THE INVERELL METALLOGENIC MAP AND MINE DATA SHEETS

THE INVERELL METALLOGENIC MAP AND 

MINE DATA SHEETS

Before reading this blog, it would be best to read the similar blog about the Grafton-Maclean map. This may be found here. The relevant reference number for the map and mine data sheets in DIGS is R00056102.

The Inverell package may be found by opening DIGS. The reference number is R00050906 (which includes the map). The reference number for the map alone is R00027907.

The Inverell map seems to be a poorer copy than the Grafton-Maclean one, making an enlargement harder to read.

You will soon appreciate what a large number of mineral deposits there are in the area, including at The Gulf (north west of Emmaville), Tingha and the Copeton diamond fields.

Here is an extract from the map. 

To illustrate the information to be found in the Mine Data Sheets, I’ve chosen the deposit number 585. The location is south of Inverell, east of Copeton Dam. Fortunately for us, the data sheets are in a single volume, not dismembered like the Grafton sheets are. Upon opening the data sheets you will find quite a lot of valuable information on the geology of the region and the nature and formation of the many mineral deposits.

The data sheets commence on page 104. Deposit 585 will be found on page 377. Here is the information.

 This is a typical set of information, in this case for Fox’s Garnet Lode. I must admit I can’t locate it on the map – it’s quite a congested area – but the information is all there for you to use. Mindat (here) provides additional information when the deposit name is put in the search box. Here is what I discovered. 

By following the map Mindat provides (and choosing the satellite image) you will discover that the Lode is just north of the Howell Road, which leads to the old town site of Howell and the Conrad group of mines.

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

SMITH’S MICA LODE TORRINGTON

In 1993 Minerama adopted beryl as its theme mineral for that year’s show. This led to the compilation of the “Beryl” booklet (downloadable here (No longer available there. You can find it now in this blog) mineral displays and several field trips to beryl localities. One place the organisers visited was Smith’s Mica Lode at Torrington, shown to us by John Griffey. This was the only time I visited the place, but I kept some of the specimens until we moved from Glen Innes in 2013. They contained more beryl crystals (all opaque, sadly) than I have seen from any other locality near Torrington.

Derived from MINDAT. The pink crystal locates Smith's Mica Lode. The granite country and the Torrington sedimentary pendant can easily be distinguished.

It wasn’t easy to get to then and presumably it isn’t today. Access was through private land from the site of Tungsten village and then on foot through the Torrington State Forest. The outcrop is of pegmatite in which beryl, biotite and feldspar dominate. As you can see from the various maps included in this blog, the site is within the Torrington State Forest. It is a couple of hundred metres from the granite boundary and the country rock is sedimentary strata into which the pegmatite dyke has intruded from the granite beneath.

From a 1981 publication on mining at Torrington. Smith's Mica Lode is located top centre. The blue line locates the edge of the granite.

The "Beryl” booklet incorporates quotations from several sources (all of which are no doubt downloadable from DIGS. The link to DIGS is here. (Doesn't work)) I won’t repeat any of this information here. The one reference I have included dates from 1972 but I can’t track down the source. I found it during a search of DIGS. 

The Grafton Maclean Metallogenic Map locates Smith’s Mica Lode by the number 0551. (Green circle, top centre.) The accompanying notes tell us that Be, Bi, W, U, Sn, Zn and Cu minerals have been found there. Mindat (to be found here) gives the following information:

“Smiths mica (Mica lode; Smiths mica mine; Junction reefs), Torrington, Clive Co., New South Wales, Australia. Mineral List: Beryl, 'Biotite', Cassiterite, 'Monazite', Muscovite

var: Sericite, Pyrite, Quartz, Torbernite and 'Wolframite'.

Located approximately 7.5km North of Torrington. Coordinates: 370705mE, 6763668mN.

Operated as a shaft and shallow pits 1907 to 1921 and later 1954 to 1957. Grafton-MacLean 1:250 000 map sheet.

