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| Picture of ammolite fragment from Lethbridge Canada, shown here for reference. This piece was not stolen but available to see on Wikipedia. Attribution: James St. John [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)] |
CTV News Calgary Canada reported on July 18, 2019 that thieves stole serving plate sized ammonite fossil from their quarry. The fossil once prepped and polished is estimated to be worth around $30,000-40,000 U.S. The quarry is near Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and is operated by Enchanted Designs Limited.
What makes the fossil so valuable is that it is composed of a organic gem like material ammolite. Ammolite is a biogenic gemstone like pearl and amber. The material comes from the ancient shells of cephalopods. More than likely the fossil was a Placenticeras sp. from the Cretaceous Period (70-75 million years ago). The creatures swam in what was known as the Western Interior Seaway which stretched from today's Arctic Ocean, through western Canada and United States and down to the Gulf of Mexico.
Below is an embedded video of the story when some nice images of the quarry and what raw and finished ammonite fossils look like from the quarry. If the video is not showing up, go to this link to view: https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/lethbridge/video?clipId=1733413&binId=1.1484062&playlistPageNum=1
Read about the story at this link:
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/50k-fossil-stolen-in-noon-hour-heist-from-ammonite-mine-near-lethbridge-1.4514504
