THE RUBY HILL GARNET DEPOSIT NEAR BINGARA, NEW ENGLAND NSW AUSTRALIA

THE RUBY HILL GARNET DEPOSIT NEAR BINGARA, NEW ENGLAND NSW AUSTRALIA

Google Earth photo - the signpost coming from the north

I’ve passed by this place several times without going in. As there are many references to it as a fossicking area, I suppose it must be open to the public, though whether this is public or private land I’m unable to say. It is well signposted, more visibly so when travelling south from Bingara, being on the right hand side of the road linking Bingara to Barraba (commonly called the Fossickers Way). The most precise distance from Bingara I’ve read is 18.6km, though from what point in the town this was measured is not stated. There are no rubies there – they proved to be garnets – but there have been several dubious claims of diamonds being found there. More of this later.

The earliest reference to the place appears to be DA Porter, “Notes on Some Minerals and Mineral Locations in the Northern Districts of NSW”, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of NSW in 1894. I read this many years ago and there is no certainty that Porter is referring to the present day Ruby Hill. The next reference is by JM Curran, in the same Journal in 1896. JF Lovering quotes Curran as saying that a red, pyrope-rich garnet was found in a coarsely-crystallising basic rock within the basalt at Ruby Hill. The easiest reference to read from the early days is in “The Mineral Resources of NSW”, by EF Pittman, 1901. Search Trove.

Photo from Pittman, 1901

Pittman wrote as follows: “A small hill, about eighty feet in height, which is intersected by several basalt dykes, was pegged out some years ago by a miner named Butt, who was attracted by some red crystals in the basalt. Under the impression that these crystals were rubies, Butt drove a tunnel, forty feet in length, in one of the hard basalt dykes, and only desisted on being informed that the red stones were garnets and of no value.” Pittman went on to tell of the search for diamonds on the same hill. He gives the date 1889 for the formation of a diamond prospecting syndicate. The upshot of this was that “Ten diamonds, weighing in the aggregate four and one-eighth carats, were obtained from it. The diamonds were remarkable in that they each had a distinct depression or pitting on one of the faces.”

The first edition of “Gemstones”, Mineral Industry series 18, page 66, (1960) (DIGS reference R00050829) throws doubt on the validity of this discovery; however it also states that “in 1922 ER Dickens treated alluvial material in the vicinity of Ruby Hill, and it is reported that some hundreds of small diamonds were obtained but were not sold”. I wonder what became of them? There are other Ruby Hills in NSW so perhaps these diamonds came from elsewhere. The second edition (1980, DIGS reference R00050830) mentions only the earlier find.

Map from Pittman, 1901

What emerges from these readings is that the garnets were found both in the breccia, which makes up much of the hill, and in the dykes which intrude it. They are apparently derived from fragments of eclogite found in the breccia (along with many other types of rock, which is typical of brecciated volcanic pipes) and in the later basalt, which they could have entered from the breccia when it was intruded by the basaltic magma. They might also have been carried up from a considerable depth from the same source rock as that penetrated by the breccia.

Lovering addressed the nature of the eclogite fragments in an article in the Journal of the Royal Society of NSW in 1964 (Volume 97, pages 73-79). He stated “Eclogites occurring as inclusions in igneous pipes are particularly important in that they may well represent direct samples of the upper mantle caught up in the magma of the pipe during its passage to the earth’s surface”. He prefers to call the inclusions “garnet granulite” and adds that individual xenocrysts of garnet are also found in the breccia and dykes, no doubt derived from the breakdown of the granulite.

Because of the (apparently) superficial resemblance of the occurrence to South African diamond bearing kimberlite pipes, there has been quite a lot of interest in this locality as a potential source of diamonds.  One such report, written by GL Rolfe for Anaconda Australia Inc. in 1979 (DIGS reference R00015604), concluded that the rocks there were unlikely to be diamantiferous. Commenting on the garnets, the report states “The most common xenocryst in both the breccia and basalt is garnet. The garnets are generally orange pink in colour, size varies from 1 to 5mm. Reaction of the garnet with the magma during ascent to the surface has resulted in kelyphitic rims one to two mm wide. The keliphytic rims consist of clay mineral and zeolites. The rims are wider in the basalt than the breccia, indicating a longer period of disequilibrium between the garnet and magma”.

