Search This Blog

Sunday 22 December 2013

LIST OF ALL BLOGS AND RELEVANT VIDEOS

 USE THE SEARCH BOX TO LOCATE BLOGS AND VIDEOS OF INTEREST


12th March 2024 Kingsgate Mines 1988 Part 5 Extracts from Previously Published Sources
12th March 2024 Kingsgate Mines 1988 Part 4 Description and Location of the Main Pipes
10th March 2024 Kingsgate Mines 1988 Part 3 The Geology of Kingsgate
7th March 2024 Kingsgate Mines 1988 Part 2 Kingsgate Minerals
5th March 2024 Kingsgate Mines 1988 Part 1 The History of the Kingsgate Mines
2nd March 2024 Minerama Book 8 Sapphire (1999/2000)
1st March 2024 Minerama Book 7 Bismuth (1998)
28th February 2024 Minerama Book 6 Fluorite (1997)
28th February 2024 Minerama Book 5 Wolframite(1996)
26th February 2024 Minerama Book 4 Topaz (1995)
24th February 2024 Minerama Book 3 Cassiterite (1994)
23rd February 2024 Minerama Book 2 Beryl (1993)
22nd February 2024 Minerama Book 1. Molybdenite (1992)
19th October 2017: THE INVERELL METALLOGENIC MAP AND DATA SHEETS
3rd August 2016: THE TIN-MINING INDUSTRY IN NSW 1911 (BOOK)
 Video Link
22nd July 2016: TOPAZ LOCALITIES WEST OF TORRINGTON
6th March 2016: SMITH'S MICA LODE TORRINGTON
12th January 2016: HISTORIC NSW MINING PHOTOGRAPHS 1901 (slide show) Video Link
2nd January 2016: HISTORIC NSW MINING PHOTOGRAPHS 1900 (slide show) Video Link
1st January 2016: GADEN'S LODE GULF ROAD EMMAVILLE
12th December 2015: THE ASHFORD LIMESTONE CAVES
2nd December 2015: HISTORIC NSW MINING PHOTOGRAPHS 1897-99 (slide show) Video Link
21st November 2015: SPECIMEN HILL, THE GULF NEAR EMMAVILLE
7th November 2015: HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HILLGROVE MINES (slide show) Video Link
17th September 2015: THE GULF FLUORITE MINE NEAR EMMAVILLE
14th July 2015: CASSITERITE CRYSTALS FROM ELSMORE NEAR INVERELL Video Link (slide show)
24th June 2015: ALLUVIAL DIAMOND MINING IN THE NEW ENGLAND REGION OF NSW AUSTRALIA Video Link  (slide show)
6th June 2015: "KINGSGATE HISTORIC MINING PHOTOGRAPHS" (slide show) Video Link
9th May 2015: THE RUBY HILL GARNET DEPOSIT NEAR BINGARA NSW
6th May 2015: GEM DEPOSITS ALONG THE SARA RIVER NEW ENGLAND NSW
2nd May 2015: "TORRINGTON HISTORIC MINING PHOTOGRAPHS" (slide show) Video Link
26th March 2015: "GLEN INNES DISTRICT FOSSICKING TRIPS" (slide show) Video Link
10th March 2015: SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS AT BACK PLAIN NEAR GLEN INNES
25th February 2015: SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS IN THE EBOR DISTRICT
9th February 2015: CUT GEMSTONES FROM THE GLEN INNES DISTRICT (slide show) Video Link
22nd January 2015: SCREW TIN: EMMAVILLE'S UNIQUE CASSITERITE FOSSILS 
10th January 2015: "UNCUT GEMSTONES FROM THE GLEN INNES DISTRICT" (slide show) Video Link
2nd January 2015: SURFACE HILL GEM DEPOSIT GULF ROAD EMMAVILLE
21st December 2014: SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS NEAR THE GWYDIR HIGHWAY EAST OF GLEN INNES
16th December 2014: "RAINY SWAMP" (slide show) Video Link
12th December 2014: THE EMERALD MINE NEAR EMMAVILLE
26th November 2014: REID'S COPPER MINE MINE NEAR EMMAVILLE
26th November 2014:  "GARNET CORNER" (slide show) Video Link
15th November, 2014: WEBB'S CONSOLS AND RELATED MINES, STRATHBOGIE NEAR EMMAVILLE
8th November 2014: "THE  CROSSING" (slide show) Video Link
28th October 2014: "THE BLACK JACK HOLE" (slide show) Video Link
8th October 2014: "THE GLORY HOLE" (slide show) Video Link
1st October 2014: "SUE'S FAVOURITE SPOT" (slide show) Video Link
28th September 2014: THE OTTERY MINE, TENT HILL NEAR EMMAVILLE
25th September 2014: "THE BOTTOM END" AND "THE BLOCKUP" (slide show) Video Link
16th September 2014: "THE OLD MINE" (slide show) Video Link