The other numbered localities nearby are:

0011 Wren’s NW Workings. Topaz, W, Bi.

0060 The Black Swamp Creek Alluvials. Mindat states: “Black Swamp Creek Alluvials, Torrington, Clive Co., New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 6 km North of Torrington. Dredging operations from 1907 and sporadically through to late 1950s. Mineral List: Cassiterite, Corundum, 'Monazite', Quartz, Topaz.

This location appears to contain just what fossickers are looking for. Burnt Hut Creek is also part of this system. I would expect to find beryl in the gravel; take note that beryl does not concentrate in a sieve because of its relatively low specific gravity.

0546 Poor Prospect. Mindat states: “Poor Prospect, Torrington, Clive Co., New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 7 km North of Torrington. Operated as shallow pits. Mineral List: Quartz, 'Wolframite'.

0547 The Wet Deposit. Mindat states: “Wet deposit, Torrington, Clive Co., New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 7 km North of Torrington. Operated as shaft and shallow pits. Mineral List: Quartz, 'Wolframite'.”

0548 Junction Prospect. Mindat states: “Junction prospect, Torrington, Clive Co., New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 7 km North of Torrington. Operated as shallow pits. Mineral List: 'Biotite', Muscovite var: Sericite, Quartz, 'Wolframite'.”

0549 Fletcher’s Deposit. Mindat states: “Fletchers deposit, Torrington, Clive Co., New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 7.5 km North-West of Torrington.

Operated as underground workings, shafts and shallow pits 1913 to 1921. Mineral List: 'Limonite', 'Limonite', Muscovite var: Sericite, Quartz, 'Wolframite', Muscovite var: Sericite'.

0550 Roberts Lode. Mindat states: “Roberts Lode. Located approximately 7.5 km North of Torrington. Operated as a shaft and numerous shallow pits 1910. Mineral List 'Wolframite'.”

0584 Lonely Deposit. Mindat states: “Lonely Deposit, Torrington, Clive Co., New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 7 km North-West of Torrington. Operated as shallow pits. Mineral List: Quartz, 'Wolframite'.”

1326 Upper Black Swamp Lodes. Topaz, quartz.

From the Beryl book (1993). Specimen from Smith's Mica Lode.

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

GADEN’S LODE GULF ROAD, EMMAVILLE

GADEN’S LODE GULF ROAD, EMMAVILLE

This is another old mining area I haven’t visited, or if I have I didn’t know its name and it has faded from memory. There are quite a few mineral deposits in the area, of which Gaden’s appears to be the best known. It has been the site of several Emmaville Gemfest field trips and I am indebted to Jewellery Pirate for information and photographs from his Blog.

If you examine the satellite image from Google Earth you will see the site of Gaden’s Lode marked in pink in the centre (source: Mindat). The most notable feature on the image is the joint pattern in the Mole Granite which occupies a broad swathe of country across the centre. Observe how these joints disappear around Torrington/Torrington State Forest where the granite is still covered by part of its original “roof”. This is the Torrington Pendant of older sedimentary rocks. The joints have controlled the deposition of ore bodies both in the granite and in the adjacent areas where the granite is still concealed by these older rocks.

The map was extracted from the Grafton-Maclean Metallogenic Map; the numbers locate the various mines and prospects. I know that some of the numbers are hard to read and I can’t interpret them all, but here is a list of those I can (lowest to highest) with some information (from Mindat) about each, where there is any. The names in brackets are alternative names or nearby mines/prospects.

0300 Chinaman’s Gully Sn vein (Murphys lode; Suicide tunnel). Operated as underground workings, adits, shafts and shallow pits. Production from 1878 to 1965. Chinaman’s Gully alluvials: Dredging operations until the late 1960s.

0312 Gaden’s Lode Sn W Cu U monazite vein (Gaydens lode; Garths lode; Garths wolfram lode; Garths uranium lode). Operated as underground workings, open cut, shafts, adits and shallow pits from 1877 to the late 1960s.

