Amethyst from the Lake Superior area has been known since the 1600's and is reflected in some of the region's early place names (for example, Amethyst Harbour). Amethyst was designated the provincial gemstone of Ontario in May, 1975 and is currently produced from several mines east of Thunder Bay along the northwest shore of Lake Superior. The vast majority of the amethyst mined in this region is of specimen-grade and occasionally spectacular crystallized mineral specimens are recovered. Transparent material suitable for faceting into gemstones is quite scarce. More info, even more info.

The Thunder Bay Amethyst Mine, also known as the Panorama Mine, is the largest of Ontario's amethyst mines. Some of the gemstones offered for sale here are from this mine, while others are from numerous small producers in the region. Some of these additional mines include the Keetch Quarry, Magone occurrence and the Duzba occurrence.