Color:  Balsam Lake Speckled Chert is bluish gray with speckles.

Texture: Medium round grains

Luster: Waxy to vitreous

Silica Fabrics / Fossils: Visually distinctive because of it round grains of pellets and fossil remains of silicified carbonate bonded by quartz.  Fossils include echinoderm, solitary coral, and brachipod

Patina: The patina tends to be a light yellowish brown.

Heat Treatment: 

Knapping: 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution Comments:

Balsam Lake Specked Chert is associated the middle Ordovician formation (upper / Bobcaygeon formation).  It is found in nodules and beds in the primary source location being Lake Balsam, Ontario.  However, Balsam Lake Speckled Chert has a much wider distribution.