0313 Stormer’s Lode Sn fluorite Cu U vein (Garths lode; Garths wolfram mine; Garths uranium mine; Gadens uranium mine; Gadens lode; Gaydens lode; Gardens lode). Operated as shallow pits, open cut, shafts and adits 1913 to 1954.

0314 Garth’s Lode Sn vein.

0315 Heiser’s Lode U Sn vein (Garths lode; Fish & Chips). Operated as shafts and pits 1877 to 1968.

0330 Stevens and Charlton vein Sn W (Stormers reef). Operated as shafts and shallow pits 1887 to 1970.

0331 Mineral Tunnel Sn As Zn Pb vein. Operated as adits, shafts and open cut 1889 to 1893. Also alluvials.

0332 Suicide Tunnel Sn vein. Operated as underground workings, shaft and shallow pits 1889 to 1893. Located slightly West of Mineral Tunnel workings.

0329 McKinnon’s Reef vein Sn W As Cu Bi (Paradise lodes; Blue lode; Murphys lode; Garths tin lode; Mineral lode). Operated as underground workings, open cut, shafts, adits and shallow pits 1878 to 1950.

0754 Small prospect Sn vein.

0755 Mineral tunnel alluvials Sn placer.

0757 Minor Lode Sn vein.

0758 Hill Crest deposit beryl pegmatite. Operated as shafts from 1890 to 1890. (This may be a wrong identification)

Ore minerals in Gaden's Mine (photo Jewellery Pirate)

There are three principal types of ore bodies in the area: tin (Sn) veins, which consist largely of quartz and cassiterite, polymetallic veins which contain a wide variety of sulphides such as pyrite, chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite as well as cassiterite and wolframite, and pegmatites, which frequently contain fluorite, topaz, tourmaline and beryl as well as some of the ore minerals already mentioned. All types occur in this location.

Where is this mineral collectors’ paradise? You are 60 years late for the easy pickings, but if you are diligent in searching out the locations listed above (not forgetting the alluvial deposits) you are sure to find something of interest.

The area lies between Flagstone and Paradise Creeks. Proceed along the Gulf Road from Emmaville.  A useful reference is Geo-Log 2011 – a publication by the Amateur Geological Society of the Hunter Valley, beginning on page 42 (here). (missing - try searching for it on Google).The whole publication is worth reading, as are the other Geo-Logs in the series.

Dump at Gaden's Mine

The track to Gaden’s branches off to the right just after the Torrington State Conservation Area is reached. This is after you have crossed Flagstone Creek. Naturally the track condition is going to vary according to weather conditions but it’s unlikely to be drivable by 2 WD vehicles. Searching DIGS (if you can find it) will produce many reports on the area which are easily downloaded.

Of special interest are the references to radioactive minerals from some of these mines

and prospects.. During and after World War 11 there was a lot of prospecting for uranium minerals in particular when it was commonly believed that the world would soon be using nuclear energy as its major power source, as well as for making nuclear weapons. (The extensive uranium deposits in the Northern Territory and South Australia had not then been discovered.) The publication “Radioactive Prospects in NSW” (here) dates from this time. It should be noted that monazite, which contains the radioactive metal thorium, is also found in this area.

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

SPECIMEN HILL, THE GULF NEAR EMMAVILLE NSW AUSTRALIA

SPECIMEN HILL, THE GULF, NEAR EMMAVILLE 

NSW AUSTRALIA

 

The mine location is marked at top centre (Mindat)

I’m sorry to say that I have never visited this old mining area, which is along the Carpet Snake Creek fire trail, off the Gulf road, north-west of the New England mining town of Emmaville. It is one of many hundreds of mineral deposits in the area, mostly discovered in the period 1875-1900.

