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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Limestone Caves of NSW

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

Tin Sluicing at Elsmore

“DOWN THE HILL” YARROW CREEK, NEAR GLEN INNES NSW AUSTRALIA

LIST OF ALL BLOG ENTRIES TO DATE

10.2 and 4.9 carat sapphires

Thanks to Google Earth. "Down the Hill" is in the centre

Many visitors to Glen Innes have enjoyed a day’s fossicking at “Down the Hill”, both on our Wednesday Baptist Church trips and during Minerama. I’ve written about the place in two previous blog entries (Quartz at Down the Hill and The Big Sapphire). Several videos have also covered the area (one, two and three). Click on the links to go there. 

                      “Down the Hill” lies downstream of “Through the Fence” and upstream of “Underground River”.

Down the Hill is an area with many rocky outcrops and, most notably, an abandoned channel through which the creek only flows in flood. At one time this was the most productive area, but the old diggings have mostly filled with sand and no-one seems too keen to spend the day removing it when they could search among the rocks. At the lower end of the channel the wash was at least two metres below the overlying sand. The last we saw of it, there was lots of black jack and    

Cliff O'Brien digging in the old channel 1998

presumably gems, but we were beaten by inflowing water and finally by a flood which filled up the hole with sand. Maybe one day, during a drought, fossickers will get another chance to experience the thrill of working this spot.

At some time, probably in the 1960’s, a small mining operation operated at Down the Hill. There was the remains of a shed or hut when I first visited the place in 1988 but hardly any sign of actual mining. This was on the flat immediately below where we parked. The only other sign of previous visitation was a Tamworth 1 pint milk bottle I found in the creek just below old hut site.

4.3 carat sapphire, 11.6 carat zircon (July 2008)

One day's small finds - December 2009

The gemstones are the usual ones for Yarrow Creek – sapphire, zircon, pyrope garnet, the occasional topaz and enstatite and, of course, quartz. My one and only cuttable ruby came from here, as well as my largest sapphire, best dog’s tooth crystal and biggest quartz 

0.3 carat ruby

Snowing July 2008

crystal. This is more a    reflection of the sheer quantity of wash we found than its superior  quality.

It’s a place I have never tired of visiting.

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

Snowing: July 2008 - the same day as the gemstone group above was found! July 2008

PRETTY VALLEY QUARTZ

PRETTY VALLEY QUARTZ

Quartz crystals turn up in the wash at Pretty Valley all the time. Many of them are hardly waterworn; the occasional piece is. The majority of the schorl tourmaline and topaz is hardly worn either, and together these represent a suite of minerals which has a different origin from the sapphire, zircon and black spinel.

We can speculate all we like about the origin of the second group of minerals, which have no doubt come from a basalt source somewhere not far distant. The origin of the first group is probably the Kingsgate-like pipes which occur on the hill to the north-west. It is possible that the topaz and tourmaline have another source as they are not typically found with quartz at Kingsgate.

The reference from which the map is derived is titled “Crystal Report No.14 Kingsgate Crystal Field (Part 1)”. The DIGS reference is GS1943/013. It is part of a group of reports relating to the search for quality quartz crystals during World War II. If there is a Part 2, I haven’t found it yet.

From the map it would be reasonable to assume that there are other, undiscovered quartz pipes upstream from the fossicking location since the pipes shown are over the hill in the drainage area of a tributary of Bladey Grass Creek. This stream comes in on the western side some distance downstream from the fossicking location and it is likely that it too will be carrying quartz crystals. It’s not likely that the sapphire group of gemstones will be found in that creek, but you never know until it has been checked out.

As has been reported in an earlier Blog entry, there is a little gold in Bladey Grass Creek and several times I have been told of pieces of a green gemmy mineral, probably tourmaline, being found there. If anyone turns up something unusual there, let us know by way of a comment here. I need to remind readers that this is private property and that trespassers (poachers or thieves) are certainly not welcome. 

You can experience gem hunting around Glen Innes through my You Tube site until you pay the area a visit. Click here . Several videos deal with Pretty Valley. For related Blog entries on Pretty Valley, use the search box at the top of the page.

