TORRINGTON NSW AUSTRALIA – ESSENTIAL READING
The Torrington area of NSW is one of the more
prolific mineral collecting areas in Australia. Most of the area consists of
coarse granite (the Mole Granite) near
the centre of which is the Torrington Pendant,
part of the original roof of the intrusion, consisting of a series of
sedimentary rocks.There
is extensive mineralisation throughout the area, especially near the granite
margins and particularly in and around the sedimentary pendant.
Collectors
have made the most of the variety and quality of the minerals to be found right
from the earliest days of mining in the 1870’s. Today, at any time of the year,
you will find people searching the old mine dumps and creek beds for specimens,
especially quartz crystals, topaz and beryl.
DIGS
has a vast collection of information on Torrington. (See my blog entry DOWNLOADING PDF DOCUMENTS FROM DIGS).
Simply
go to the site and type “Torrington” into the “Locality” box. You can explore
130 years of accumulated knowledge written by the people who were there.
For
those needing something in a hurry, here are some documents you can download
which I have called “essential reading”.
The Tin
Mining Industry and the Distribution of Tin Ores in New South Wales” by JE
Carne, 1911. The DIGS reference is “Mineral Resources 14”. It’s not just
about Torrington, of course, but gives lots of good information about the area.
A similar book is “The Tungsten Mining Industry in New South Wales”, also by JE Carne,
published in 1912. The DIGS reference is “Mineral
Resources 15”.
This
edition of “Quarterly Notes”, number
17 from October 1974, has an interesting article on the silexite deposits found
in and around the Torrington Pendant. Silexite is the quartz-topaz rock found
in large masses near the intrusive contacts. The DIGS reference is “QNO 17”.
The Mole Tableland 1:50 000 “Geology and Mineral Occurrences” map is a comprehensive listing of
mines and mineral locations which should keep you busy for some time,
especially if you go back to DIGS looking for more information on a particular
place. The reference is “Map R00041396”.
Why not check out my You Tube channel here .
https://johnsbluemountainsblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/links-to-all-blog-entries-and-relevant.html All Blue Mountains blogs and videos
All New England and other Geology blogs and videos
Limestone Caves of NSW
Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs
Shoalhaven District Geology.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteThank-you for this information. I have just returned from Torrington. My grandfather had a tin min there. Would love to share more information with you.
Thanks MissMPH. As I no longer live in Glen Innes, it would be best to share information with Captain Mendoza on the Australian Lapidary Forum (aussielapidaryforum.com) . He is now running the fossicking trips that Sue and I used to do. The Forum is a great place to meet like minded people.
Delete