Mindat (here) provides the following location information:

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	29° 16' 35'' South , 151° 31' 4'' East
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal Degrees):	-29.2763888889 , 151.517777778
Latitude & Longitude (Degrees plus Decimal Minutes):	-29° 16.5833333333', 151° 31.0666666667'

The workings are on the right hand side of the fire trail about 1km from the Gulf road turnoff, which is on the right not far after the ford across Paradise Creek. Be aware that the access road is not likely to be OK for 2 WD vehicles.

Here are some useful references: Geo-Log 2011 page 64 (here). Geo-Log is an e-zine put out by the Hunter Valley Amateur Geological Society and the whole of it is packed with useful information.

The Mindat article also provides a list of reported minerals from this location: Beryl, var Emerald, 'Biotite', Cassiterite, 'Chlorite Group', Epidote, 'Feldspar Group', Fluorite, 'Monazite', Muscovite’ var: Sericite, Pyrite, Quartz, 'Tourmaline', 'Wolframite'. The quote marks imply that that a mineral group rather than a precisely named mineral species is intended. (The blue colour has to do with links in Mindat which I haven't been able to change.)

Quartz crystal tips (Jewellery Pirate)

Also noteworthy is the inclusion in the article of a photograph of an emerald crystal, which is so typical of those found at the Torrington emerald mine (Cow Flat) that I am certain the specimen came from there rather than from Specimen Hill. To my knowledge, no-one has recorded finding emerald or even beryl at this place. I will gladly change this blog if someone can tell me otherwise.

Note that the Grafton metallogenic map (an extract is shown below) locates Sim’s Deposit (EA0336), Farmer’s Deposit 

Enlarged from the Graton Metallogenic map

(EA0338), the Breakfast Creek Deposit (EA0022) and the Breakfast Creek Alluvials (EA0783) in this area. Several of these (like Specimen Hill itself (EA0335)) are lodes, the others are alluvial. This means that if you are visiting the area, seek out these lesser known spots and in particular do some gem sieving in the gullies – topaz and monazite as well as cassiterite and quartz crystals could be waiting for you. Pretty Gully is to the west of Specimen Hill, Breakfast Creek is on the eastern side. Both contain alluvial cassiterite.

The geology of the locality is well described in “The Mineral Deposits of New South Wales” by Markham & Basden (1974), downloadable from DIGS here (doesn't work 2024), reference number R00037944. The quote following is from page 371.

“Two or three kilometres to the west, (ie of the Paradise lodes ed.) on the summit of a high hill, is the Specimen Hill (also known as Mt Garth or Mills) lode (GR 45493722 Grafton 1:250,000). Workings, consisting of cuts, shafts to 20m, and adits, extend for 300m. Thin, tin-bearing veins run in several directions. Some of the vein material is very siliceous, consisting of granitoid quartz (clear, white and brown grains) with scattered vughy inclusions containing tourmaline and minor cassiterite and epidote. Patches rich in chlorite are also present. Drill holes at Specimen Hill (Rasmus 1972 a,b) intersected up to fifteen thin veins, but the cores contained no visible tin. Production is not known.”

 

The earliest reference I can find to mining at this place is in 1910; despite much prospecting work nothing substantial seems to have been discovered then or since. The reference to Rasmus’s report on drilling in 1972 is part of ongoing prospecting from 1971 to at least 1977. From the mineral collecting point of view, I found the comments in a report dated 16.11.77 the most interesting (image opposite). This is the last mention of the site I can find in DIGS.

Candle crystals - Paul Hayes photo

What are you likely to find at Specimen Hill? Quartz crystals for sure, including the fascinating “candle crystals” (which look like they have had wax poured over them); crystal groups; possibly cassiterite crystals and probably schorl tourmaline, epidote and chlorite – if you are lucky, several of these in the one specimen.

