Searching for images of Mont St. Hilaire also indicated that some fine mineral specimens can be found here. Apparently there's a quarry on the not-as-picturesque side.
Please, no HRC jokes. Let us leave nature unspoiled.
From: Le Mont Saint-Hilaire (English version)
"Approximately one million years ago, with the arrival of the glacial age, Mont Saint-Hilaire and the other Montérégian hills were slowly ground, sanded and rounded off by at least four successive glaciers. All of these geological processes gave rise to 293 distinct minerals, of which 16 are exclusive to Mont Saint-Hilaire." ***
*** Well, the minerals aren't due to glacial erosion, they are due to the igneous and metamorphic processes accompanying the intrusion and crystallization of the pluton.
"To give you an idea, here are the 5 most well known minerals among the hundreds: The famous serandite, a luminous orange or pink prism that can measure up to 15cm; siderite, a spectacular stone, of which we found hundreds in a single cavity; pectolite, a white transparent rock crystal; hilarite, a glassy brown prism; and leifite, a large crystal prism that is uniquely striped, and is rare at Mont Saint-Hilaire."
"Experts from all over the world have searched for minerals in our mountain. There are very few other places on earth that contain so many minerals in such a small space. In fact, Mont Saint-Hilaire has a representation of 10% of the minerals of the planet."
Now, hilarite might just be too tempting a target...
Crater alert!