10th September 2014:"THROUGH THE FENCE" (slide show) Video Link
7th September 2014: WEBB'S SILVER MINE, NEAR EMMAVILLE
3rd September 2014: "DOWN THE HILL" (slide show) Video Link
27th August 2014: "PRETTY VALLEY" (slide show) Video Link
6th June 2014: JONES SWAMP CREEK, GUYRA TO INVERELL ROAD
18th May 2014:  THE RED ROCK SAPPHIRE DEPOSIT NEAR GLEN INNES
12th April 2014: THE CASCADES YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES
7th March 2014: KELLY'S HUT CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES
1st February 2014: FRENCHIES SWAMP CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES
6th January 2014: "DOWN THE HILL", YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES  Video Link one  two  three  four
15th December 2013: THE BOTTOM END, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES  Video link  
12 November 2013: THE BLOCKUP, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES NSW  Video link 
27th October 2013: THE CROSSING, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES  Video link 
14th October 2013: SUE’S FAVOURITE SPOT YARROW CREEK, GLEN INNES  Video link 
2nd October 2013: THROUGH THE FENCE, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES  Video link Video 2

22nd September 2013: ROCKY BEND, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES
16th September 2013: THE BLACK JACK HOLE, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES Video link 
7th September 2013: ROCKY PONDS CREEK, GLEN INNES
3rd September 2013: GARNET CORNER, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES  Video link 
2nd September 2013: BACK CREEK, PINKETT NEAR GLEN INNES 

25th August 2013: PRETTY VALLEY QUARTZ  Pretty Valley video 1 video 2 
22nd August 2013: MINERAMA GEM AND MINERAL SHOW GLEN INNES
19th August 2013: RAINY SWAMP NEAR GLEN INNES  Rainy Swamp video 1   video 2 
17th August 2013: THE BIG SAPPHIRE YARROW CREEKNEAR GLEN INNES
11th August 2013: BERYL FROM TORRINGTON, NSW AUSTRALIA  
1st August 2013: MISCELLANEOUS MINERALS FROM YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES 

28th July 2013: SCRUBBY GULLY, TORRINGTON NSW  
24th July 2013: THE GLORY HOLE YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES  video link1 Video 2 
22nd July 2013: DOWNLOADING REPORTS FROM THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, SYDNEY
19th July 2013: KINGSGATE QUARTZ 
17th July 2013: ENSTATITE FROM YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES
14th July 2013: THE OLD MINE LOCALITY YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES Old Mine video 1  Video 2 Video 3
11th July 2013: PRETTY VALLEY DOG’S TOOTH SAPPHIRES Pretty Valley video 1 video 2 
9th July 2013: THE DUNDEE GRAVEL BEDS 
7th July 2013: A FEW AUSTRALITE FINDS 
5th July 2013: MORE USEFUL BOOK DOWNLOADS FROM ALF 
4th July 2013: MINERAMA BOOK DOWNLOADS FROM ALF 
21st June 2013: HEFFERNAN’S WOLFRAM MINE TORRINGTON NSW
19th June 2013: QUARTZ AT “DOWN THE HILL” YARROW CREEK Down the Hill video 1 video 2 
18th June 2013: PERIDOT FROM GLEN INNES
15th June 2013: PRETTY VALLEY GOLD Pretty Valley video 1 video 2  video 3