Quartz crystal group - Paul Hayes photo

I have no photos of my own of Specimen Hill; I would like to acknowledge those I have copied from  Paul Hayes’ “Wild Frontier Crystals” site (here).(Can't be found)

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

CASSITERITE CRYSTALS FROM ELSMORE HILL NEAR INVERELL NSW AUSTRALIA

CASSITERITE CRYSTALS FROM ELSMORE HILL NEAR INVERELL NSW AUSTRALIA

Photo from ALF

A recently reactivated thread on the Australian Lapidary Forum (ALF) about a well-known mineral hunting locality near Inverell, in the New England region of NSW Australia, should remind us all of how precarious our access to collecting localities really is. Read the thread here. Follow it and if a petition is commenced, be sure to add your name to it. It would be a good idea to get involved with the Forum if you aren’t already.

There is a wealth of information available on this locality. I’ve gathered together a number of photographs from some of these and assembled them, into a You Tube slide show, which you will find here. Not only is Elsmore the site of one of the earliest 

Photograph from Minerama book "Cassiterite"

payable alluvial tin deposits in Australia (1871), but it has (in more recent years) become the source of some of the most superb cassiterite crystal specimens in the world. A search on eBay will show that they are in great demand. Until recently, access to the fossicking spot had been made legally possible in an unusual way. The local Inverell Lapidary Club has held a mining lease over the area for the use of its members. By becoming a member of the Club, visitors could legally fossick there. I imagine that the revenue raised has been used to defray the cost of maintaining the mining lease.

What has caused the Club to surrender its lease I cannot say. It may be that income was falling behind expenses or perhaps that the Club has an aging membership (as many lapidary clubs do) and continuing to provide this service simply became a burden. It could be that changes in the mining law are making it difficult for smaller operators to stay in business. Whatever the reason, follow the ALF thread for more information.

Here are some useful references for you to follow up. As you read you will discover that cassiterite and quartz are only two of the many mineral species which have been found at Elsmore Hill.

The first few are to be found in the DIGS data base and can easily be downloaded. The most comprehensive reference is: Geological Survey Report 45 (1966): The Geology and Tin Deposits of the Elsmore Area. The DIGS reference is R00050621. Related to this document, and incorporating much of it, is Elsmore Tin Mine, Inverell which incorporated material from mine records 1934-1981 (DIGS R00046476).

Diggings on the lease

You will discover that the basic geology consists of granite intruding Palaeozoic sediments, overlain by Tertiary basalt. The primary cassiterite deposits are associated with the granite intrusion. Secondary deposits include modern alluvial material and, in particular, “deep leads” – older alluvial material lying beneath the basalt. Much of the prospecting in the area has been (and still is) directed to locating payable wash in these concealed leads. The classic geological map is “Geological Map of the Tin-bearing district around Tingha, Stannifer and Elsmore” by Carne and Pittman (1910). (DIGS R00030525). There is a lot more recent material available also (Inverell metallogenic study) but these should help you to understand what the place is all about.

A search through DIGS shows that there many other reports available from this source. One is Partial relinquishment report EL7177 Elsmore 2011 Malachite Resources (DIGS RE0001817), which is quite recent. The article in Mindat includes further photographs, mineral lists and references here.

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

Tin Sluicing at Elsmore

SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS AT BACK PLAIN NEAR GLEN INNES NSW AUSTRALIA

SAPPHIRE DEPOSITS AT BACK PLAIN 

NEAR GLEN INNES NSW AUSTRALIA

Before you read this blog, I recommend that you read my blog entry “The Red Rock Sapphire Deposit” (here). It deals with gemstone deposits in the same general area as I am covering here.

A good starting point in understanding the sapphire deposits at Back Plain (not Back Plains, by the way) is the map at the back of “Records of the Geological Survey of NSW, 14 Part 1 (1971)”, DIGS reference R00050764. If you haven’t downloaded this document yet, you should do so. The map shows only that Wellingrove Creek (left) and the Wellingrove Fossicking Area (on the letters Pgw)) are sources of sapphire. Both are marked in green. The reddish area near the centre of the map (marked Ts) is apparently an area of Tertiary sediments associated with the basalt.