Reports from fossickers of outings to Ruby Hill are few. Some say they found little or nothing, others that there were numerous small garnets in the soil. Obviously, the soil derived from the dykes is going to be the most productive, so these places need to be identified from the map, rather than by digging at random. It seems that nearly all the gems will be found in a small sized mesh sieve, a coarser sieve being used to remove larger pieces of rock etc. There will probably be no water on site, so dry sieving to concentrate the gems followed by a dip in water you will need to take with you is the most likely approach. There may be water in nearby Hall’s Creek, but this will almost certainly be on private property.

Another useful reference:  A thread from Prospecting Australia’s website (here). There are some interesting photographs in this thread, but as there is no mention of sapphire being found at Ruby Hill in any other reference, the bluish stones may have come from somewhere else. Some object for scale (such as a coin) in the photos would have helped.

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

GEM DEPOSITS ALONG THE SARA RIVER, NEW ENGLAND NSW AUSTRALIA

GEM DEPOSITS ALONG THE SARA RIVER 

NEW ENGLAND NSW AUSTRALIA

This area is one of the most interesting gem producing regions in New South Wales. It’s also one of the most frustrating because of the difficulty in gaining access to the river and its tributaries. The map is extracted from the Records of the Geological Survey of NSW 14(1), which contains a valuable article titled “Sapphires in the New England District, New South Wales”. If you would like to download a copy, try Trove or locate DIGS.

Backwater-Kookabookra area, 40km south-east of Glen Innes

A further complication is that the river is sometimes called the Mitchell River; adding to the confusion is the fact that the nearby Mann River also has the Mitchell River as an alternative name!

There is plenty of information in issues of “Gold, Gem and Treasure” magazine, the Australian Lapidary Forum (ALF) website (here) and on DIGS (if you can locate it). 

Practically every tributary of the Sara (Mitchell) river is worth fossicking. Unfortunately, they are nearly all either on private land, in a National Park or simply nowhere near a road or track. If you wish to get onto private land areas, you are going to have to approach landowners for permission. Many of them will have already had enough of trespassers, shooters, people who dig holes and don’t backfill them, fire lighters and fence cutters, so be prepared for an earful.

It isn’t at all obvious from the map, but the river rises on the upper left of the map (west of Bullwarra), passes under the Backwater road (signposted as the Mitchell River) and flows south of Mt Mitchell via the Horse Shoe Bend to Kookabookra and beyond. The creek south of it is coloured green to indicate that it carries sapphire. The fact is, so do most of the streams and gullies on the map.

As a guide for readers, I’ll say something about the three areas I have actually been to. Firstly, upstream of the Backwater road bridge. We checked this out once for a possible Minerama trip but rejected it because of our poor finds that day. This was on Bullwarra property. The area was mined for gems, probably in the 1970’s, and all I found was a few bits of sapphire on the track (evidently spilled with gravel on the way to the treatment plant) and a nugget of cassiterite (tinstone) two or three centimetres across, which I saw lying on the ground. We were unaware of the fact that Cockatoo Creek was also gem bearing, otherwise we would have checked it out too.The presence of gold and cassiterite (tin) in the wash is normal for the area. Whether any mining was ever carried on in this creek I cannot say.

The Horse Shoe Bend section of the river is accessible by 4WD vehicles along the Horse Shoe Bend fire trail, which is reached by following McGarry’s Lane and Aqua Park Road eastwards off the Backwater road, a little south of the Yarrow Creek bridge. The descent is quite spectacular, with Crown Mountain (granite outcrops) straight ahead at the beginning of the trail. From the fossicking point of view, the problem is that most of the area is now in the Warra National Park. See this article from National Parks and Wildlife (here). Although much is said about the flora, fauna, history etc nothing is said about the reason many people would want to go there – fossicking. I have been there only once and found gold and small gemstones in the river easily enough. Another DIGS document (Reference number R00046781) makes for interesting reading at this stage. It’s a summary of the prospecting done in the area by Mr W Madgwick of Glen Innes in 1974. There is private property all around and trespassers are certainly not welcome.