12th June 2013: TORRINGTON NSW AUSTRALIA – ESSENTIAL READING 
11th June 2013: DOWNLOADING BOOKS USING “TROVE” 
7th June 2013: BAKER'S HILL AND GLEN EDEN MINES NEAR DUNDEE   Video link 
4th June 2013: DOWNLOADING PDF DOCUMENTS FROM "DIGS" 
1st June 2013: PINK SAPPHIRES IN THE NEW ENGLAND DISTRICT NSW AUSTRALIA 
30th May 2013: JOHN'S NEW ENGLAND MINERALS BLOG - AN INTRODUCTION  
14th May 2013: YOU TUBE CHANNEL TRAILER Video Link

GLEN INNES VIDEOS

The Australian Standing Stones and the Celtic Festival 11th April 2015 Video Link

Two Hail Storms on Consecutive Days, December 2009: Video Link 

Parklands walk, 24th April 2013: Video link  

Martin's Lookout walk, 18th January 2013: Video link 

A country walk, 12th December 2012: Video link 

Hail storm, 28th November 2012: Video link 

Snow, 12th October 2012: Video link

  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

 

 

 

 

Sunday 15 December 2013

THE BOTTOM END, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES NSW AUSTRALIA

Working the crack
This place takes its name from the simple fact that it is the bottom end of the property where we have often fossicked. Upstream from it is the place we call The Blockup and below, in the next property, is the Old Mine.

This stretch of the creek begins with a long pool, followed by a short section of rocky ground before the creek passes through another pool. After this there are more rocks and pools with some places where the creek vanishes beneath the rocks, before you come to the boundary fence.

The first pool looks deep but that’s about all I know about it. The first rocky section has been well fossicked but possibilities remain for new ground on the left bank. The landowner told me once that, years ago, the creek had been dammed in a dry season at the end of the first pool before the second pool had been pumped out. No doubt some good finds were made. You could hardly fail in a place like that. Not knowing about that event, I tried some of the more obvious spots and scored some cutters. One was a sapphire piece of 
The lower end of the first pool
around 10 carats which I told Sue was tourmaline until I took it up to her with the next sieve. As it turned out, one end was very dark, the rest was blue. I’ve been holding off writing this blog entry as I wanted to include a photograph of it. Sorry, I must have sold it with some other blues before we moved away from Glen Innes.

Minerama 2010 finds
Most of our fossicking here happened around 2002-3 and I have no photos of finds from that time. Probably our best find came immediately after Minerama in March 2010. A few good finds were made on the Monday trip just below the end of the first pool. Two weeks later I worked on a crack which crossed the creek, using a yabby pump to get all I could out of it. The first finds included some good clear quartz (no fossicker I know throws that back again) so I was confident that there were better things to follow. The photo shows that I wasn’t disappointed. The following week produced some more, but that was it for that particular crack. No doubt there is more to come.
See the Blog entries for The Blockup and the Old Mine for more information.
My You Tube video on The Bottom End may be found here . My You Tube channel has four playlists, on gem hunting, Glen Innes, the Blue Mountains and New Zealand. You will find the first of these here . Please comment and subscribe.

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos
Good finds from the crack described above (one day's work)

Tuesday 12 November 2013

THE BLOCKUP, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES NSW AUSTRALIA

In the Blog on “Sue’s Favourite Spot”, I included an image showing the long “straight”, in Yarrow Creek, which finishes where the creek makes a right angle bend into the Blockup. This is an area of granite where the water flows through a narrow (30-40 cm) channel and continues under granite boulders before emptying into a long pool. This pool finishes at the spot we know as “The Bottom End”.

Much of the creek bed above the Blockup consists of submerged rocky areas and lengthy reedy sections. It looks uninviting and so we have generally left it alone. Those few places where we have fossicked have been the most accessible ones and they have basically had a flat granite bottom (sometimes entirely weathered) with few cracks or holes. I don’t think we left much behind in these spots.

Nevertheless, there is a long section of unprospected creek waiting for a dry season to lower the water level. It can drop more than a metre, so there must be other channels in the Blockup for the water to escape through.

 The finds have been the same as elsewhere, that is, sapphire, zircon and garnet in amongst heaps of black spinel with an occasional piece of topaz. Waterworn clear and smoky quartz turns up frequently. There must be heaps more of these amongst the rocks and beneath the reeds. My You Tube gem hunting playlist is here . I have three other playlists on Glen Innes, the Blue Mountains and New Zealand.   https://johnsbluemountainsblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/links-to-all-blog-entries-and-relevant.html All Blue Mountains blogs and videos

Check out my video of fossicking at the Blockup here .

