WEBB’S CONSOLS AND RELATED MINES, STRATHBOGIE NEAR EMMAVILLE
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| Mine cluster south of Strathbogie |
Here is a list of prospects I have come up with – all appear
to be in the same general area. Webb’s Consols, Wellingrove Silver Mine, Mt
Galena, Matthews Mine, Seaton’s Mine, Munsies Prospect, Lucky Lucy, Castlereagh,
Barton’s Quarry and Tangoa. In every case, there appears to be an association
with the Webb’s Consols Leucogranite, most often by way of quartz rich veins
and pipe-like structures. Some of the ore bodies have actually formed in the
Permian volcanic rocks which the leucogranite has intruded. The map from which the extract opposite is taken is included in the downloadable report "Inverell Metallogenic Map 1:250 000" (DIGS reference R00050906).
Minerals recorded include galena, sphalerite, arsenopyrite,
chalcopyrite and pyrite. Silver is almost always present in the ore in
significant percentages and its presence was the main reason for mining.
The Webb’s Consols mine has been the most productive to
date, though more than one hundred years have passed since profitable mining took place
there. At least 19 000 tonnes of ore were extracted (yielding 100 000 ounces of
silver), most of this before 1901.
The earliest reference I have found is in the Annual Report
of the Department of Mines for 1875, page 111. It reads as follows. “About 14 or 15 miles westward of Glen Innes,
in the neighbourhood of Wellingrove, a lode was found which showed on the
surface indications of copper, and when sunk upon to a depth of 14 feet a vein
of pure galena was met with and worked, but carriage of the ore to the coast
being too expensive to allow a profitable return, operations are at present in
abeyance.” This is well before the
coming of the railway to Glen Innes, so the ore would have had to be sent to
Grafton, a long and expensive process. No doubt the reference is to the
Wellingrove Silver Mine.
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| Share Certificate from an early company |
A problem common to all these mines was the difficulty
experienced in separating the lead ore (galena) from the zinc (sphalerite).
This was the same problem experienced at Broken Hill, where for many years the
zinc concentrate was dumped, despite its containing valuable lead and silver.
The flotation process, now normal practice in the industry, was unknown when
these small mines were active, though to what extent it would have helped is
unclear, considering the relatively small quantities of ore available.
Some of these old mines, especially Webb’s Consols, are
currently under investigation by Silver Mines Ltd, though the present (November
2014) price of silver is not exactly encouraging.
There are numerous references from which you may gather
information. An interesting newspaper report from 1891 may be found here.
There are many references in old Geological Survey reports. Go to DIGS (first find it!) and put in “Webb’s Consols” for location and you will find lots of information.
One of the best of these is called “Webb's
Consols - Wellingrove and Mount Galena Mines. Extracts of Annual Reports from
1875 to 1954”. The DIGS reference number is R00025719.
Another well-presented report is to be found in EF Pittman’s “The
Mineral Resources of New South Wales”, 1901. The DIGS reference number is R0005137. The
section dealing with this group of mines begins on page 112. The photograph of
the mine is also found in this book.
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| From the "Horse and Buggy" days, minus the horse |
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