Sara River at Kookabookra. Photo by Wwoofa, ALF

Most of the information available concerns the third area, at Kookabookra. This is well known as a fossicking area which produces quartz crystals, black tourmaline (schorl), gold, cassiterite (tin), topaz, sapphire and zircon. Fortunately for our generation, the early miners were only after gold and tin and discarded the rest. The actual area is well described in the blogs I listed near the beginning of this blog. This land is, I believe, a crown land lease held by the adjacent landowner who has given permission for fossickers to work there. Please respect this permission and do not trespass elsewhere, camp, light fires or leave rubbish behind. There is a further accessible area at the Sara River bridge a kilometre or so downstream, on the Ward’s Mistake road. This branches off the Pinkett road on the right a short distance back towards Glen Innes.

The Mitchell River Dredge from the Pinkett history book

This stretch of the river was extensively dredged, especially in the depression years. Sue’s grandfather worked as a woodcutter for the Mt Mitchell  (Mitchell River) dredge and her mother began her schooling at the nearby Kookabookra school. If you can find a copy, the little book “Pinkett, Mogg’s Swamp, Kookabookra Past and Present” (1988) makes good reading. 

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS NEAR EBOR, NSW AUSTRALIA

SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS NEAR EBOR, NSW AUSTRALIA

Ebor is a small settlement on the eastern side of the New England Tableland. Its best known attractions are the Ebor Falls, where the river drops over a series of basalt flows, Cathedral Rocks National Park, Point Lookout (one of the most expansive views in Australia) and the Dutton Trout Hatchery, which you pass on the way to Point Lookout. Round Mountain is not only the highest point in New England, but you would have to travel several thousand kilometres northwards to find higher ground (Mt Bartle Frere, south of Cairns in north Queensland, in fact).

The sapphire deposits are located in places not far from the basalt margin (especially the outlying basalt on Round Mountain) and I would not be surprised if more remain to be discovered. The map adjoining is taken from “Records of the Geological Survey of NSW, 14 part 1” (1971). This includes an important article on Sapphires in the New England District. Ebor is on the extreme right of the included map. The DIGS reference is R00050764. The creeks highlighted in green are those known at the time to be gem bearing.

Apart from this map (which led me to check out the place) there are few other sources of information. There are several in the Dorrigo/Coffs Harbour Metallogenic Data notes and one in particular I found when searching DIGS – “V. Evans' Snowy Creek Sapphire Prospecting parish Rigney county Clarke, Ebor area” (DIGS reference R00039966).

Now, before you go rushing off in the hope of finding your fortune, take note of the fact that the areas mentioned are now in the Cathedral Rocks National Park where fossicking is not allowed. A reference about the park ( here) indicates the park boundaries and also that the remains of the sapphire prospecting are regarded as historic relics.

My own visits to the area included (a) Biscuit Creek at the top right of the map above (zero finds) (b) Native Dog Creek (black sand, probably ilmenite) (c) Boundary Creek, also top right of map

(black sand) and (d) Snowy Creek (the area highlighted in green on the map) (abundant black spinel).

This is a summary of the five areas indicated as gem bearing in the Metallogenic Mine Data (full title Metallogenic Study and Mineral Deposit Data Sheets Dorrigo - Coffs Harbour 1:250 000 Metallogenic Map (SH/5610, SH/5611) (explanatory notes)) The DIGS reference is R00037128.

Snowy Creek: described as a placer deposit carrying sapphire and topaz. “There is evidence of small-scale mining and fossicking activity along Snowy Creek upstream from its crossing by the Ebor-Guyra road. Position approximate. Not visited in the field."

Snowy Creek West: described as a sapphire alluvial placer.

Biscuit Creek: described as a placer deposit carrying sapphire and cassiterite, worked by dredging and/or sluicing.