6 carat "jelly bean" sapphire from the Blockup

Sunday 27 October 2013

THE CROSSING, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES NSW AUSTRALIA

The Crossing (C), The Cascades (L) and the Black Jack Hole (R)
Readers will have noticed that we have given names to the various locations along Yarrow Creek where we have taken fossicking groups over the years. There are 14 named places and this has turned out to be a useful way of describing where particular gems have been found or to let regulars know where we intended to go next week.

The Crossing is one of the first places to which I took groups for Minerama field trips. It marks the point where 2 wheel drive vehicles can go no further and even 4 wheel drives would have trouble with it today. The landowner uses the place we know as the Upper Crossing

The finds that started it all. March 2007
I had not paid a great deal of attention to this spot believing it to have been well worked over on those earlier trips, until I observed a fossicker on another trip removing a few rocks from a hole in the bed of the creek. He had some nice gems, including some topaz, and I determined to pay it a visit on one of our regular Glen Innes Baptist Church outings. It was then that I realised what we had been missing.

9 carat garnet September 2007
January 2008
There is a series of cracks running across the creek and each of these has been followed under the bank until the overburden has become too great.   There are also several holes jammed up with granite boulders which have yet to be cleared out, if they ever can be. 
We always seemed to be beaten by a combination of factors – the weight of the rocks, the depth of the water and the problem of where to put the rocks if we ever got them out. Maybe future fossickers will succeed where we have failed.

There are other possible traps in old channels or beneath deep sand. Who knows?

30 carat sapphire January 2008
My You Tube gem hunting playlist is here .There are three other playlists – on the Blue Mountains,  Glen Innes and New Zealand. 
My video on The Crossing is here .Enjoy and please SUBSCRIBE!

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos


Finds from my last fossicking day at The Crossing - February 2012

Monday 14 October 2013

SUE’S FAVOURITE SPOT YARROW CREEK, GLEN INNES NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

 

The long straight stretch of Yarrow Creek

In 2003 and 2004 the Glen Innes Baptist Church Fossicking Group had so many good sites to search for sapphires along Yarrow Creek that it wasn’t easy to decide where to go each Wednesday. “Let’s go to my favourite spot”, Sue would often say to me, and so this place got its name.

February 2004
We had found it at the end of 2003 by the simple process of walking into the creek and finding that there was lots of gravel in one place, which we eventually extended along the channel for about 100 metres. Our fossicking guests found lots of sapphire, zircon and garnet cutters there. As late as the beginning of 2007 another new patch of gravel was found and I’m sure this won’t be the last.

There have been several highlights of our many trips to this productive spot. One happened when Mal Leyland – well known in Australia for his documentaries – came out with us to get some fossicking    
October 2005
footage for a video on Glen Innes he was working on. As it turned out, I got a nice blue cutter in the first sieve which was all he needed to see. Then he was gone! If you can find a copy of this video, the magic moment is preserved for all to see.

A second interesting event happened right back at the beginning when Yarrow Creek stopped flowing in a dry summer. Long stretches of the creek were dry, but we were concentrating on the Glory Hole at that stage and didn’t even get to check the rest of the creek out. By the time we did, the water was back to normal and hasn’t been down that far again since.

40 cutters in one day from the 2007 patch
The rich patch we found in 2007 was in a deep hole I hadn’t even noticed until then. It turned out to be chest deep (or deeper) and there was a submerged log down one side. Under the log was where the goodies were trapped. Unless you were standing in the water you could never have found this patch of gravel.

We use the name “Sue’s Favourite Spot” for a nearly straight 500+ metre stretch of the creek which starts where the “Glory Hole” area ends and finishes where the “Blockup” begins. At least half of this is reedy and uninviting, but who knows? There might be another bonanza or two in there.


My last day's finds from SFS - September 2012
There is a video on Sue’s Favourite Spot on You Tube here . My You Tube playlist is here. I also have playlists on the Blue Mountains, Glen Innes and New Zealand. Enjoy and please SUBSCRIBE!

