During the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, apatite was mined in southern Ontario and Quebec as source of phosphorous for the production of fertilizer and phosphoric acid. Many of these mines closed in 1893 due to a huge drop in price resulting from of the opening of large low cost phosphate (apatite) mines in Florida and later in Tennessee. Although there were many apatite producers and occurrences in both Ontario and Quebec, very few of these contained transparent apatite suitable for fashioning into gemstones. Most of these apatite gems occur in various shades of green to yellowish green. Blue gems are very rare.

The apatite gems offered for sale on this page are a natural blue colour and were cut from material collected in the 1980s from Danford Lake, Quebec.

With a hardness of 5 on Mohs' hardness scale, apatite is too soft and brittle to use in rings. If set with care, apatite can be used in earrings or pendants.