Yooroonah (presumably near or in the Oaky River, south of the National Park): sapphire placer deposit worked by dredging and/or sluicing.

Oaky River, locality Yooroonah: sapphire and cassiterite placer worked by dredging and/or sluicing and by shallow pits.

This information is derived from the various reports concerning V Evans’ prospecting areas.

During 1978/79 attempts were made to have portion of Snowy Creek set apart as a fossicking area. Presumably this was in or near the land being prospected by Mr Evans. The land was subsequently incorporated in Cathedral Rocks National Park. Mr Evans prospected on both Biscuit Creek and Snowy Creek but no payable ground appears to have been located. The proposed fossicking area would have been on Snowy Creek.

The location of the various areas mentioned may be found on the map below, extracted from the Dorrigo/Coffs Harbour metallogenic map. It may take a little searching, but they are there!

418 – Biscuit Creek, 419 – Snowy Creek West, 422 - Snowy Creek, 667 and 669 – Oaky River/Yooroonah.

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

SURFACE HILL GEM DEPOSIT GULF ROAD EMMAVILLE

SURFACE HILL GEM DEPOSIT GULF ROAD EMMAVILLE

Location of Surface Hill with the basalt outliers marked

 How often have you wished you were around in the “good old days”? It must have been easy to pick up gemstones then. Maybe.

“Australian and New Zealand Gemstones” (1972) by Bill Myatt has this statement on page 298 in a section about Emmaville. “The Gulf Road is not good in rainy weather, as it crosses four creeks; the crossings, however, are all cemented. Sixteen miles out, Bill Frappell’s Topaz Farm is on the left, where camping and fossicking is allowed on payment of a fee, the money going to charity.” I don’t know when this arrangement ceased, but I would guess more than 30 years ago.

The place we are talking about is correctly called Surface Hill. If you’re searching for information, don’t get confused with the many other Surface Hills around, especially the one on the Timbarra goldfield near Tenterfield. The name refers to the fact that the alluvial wash there was on the surface of the ground rather than in a creek bed or its banks. The place is about 2 km south of the Gulf Road, between Flagstone and Little Flagstone Creeks. Both Minerama and Emmaville Gemfest have conducted field trips there. The last I knew, it was part of the property called “Willow Creek”, where James and Kerry West conducted their business “The Fruit Salad Tree Company” (multi-grafted fruit trees). I believe the property has recently been sold.

Naturally, the old time miners were not interested in topaz. They were after tin (cassiterite) which was eagerly sought all over the Emmaville and Torrington districts from 1872. The cassiterite originated in fluids associated with the nearby crystallising granite. There are literally thousands of veins, dykes and impregnations which formed from the early Triassic Mole Granite. Some are within the granite itself, others are in the adjacent intruded rocks, such as those at Webb’s Silver Mine. At the Emmaville Emerald Mine, the pegmatite dykes can be traced from the intruded rocks into the granite itself.

From TWE David. Basalt outliers marked

The story at Surface Hill is entirely different. Here the cassiterite is found as waterworn grains in an old stream deposit. Let me quote TWE David (from his 1887 report on the Vegetable Creek Tin-Mining Field, DIGS reference R00031676, page 45): “The Tertiary gravels at Surface Hill form three outliers. At Surface Hill a flat-topped ridge of claystone is capped by a bare oval patch of tertiary gravel. The deposit has an extent of 1 acre and a thickness of 1 to 2 feet. The pebbles of which it is composed are principally quartz, from 1 to 6 inches in diameter, and as smooth as eggs. A great deal of tourmaline, as well as topazes, beryls, emeralds, and stream tin (alluvial cassiterite ed), are mixed through these gravels, which from their higher position appear to be older than the similar gravels underlying  two neighbouring outliers of basalt. In its lithological character, and in its stratigraphical relation to the “deep leads” this small outlier of gravel closely resembles the tertiary pebble beds at Cope Hardinge, near Tingha. The importance of these outliers rests not so much on the minerals contained in them, though that has been considerable, as on what they teach of the former wide distribution of stream tin deposits in early tertiary time. The gravels at Scrubby Gully and Surface Hill are over 6 miles distant from one another, the former being 3,360 feet above sea level, and the latter 2,460 feet; while those in the Ruby Hill outlier have an altitude of 1,885 feet, and are over 25 miles distant from Scrubby Gully.”