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Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

 

Zircon, topaz and quartz from Pretty Valley

KINGSGATE QUARTZ

KINGSGATE QUARTZ

The Kingsgate mines (near Glen Innes, NSW) have been a major source of bismuth and molybdenum since the 1870’s and recent exploration has revealed that economic amounts of these resources still exist.

The mines and their dumps have produced an extraordinary array of minerals, notable amongst these is quartz, and fine specimens of quartz from Kingsgate are to be found in collections all over the world. The clarity of many of these crystals led to the dumps being worked over during World War 11 for high quality crystals, which were needed for radio equipment at the time.

Much facettable quartz has been found in the dumps right up to the present and would be still if access were permitted. 

Because of mining exploration in recent years, the public has been refused access to the area except under strict supervision on a few rare occasions such as during Minerama, the annual Glen Innes gem and mineral show.

As a result of Kingsgate's long mining history, there are numerous reports available about the area, all of which make reference to the presence of quartz crystals. Several of my reports are found in this Blog (2024)

Here is a list of easily accessible downloadable references:

Previous references in my Blog:

June 4 2013 DOWNLOADING PDF DOCUMENTS FROM "DIGS",

June 7 2013 The Molybdenum Industry in NSW (Mineral Resources 24, 1916, by EC Andrews) and Molybdenum in NSW (Mineral Resources 43, 1978, by CR Weber, IBL Paterson and DJ Townsend).

July 4 2013 MINERAMA BOOK DOWNLOADS FROM ALF Molybdenite

July 5 2013 MORE USEFUL BOOK DOWNLOADS FROM ALF Kingsgate Mines.

Other references downloadable from DIGS:

Crystal Report 14 (1944) (GS1943/013)

Notes on the Occurrence of Piezoelectric Quartz in Australia with Special Reference to the Kingsgate Field (1944) (GS2009/0915)

 Why not check out my You Tube channel here where you can view gem hunting, mining and general geology videos. 

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Limestone Caves of NSW

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Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs

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Shoalhaven District Geology.

QUARTZ AT “DOWN THE HILL” YARROW CREEK NSW AUSTRALIA

QUARTZ AT “DOWN THE HILL” YARROW CREEK 

NSW AUSTRALIA

Any fossicker visiting Yarrow Creek soon notices that at least 90% of the gravel he or she digs up is made of quartz, with the balance usually consisting of granite and odd bits and pieces which are probably xenoliths derived from the local granite. So what, you are probably thinking. Well, the fact is that the size of most of the quartz pieces is considerably greater than the quartz which is a normal constituent of the granite. The sand, so plentiful in the creek is, of course, derived from the granite.

So, where does the quartz gravel come from? The obvious answer is, from veins and/or pegmatite dykes in the granite. However, no granite outcrop that I’ve ever seen there has any veins or dykes in it. So if these quartz veins do exist, they must be in places where there are no outcrops.

“Down the Hill” is one such place. There is an extensive alluvial flat immediately upstream of a rocky area where lots of gravel can be found (in the rocky area that is). 

What makes this gravel different is the presence of lots of chunks of white quartz (up to 1 kg in weight) which is different from the small pieces of quartz seen upstream. It would be reasonable to assume, from its rough appearance, that the quartz hasn’t travelled very far. 

 

Not only that, but there are other pieces of quartz which are distinctly different from the white ones. Each of these is a single, waterworn, smoky crystal; the largest of which I’ve seen weighs just under 5 kg. Most of these are not particularly clear, but certainly worth finding. 

So, apparently, there must be at least two quartz veins or dykes not far upstream from “Down the Hill” which are shedding this material. 

I guess we will never really know.

You will find the NSW Geological Survey booklet “Silica” by DK Griffin (1972) a useful source of information. The DIGS reference is Industry 34.

Why not check out my You Tube channel here.

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Limestone Caves of NSW

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Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1515863000684737715

Shoalhaven District Geology.

TORRINGTON NSW AUSTRALIA – ESSENTIAL READING

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 .

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https://johnsnewenglandminerals.blogspot.com/2013/12/list-of-all-blog-entries-to-date.html

All New England and other Geology blogs and videos

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1325599670344725659?pli=1

Limestone Caves of NSW

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1147003616874115974/2430103125095714141

Song Studies. Bible studies based on hymns and songs

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/1515863000684737715

Shoalhaven District Geology.