New type of luminescent rock has been discovered on the shores of Michigan

New discoveries of gems and minerals happen every year. For expert geologist Erik Rintamaki, June of last year was when he made his life changing discovery!

During a nighttime excursion along the shore of Lake Superior in Michigan, he found rocks that glowed like lava, with the aid of a UV light.

He sent the “Yooperlites” to Michigan Tech University, as well as the University of Saskatchewan, where the rocks were confirmed to be a type of Syenite that contained Sodalite.

Sodalite, usually found in Canada, is what is responsible for the glowing, iridescent nature of the rocks.

Sodalite is usually blue but the rocks Rintamaki discovered have been mostly made up of granite or basalt. Geologists have confirmed that this is the first set of stones to be officially tested and confirmed.

Rintamaki is 43 year old Brimley resident that has turned his findings of these stones into a business.

He sells the stones that he has discovered for over thirty dollars a pound in addition to giving tours of the areas that he discovered them.

Social media can show a lot of his tour photos and his group findings!

The Yooperlites were named by Rintamaki after the region that they were discovered in; the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which in slang terms called “Yooper.” Glacial movement in this area has put these stones there.

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