The mention of topaz, beryl and emerald should get any self-respecting fossicker’s heart racing. I’ve been out to Surface Hill a few times and never failed to find topaz, though not the other minerals. I have no doubt that this is because of the similar specific gravity of beryl to quartz: We look for topaz in the sieve centre because it is dense but forget the less dense beryl among the quartz fragments. It is the same story at Blatherarm and Scrubby Gully. You won’t find alluvial beryl unless you are looking for it.

David has more to say on page 164. “Beryl occurs most frequently in small waterworn round or oval prisms from ½ to 1 ½ inch long and from 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. The localities where it is most abundant are Surface Hill and Kangaroo Flat. The majority of specimens are pale green, and many are colourless. The gems generally contain a number of minute cavities, which of course detract immensely from their value. Some specimens from Kangaroo Flat, which have been cut and polished, are valued at about £4, the cutting and polishing having cost about £3.”  

The only other major source of information on Surface Hill I’ve been able to locate is in the Grafton-Maclean Mine Data records (DIGS Reference R00056102). There are two listings: Surface Hill Northwest (GR1012) and Surface Hill (GR1039). The descriptor for both is “Sn, topaz – industrial fossil placer (fluvial)”.

The 1906 SMH report

Surface Hill Northwest pretty well matches TWE David’s description; there is both a surface deposit and a deep lead under a small basalt cap. A large race carried water to work the gravel which is dated to A Bouveret in 1883. NOTE. The two dams on the creek running south and the existing water race from the creek could date from E Sturtridge’s work in 1906, which is not mentioned. See the Sydney Morning Herald note for 30^th June 1906 (here).

Surface Hill proper is a deep lead deposit with workings dating from 1878. To quote: “Numerous shafts and pits on side of hill. Wash around shafts has rounded white pebbles of quartz. Has known association with blue topaz and alluvial cassiterite.”

What would you see if you were able to get permission to go out there? Firstly, I suggest that you follow the water race from the creek and see where it goes. This is Surface Hill Northwest. All the topaz and beryl would have been discarded where the gravel was washed. The area where the surface gravel was removed is where I picked up numerous piece of topaz in 2001 solely because of the glint of the sun from cleavage faces. Find where the deep lead was mined.

The track continuing around the hill without crossing the creek should go to the main Surface Hill deep lead workings. Once again, beryl and topaz should be in any discarded gravel piles or in the gully where water carried away the waste.

This link here will take you to the ALF thread on Surface Hill, from which I “lifted” Wwoofa’s photograph below.

Field Trip to Surface Hill. Photo "Wwoofa", Australian Lapidary Forum

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS NEAR THE GWYDIR HIGHWAY EAST OF GLEN INNES

SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS NEAR THE GWYDIR HIGHWAY EAST OF GLEN INNES

Dirty Creek is in the centre of the map (from DIGS R00050764)

When I first moved to Glen Innes in 1988 I had with me a copy of the Records of the Geological Survey of NSW 14(1), which contains a valuable article titled “Sapphires in the New England District, New South Wales”. If you would like to download a copy, the DIGS reference is R00050764. The map at the end of the document is a useful tool for locating interesting fossicking spots. I need to point out, however, that, apart from Yarrow Creek, some of our best sites (eg Pretty Valley, Rainy Swamp, Back Creek and Frenchies Swamp Creek) are not indicated as sapphire bearing at all. The map in Mineral Industry 18 Gemstones 2^nd Edition (1980) DIGS reference R00050830, is based on the earlier one.

Dirty Creek 1652 Tarcoodie 1704 (from metallogenic map)

One place seemed to be remote from all the others and that is Dirty Creek, near the Glen Elgin road turnoff from the Gwydir Highway about 30km east of Glen Innes. See the map extracts for guidance, also Google Earth. I now know that there are gemstones to be found in many creeks in the Glen Elgin area but it isn’t an area I’ve looked at very closely. Dirty Creek is crossed by the Glen Elgin road immediately after the turnoff from the highway. After a few hundred metres, the creek joins the Rocky River almost at the highway bridge. The Rocky River is known as the Timbarra River further downstream.

