British Columbia Lithic Material

Materials Identification Guide

British Columbia Lithic Material

Name	Natural	Non-heat treated points	Heat treated points	Color details	Primary found in:	Associated Formation / Member
Agate Jasper				Ranges from yellow to brown or green. Part if the material will be banded and be translucent while the remaining material will be mottled and opaque.	Southern British Columbia
Alberta Ironstone AKA: Ironstone Concretions				Ranges from a dark rusty brown to black	Eastern British Columbia
Anahim Obsidian				Black	West central British Columbia
Andesite Generic Type					British Columbia	Varies
Appekunney Argillite				Ranges from black to a gray or greenish gray with inclusions of white quartzite.	Southeastern British Columbia	Appekunney Member of the Belt Series
Atan Quartzite				White	North central British Columbia	Atan Group
Avon Chert AKA: Avon Valley Porcellanite				Porcelain white with brown chalcedony inclusions	Southeastern British Columbia
Ayers Quartzite					Southeastern British Columbia
Banff Chert				Commonly banded ranging from a dark gray to a bluish black	Southeastern British Columbia	Banff Formation
Basalt				Ranges from black to gray	British Columbia	Volcanic
Bridge River Chert				Ribbon chert ranging from a light to medium gray, but may range to red, brown, or green with "ribbons" of small vein quartz..	Southwestern British Columbia	Fergusson Assemblage of the Bridge River complex
Bowman Chert AKA: Bowman Porcellanite				Porcelain white with brown chalcedony inclusions	Southeastern British Columbia
Cache Creek Jasper				Green	South central British Columbia
Camels Hump Agate				Banded with shades of gray and black	Southeastern British Columbia
Carnelian Generic Type				Translucent and varies in shades from reddish brown to reddish orange.	British Columbia	Varies
Chuckanut Sandstone AKA: Huntingdon Sandston				Golden tan	Southwestern British Columbia	Chuckanut Formation, Huntingdon Formation (British Columbia)
Clarke Lake Jasper				High quality red jasper	Northeastern British Columbia
Creston Quartzite				Ranges from a pale green to a bluish grey or maroon	Southeastern British Columbia	Creston Formation
Dacite Generic Type				Most commonly a light to dark gray or black	British Columbia	Varies
Dalsite				Breccia jasper with colors of green, white yellow and dark gray	Vancouver Island
East Creek Obsidian				Black	Vancouver Island
Elk River Silicified Mudstone				Ranges from muddy brown to grey or black. A mottled "wormified" or light "‘vermiculated" streaking may be present	Southeastern British Columbia	Elk River Formation
Empire Valley Chalcedony				Colors of clear, to an amber or orange and green in a variety of patterns.	South central British Columbia
English Creek Chert AKA: Klinkit Chert				Gray	Northwestern British Columbai	English Creek Formation of the Klinkit Group
Etherington Chert				mottled with colors of primarily gray with shades of brown, red, and purple. Quartz inclusions and micro fossils are present.	Southeastern British Columbia	Etherington Formation
Fantasque Chert				Bluish gray	Northeastern British Columbia	Fantasque Formation
Glacial Pass Concretions AKA: Glacial Pass Siliceous Mudstone				Ranging from dark gray or brown brown to beige, and greyish brown with some purplish brown	Southeastern British Columbia	Fernie Formation
Glen Cove Obsidian AKA: Knight Inlet Obsidian				Black	Southwestern British Columbia
Glen Fraser Chalcedony				Colors of white, pink, or purple.	South central British Columbia
Graham Island Obsidian AKA: Queen Charlotte Islands Obsidian				Black	Graham Island
Grinnell Argillite				Ranges from a greenish gray or a dark red color	Southeastern British Columbia	Grinnell Formation of the Belt Series
Hat Creek Valley Jasper / Jasper Agate				Shades of brown and commonly has bluish translucent chalcedony present.	South central British Columbia
Hozomeen Chert / Jasper				Commonly as banded, mottled but solid colors do occur ranging from dark gray to black, light gray to light bluish-gray or medium gray, pink, and white.	South central British Columbia	Hozomeen Series
Hozomeen Jasper				Ranges from red to shades of reddish brown with white quartz veins forming a crisscross pattern.	South central British Columbia	Hozomeen Series
Ilgachuz Obsidian AKA: Far Mountain Obsidian				Black with a greenish tint	West central British Columbia
Independence Chert				Ranges from a dark gray to black and commonly has red or rusty staining.	South central British Columbia	Independence Formation
Kedahda Chert				Ranges from a medium to dark gray to green or white. Ribbon chert also occurs.	Northern British Columbia	Kedahda Formation of the Cache Creek Group
Kingcome Obsidian AKA: Port Hardy Obsidian				Ranges from black to a dark gray and commonly has small phenocrysts present (snowflake obsidian)	Southwestern British Columbia