The next map is extracted from the “Quarterly Notes of the Geological Survey of NSW 103, April 1997” (page 13). The DIGS Reference is R00040935. My extract from the map shows the following sapphire bearing areas of interest to us here: Back Plain Creek in the centre, with a tributary to the west of it and the creek flowing down from the Wellingrove Fossicking Area into Wellingrove Creek.

The third map has been extracted from the Grafton-Maclean Metallogenic Map (DIGS reference R00056102).  To help you align it with the other maps, the Wellingrove Fossicking Area is approximately in the centre, shown as 1835. 1836 is identified in the accompanying notes as Pablos Mine and 1837 as the Back Plain Creek deposit, elsewhere called the Truro Mine. We can distinguish two types of sapphire deposits on this map. Firstly, the close cross hatched areas (Wellingrove Creek, the stream draining the Wellingrove Fossicking Area and Back Plain Creek, not named on the map) which are regular alluvial deposits, and secondly, the broad hatched areas (one around Pablos Mine and the other near the top of the map adjoining an area of Tertiary basalt labelled Tb. These are locations where spinel, sapphire and zircon are to be found in the soil, possibly derived from tuffaceous sediments intercalated with the earliest basalt flows. The Red Rock deposit (see above) is like that and the Wellingrove Fossicking Area deposit could be a contemporaneous alluvial concentration derived from such sediments.

There isn’t much information available about these deposits, except for one (Truro) and even that isn’t clear

Ruwenzorie Road turnoff (on right)

cut. Starting from the north, we have a site which has at least the potential to produce some gems. This is the area shown in broad hatching along Ruwenzorie Road, which branches off to the right (north) from the Strathbogie Road. This is before you come to the back road from Wellingrove (Polhill Road). This road crosses Back Plain Creek after 2.5km at a place where there are some rocky outcrops. I only went there once and found some colour easily enough (without getting wet or covered with leaches). It’s certainly worth a try, if it’s still accessible. Then there is the possibility of gems in the soil on the road side. You could try dry sieving and then take the concentrate to Back Plain Creek to see what’s in it.

Pablos Mine location (from Mindat)

Pablos Mine appears to be on a tributary of Back Plain Creek south of the Wellingrove Fossicking Area. All I can find from the metallogenic notes is that it was worked by Pablos Mining (1970-73) by shallow pits or scrapings. It’s described as a “modern placer (fluvial)”.

The problem starts with the Back Plain Mine. The metallogenic notes contain quite a bit of information – worked by SC Burgis (1971), Pablos Mining (1970-73) and Nunan Pty Ltd circa 1990. “This deposit comprises high grade sapphires and abundant zircon. The headwaters of the creek drain from a red soil 

Back Plain Mine location (from Mindat)

plateau where the deposits were quite rich. The abundant zircon contrasts strongly with Reddestone Creek immediately to the east where zircon is relatively minor. Alluvial placer”. The difficulty arises when you look at the Mindat information for the Back Plain Mine (here). It is clearly identified as the Back Plain Mine (Truro). This would be fine, except that we have a lot of information about the Truro Mine from the NSW Department of Minerals and Energy publication Minfo 27 (1990) which deals with the opening of the mine belonging to TJ and PV Nunan Pty Ltd. You can download the document from DIGS, reference number R00040997. The included map shows that the mine was on the right hand 

Truro Mine location (from Minfo 27)

side of the Strathbogie Road, past the Wellingrove turnoff. This is several kilometres from the indicated site of the Back Plain Mine. Perhaps the wash from the Back Plain Mine was trucked to Truro Mine for treatment. That there was a mine near Truro homestead is beyond doubt. You could see the activity from the Strathbogie Road, but when it closed down I can’t say.

My thanks go to the NSW Geological Survey, Mindat and Google Maps for information and illustrations used in this blog. Without these it would be difficult to make sense of this interesting area.

To explore the satellite images better, I suggest a Google search for "Mindat Pablos Mine NSW" and "Mindat Back Plain Mine NSW". You can then follow the "Maps" link, "Maps Pages" and select "satellite"to get to the images shown above.

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Shoalhaven District Geology.