Central Newfoundland, Baie Verte Area Virginite and serpentine, Route 410 Asbestos mine, Baie Verte Dorset Paleoeskimo soapstone quarry , Fleur de Lys Tilt Cove copper mine 1 . The ultramafic rocks found on the Baie Verte Peninsula contain an unusual set of alteration minerals, often highly coloured and ornamental. Virginite is the local name given to altered ultramafic rock that is reddish-brown on weathered surfaces and emerald green, streaked with white quartz and carbonate, when freshly broken. It outcrops on both sides of the road about 45 km north of the TCH junction, just north of the Westport junction.
Exposure is best on the east side.
This decorative rock is often polished to make clock faces and ornaments. Virginite was formed when ultramafic rocks were chemically altered by hot fluids flowing through a nearby fault zone. The bright green mineral is a type of mica that contains the element chromium. The chromium was originally in little black crystals of chromite, some of which can still be seen in the rock. About 200 m farther north, on the west side, is a slippery green slope of serpentine, another ultramafic alteration mineral.