Clay fill is being made available starting today for free by the Manitoba Floodway Authority.
It will be the second year the MFA has made fill from the floodway excavation available to the public. This year the program will be extended from two to three months with an earlier start date.
Until Aug. 1 clay fill is available at the St. Mary’s Road bridge depot just south of the St. Mary’s Road bridge that crosses the floodway. Starting Aug. 7 until Sept. 28 fill will be available at the Dunning Road depot off Dunning Road just south of Birds Hill Provincial Park.
The depots will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and backhoes will be on site to load small trucks and trailers on Thursdays through Sundays.
The WFA wants to remind people that it is clay fill and not top soil. It is available for free but the public is responsible for transportation.
Those interested in taking advantage of the opportunity must acquire an Access Pass by completing registration forms with the WFA and separate passes must be secured for each location. They can be obtained either at the WFA’s web site at www.floodwayauthority.mb.ca or by calling the WFA at 945-4900.
Rockhounds burrowing into the recently expanded Winnipeg floodway have harvested dozens of delicate, exquisite crystals from the dense, dark clay.
"They're unique -- they're only found in this location in the world," said Jack Bauer, president of the Mineral Society of Manitoba, while standing next to a two-metre hole that bore a clear, softball-sized crystal with spikes radiating from the centre.
A snow fence encircled the site of the dig for the selenite crystals -- also known as gypsum rosettes. The Manitoba Floodway Authority gave the society and the Winnipeg Rock and Mineral Club permission to dig for crystals in an area where the floodway-widening work was completed last year. The recently churned earth is ripe fodder for the rockhounds, who spent their final day of a three-week field trip scrambling to find more crystallized gypsum or "Manitoba diamonds" in the muck.
Rock and mineral enthusiasts are combing excavations sites for the Red River Floodway expansion to locate rare selenite crystals that can be worth hundreds of dollars.
Selenite crystals, also known as gypsum rosettes, can be found anywhere in the world, but the type found at the floodway is unique to the area, Jack Bauer, president of the Mineral Society of Manitoba, told CBC News.
The crystals are very soft and not suitable to be made into jewelry, but they are favourites of mineral collectors worldwide. Some specimens can be worth hundreds of dollars, Bauer said.
"Actually, they are quite sought after around the world," he said. "The Winnipeg floodway is quite famous around the world for it, and a lot of people aren't even aware they exist."