Kootenai Argillite AKA: Kootenay Argillite, Kootenie Argillite				Ranges from a light green to a light gray	Southeastern British Columbia	Kootenai Formation
Lone Cabin Creek Jasper				Includes a blue orbicular variety	Central British Columbia
Mackenzie Pass Obsidian AKA: Tsirsiutl Peak Obsidian				Black	Central British Columbia
McGlashan Lake Petrified Wood				Shades of tan, brown, cream, and black, wood grain and rings are present along with voids filled with quartz.	South central British Columbia
Missing Link Mountain Quartzite					British Columbia
Monte Lake Moss Agate					South central British Columbia
Mount Christie Chert				Ranges from a pale green to a bluish gray or gray weathering to an orangish gray.	North central British Columbia	Mount Christie Formation
Mount Edziza Obsidian				Black with banding occasionally present.	North central British Columbia
Mount Ida Agate				Pink	South central British Columbia
Mount Rath Jasper				Red	British Columbai	Kedahda Formation of the Cache Creek Group
Nch'kay Obsidian AKA: Mount Garibaldi Obsidian				Ranges from a medium to dark gray	Southeastern British Columbia
Nechako River Jasper Agate				Brown with translucent bluish chalcedony.	Central British Columbia
Nicoamen River Agate				Bluish gray banded agate	South central British Columbia
Nonda Chert				Ranges from a dark gray to black	Northern British Columbia	Nonda Formation
Northern Quartzite AKA: Alta Quartzite, Polar Quartzite				Ranges from a honey brown to a slightly pale purplish gray color.	British Columbia
Obsidian AKA: Volcanic Glass				Black to black with bands of dark reds (mahogany obsidian) or white flakes (snowflake obsidian)	British Columbia	Volcanic
Omineca Agate AKA: Francois Lake Agate				Banded and ranges from a red, crimson, and pink	Central British Columbia
Peace River Chert AKA: Peace River Siltstone				Ranges from a dark gray to black	Northeastern British Columbia	Peace River Formation
Petrified Wood AKA: Agatized Wood, Opalized Wood				Vary in color based on the minerals present during the process	British Columbia	Varies
Pinaus Lake Jasper				Ranges from brown to black with shades of yellow and green.	South central British Columbia
Pisolite					British Columbia
Porcellanite Generic type				Ranges from white to brown or various shades of gray	Southeastern British Columbia	Varies
Princeton Chert AKA: Allenby Formation Chert					South central British Columbia	Allenby Formation
Princeton Jasper				Agatized bog with colors of brownish reds and greys with chalcedony inclusions occurring.	South central British Columbia
Prophet Chert				Ranges from a dark gray to black spiculitic to radiolarian chert.	Northeastern British Columbia	Prophet Formation
Purcell Siliceous Siltstone				Ranges from a khaki green to brown, gray or bluish gray with a rusty weathering common.	Southeastern British Columbia	Belt Series
Rhyolite				Gray to grayish black, flow banding may be present alternating from light to darker gray	British Columbia	Volcanic Activity
Robbins Creek Agate				Includes banded and iris agates	South central British Columbia
Salmon River Moss Agate				Green moss agate	Central British Columbia
Scottie Creek Agate				Banded agate	South central British Columbia
Sentinel Mountain Chert				Ranges from a lavender to purple.	East central British Columbia
Sentinel Mountain Jasper				Red	East central British Columbia
Shoemaker Chert				Light colored buff, pink, gray and green.	South central British Columbia	Shoemaker Formation
Sloko Lake Chalcedony				Ranges from white to a whitish gray	Northwestern British Columbia
Springbrook Chert				Dark gray to black	South central British Columbia	Springbrook Formation
Squilax Mountain Agate				Blue with banding and plumes commonly present	Southeastern British Columbia
Tamihy Quartzite				Ranges from dark charcoal gray to black.	Southwestern British Columbia
Tchesinkut Lake Agate				Blue	Central British Columbia
Tertiary Hills Clinker AKA: Tertiary Hills Welded Tuff, Keele River Obsidian				Ranges in color from white to grey, lower quality light brown, red, and purple are seen.	Northern British Columbia
Top of the World Chert AKA: Beaverfoot Chert				Mottled or irregular banding ranging from white to light or medium gray with dendritic inclusions being present. .	Southern British Columbia	Beaverfoot Formation
Tourmaline					British Columbia
Tranquille Creek Agate				Includes plume, banded, and fortification agate	South central British Columbia
Tuff AKA: Solidified Volcanic Ash				Contains greater than 75 volcanic ash and ranges from white to tan, gray or pink.	British Columbia	Volcanic activity
Whitesail Agate				Moss and plume agate with onyx banding	West central British Columbia
Whiteman Creek Jasper				Red	Southeastern British Columbia
Yalakom River Jasper				Banded jasper	Southwestern British Columbia
Yellow Lake Agate				Bluish gray	South central British Columbia