Please note that anything I say about access may no longer be true. Under no circumstances should you enter private land without permission.

Stock reserve gate

There is some kind of stock reserve covering the lower parts of Dirty Creek. About 300 or so metres before the Glen Elgin turnoff there is a gate opening into the reserve on the northern side of the highway. The creek runs through swampy and sandy country and you wouldn’t expect to find much in it. All I ever turned up were a few very waterworn sapphire and zircon fragments as well as black spinel and tourmaline. These were more abundant downstream where there are granite outcrops. Upstream you come to the boundary fence. Note that the area shown on the Grafton-Maclean metallogenic map as being the site of mining activity is a km or so upstream. Dirty Creek is shown as deposit number 1652

I haven’t examined Dirty Creek between the Glen Elgin bridge and the junction with Rocky River, but there are many granite outcrops in this stretch so there could be some gemstone concentrations waiting there for those who don’t mind getting wet.

Rocky River reserve entrance

Immediately after the highway bridge there is a track on the northern side entering what appears to be another reserve, through which the river flows. A lot of fossicking has been done here because there is usually a good flow of water and there is a lot of gravel in the river and its banks. I’ve only washed a casual sieve or two, but they always contained some gem material. It’s my guess that this has come down Dirty Creek and into the Rocky as I could find nothing upstream of the Rocky River bridge, though the usual problems of swampy ground and access to the river make this statement difficult to confirm.

The third gem bearing spot in the area is Tarcoodie, which I have not been able to locate, though the mine data information suggests that quite a bit work was done on the deposit. It is shown as deposit number 1704 and ought to be on the southern side of the road in the vicinity of the prison farm (afforestation camp). Stay out of that area!

Extracts from Grafton-Maclean Metallogenic Data

GR1652 (YJ0011) G Dirty Creek OCC sapphire modern placer (fluvial)

NAME(S): Dirty Creek Recorder(s): K. Ringwood, 24/11/1995

LOCATION Map sheets: SH/56-6, 9338-IV-S Coordinates (MGAz56): 404206mE, 6721488mN Locality: 29 km ENE of Glen Innes

Location method: 25K topo map Co: Clive Ph: Lewis Por: 42, 43, 45

MINING HISTORY Workings: dredging or sluicing Extent (m): d: l: 2000 w:

Prods and period:

Exploration:

HOST ROCK(S): clastic sediment, alluvium, Quaternary

DEPOSIT CHARACTER Ore minerals: (sapphire) Alteration:

Gangue: Production: Resources:

Ore genesis: modern placer (fluvial) Relation to host: stratiform Orientation:

REMARKS:

REFERENCES: MacNevin (1972), MacNevin & Holmes (1980)

GR1704 (YJ0010) G Tarcoodie deposit OCC sapphire modern placer (fluvial)

NAME(S): Tarcoodie deposit Recorder(s): H F Henley, 7/2/1992 & 24/11/1995

LOCATION Map sheets: SH/56-6, 9338-IV-S Coordinates (MGAz56): 409405mE, 6720368mN Locality: 36 km E of Glen Innes

Location method: 25K topo map Co: Clive Ph: Mount Mitchell Por: 21, 22; PMA

MINING HISTORY Workings: dredging or sluicing Extent (m): d: l: w:

Prods and period: Gem Exploration (July 1971 - March 1972)

Exploration: G and J Gems P/L (1988-present)

HOST ROCK(S): felsic intrusive, granite, Quaternary sediments, alluvial plain, Quaternary

DEPOSIT CHARACTER Ore minerals: (sapphire) Alteration:

Gangue: Production: Resources:

Ore genesis: modern placer (fluvial) Relation to host: stratiform Orientation:

REMARKS: substantial conventional production plant type

REFERENCES: GS1990/226

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Shoalhaven District Geology.