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos
16.8 carat sapphire from the 2007 patch











Wednesday 2 October 2013

“THROUGH THE FENCE”, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

This location takes its name from the fact that an old wire fence runs next to the entire length of the place. As we got to know it better, we began to call parts of the creek further upstream “Through the Fence Extended”. It merges with the next productive area upstream which we know as “The Old Mine” at a point where the creek moves away from the fence. Downstream becomes “Down the Hill” where the fence crosses the creek.
I can identify 6 or 7 distinct sites where gemstones were most common and one of these yielded 3 sapphires each more than 30 carats in weight. Of these, I sold one blue for $330, the only time I’ve been persuaded to part with a really good stone. An almost identical stone was found by one of our group in the same place several weeks before. There are still several areas where little has been found yet and these need closer examination.

The creek in this stretch, just as almost everywhere else, is confined in a granite channel. There is only one small sandy area and no pools deep enough to make fossicking impossible. I expect that there will be many good finds amongst the rocks in the years ahead.
My finds from one fossicking day at Through the Fence
Visit my YouTube site here for videos on gem hunting in the Glen Innes district, including one on "Through the Fence" (here). I also have playlists on Glen Innes, the Blue Mountains and New Zealand.

 

Sunday 22 September 2013

ROCKY BEND, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA


Rocky Bend is a location which few of those who have come out on the Baptist Church Wednesday fossicking trips would ever have heard of. In fact, the last time we went there was in April 2007. The main problem was the distance we needed to walk from our cars. At Minerama that year it had been possible to get there in 4 WD vehicles but the track was basically non-existent and in any case conditions were drier than normal that year and we always had other good locations elsewhere on Yarrow Creek.

Readers need to be reminded that this is all private property and to be prepared to restrict their visits to those organised by Captain Mendoza, now on Fridays since we have left the district. See the Australian Lapidary Forum site for details (here).

The site is about a 15 minute walk downstream from the Yarrow Creek bridge on the Mt Slow road. There is no gate. Keep to the left bank because the property boundary basically follows the creek. About 100 metres below the bridge the water is backed up by rocks at Rocky Bend so basically the creek is one continuous pool from there down. It’s my belief that the creek formerly flowed on the other side of a rocky ridge from near the bridge, but as that is on a different property this hypothesis is yet to be checked out.
Minerama 2007 find
A group effort at Minerama 2007
The main dig at Minerama 2007 was where the stream channel is choked with sand up against a large rock outcrop. Digging revealed lots of gravel, frequently embedded in white clay, and rich in black jack and gem stones. Keeping the sand out of the underwater hole is the main problem. There is a lot of good potential along this stretch of the creek.
Visit my YouTube site here for videos on gem hunting in the Glen Innes district. I also have playlists on Glen Innes, the Blue Mountains and New Zealand.

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos

My finds from the Minerama 2007 day


Monday 16 September 2013

THE BLACK JACK HOLE, YARROW CREEK NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

This is the next productive area upstream from the Glory Hole in Yarrow Creek. I don’t recall actually seeing it until 2006 simply because in walking to the Glory Hole we had always cut off the bend in which the Black Jack Hole is located. When I first fossicked there, it was immediately obvious that there was a large amount of black spinel in a hole just below a rock on which any self respecting fossickers would have upended their sieves. We clearly weren’t the first to fossick there.

Nevertheless, the place has continued to produce cutters of all the typical Yarrow Creek gemstones – in cracks, under rocks, in scratchy areas under tea trees – and I have no doubt there are many more there yet.

One of my first jobs was to try to lower the water level, even just a little bit, to make it easier to work in the deeper water. This involved digging a channel through a sand blockage which was forcing the water to flow over a nearby rock bar. There are times when a 10 or 20 cm drop makes all the difference and this was one of them. There is probably more that can be done there yet.

One curious event happened after I had been taking groups there over several years. Unexpectedly, small, highly polished pieces of what I assume is rhodolite garnet began to turn up in one spot. Over several visits I found at least 20, some of them in the top sieve. I assume that someone on one of our Wednesday trips deliberately “salted” the spot with a sprinkling of tumbled garnet. Thanks, whoever it was – it made a change from finding pyrope garnet (the unpolished variety). Throw some gold nuggets in next time, please.

Visit my YouTube site here where you will find a video of the Black Jack Hole in the collection. I also have playlists on Glen Innes, the Blue Mountains and New Zealand. 

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos