prehistoric animal, that Dusty Compass team was given the honor to officially get to choose a name for, and we choose "Big Red"!
The Dusty Compass family dedicated a special name to our Ammonite Ammolite called "BIG RED", after our family member Donna Sutherland, who's nickname was Big Red.
Big Reds parents grew up in the Liebenthal, SK area and she always loved mining history, rocks, fossils, museums, antiques, digging in the dirt and teaching
her family how to learn about Canada's greatest appreciated treasures!
Get a unique chance to learn more at our museum and about one of Alberta's very special mining resources, Ammolite!
Gift yourself the opportunity to be able to tell your friends you got to touch one of the oldest rainbow coated fossils in the World!
Big Red The Alberta Ammonite Fossil
Come put your Rock-hound Paws on a 65 Million Year old Fossil Gemstone!
Big Red has been generously donated by Alberta Fossil Family to our families museum to share the experience with all visitors that come through our museum.
You can find many varieties of Ammolite colors within the Ammonite Aragonite compositions, but the best place to learn how the fossils are worked and showcased, is with Alberta Fossil Family! The before and after that they become, as incredible museum Art Gallery Pieces that they are now today, is highlighted in this family's YOU TUBE Learning videos. This family of Artists create spectacular work that not only preserves, but enhances the beauty of the natural dragon-like-skin ocean animal shell to last for generations into the future!
Click the link below to learn more about how you can hunt, protect and care for Alberta's precious gemstone & when you find it in the wild, the next rock-hunt you venture on, in Alberta!
The Dusty Compass
is Proud to announce that the team will now be
showcasing timeless Ammolite Gemstone Pieces
that have been designed, created and preserved in
museum quality fashion by the family of artists team,
The Alberta Fossil Family,
Fossil Dad, Jason Berkholtz Fossil Mom & the Fossil Kids!
TheDusty Compass Museum's Gift Shop will have a collection showcasing
beautiful handcrafted pendants to pass along within family generations, and other
treasures such as earrings that would make incredible gifts for that special loved
one who has Alberta history or maybe to hold on to that memory you hold dear you experienced with a friend to remember the time you came to see and place your hand on 65 million year old Big Red with together. Now is your chance!
The Dusty Compass Gift Shop will also have available museum quality Specimen Art Pieces that just might be that missing collector piece that you wished you had to add to your fossil collection. A piece that you only dreamed of being able to hold in your hand, to display on your coffee table to start conversations with friends, or maybe to use at a wedding as a centerpiece instead of flowers! Something that can be treasured and remembered for years to come! Be unique and own a treasured Museum quality fossil art piece and have the rare opportunity to also give it a name! Remember, it was swimming and its own being, once upon a time in history, and heres your chance to bring your own to life just like BIG RED!
Now, thats a chance of a lifetime you wont find anywhere else in Canada, but here at the Dusty Compass Museum & Gift Shop, in Liebenthal, Saskatchewan you can!
Have any questions?
Feel free to ask The Ore Junction Team
for more details!
306- 628-7737