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Quartz - Australia
SiO2 trigonal
Here will go the best quartz pictures that we have from Australia and some general comments about the quartz specimens from Australia.There are localities out there with fine specimens that are not even mentioned on mindat. Also in some instances there are sometimes pictures on mindat, of specimens from a locality, but they were so ratty that I did not include them here, but there may also be really good specimens from there that we should talk about in this article.
Any comments or corrections are also welcome.
Australia
New South Wales, Clive Co., Torrington,
This area is an old tin mining area with quartz and cassiterite veins in granites, mostly mined ~100 years ago and long abandoned. Good quartz crystals are peridodically found by fossickers.
Australia
New South Wales, Clive Co., Torrington, Silent Grove Mine
[info from Jon Mommers] "These were recovered from an old tin mine known as Silent Grove, the geology is representative of the granite-hosted cassiterite deposits found throughout that area. Large groups and thousands of single crystals, upto 40cm long were collected about a decade ago in a commercal operation to recover Cassiterite specimens for the collector market. Some very impressive Cassiterite clusters to 10cm and single to 4cm were recovered on smokey quartz crystals. Silent Grove was a working tin mine and from what I have been able to ascertain was first worked in the early 20th century."
I have a specimen matching this one, labeled Silent Grove Road, Torrington. A good number of these superb crystals were found in about 1998 -1999. As I heard it, contractors were digging a trench for roadworks, when luckily some collectors came by and noticed the crystals, and eventually a big dig ensued. There have been a number of other quartz outcrops producing good specimens in the area exposed following logging and road works.
Australia
New South Wales, Gough Co., Torrington, Torrington district
Torrington township is in Clive county, but part of the tin field is in the neighbouring Gough County, with similar specimens.
Australia
New South Wales, Gowen Co., Tambar Springs
This general area is well known for fine stellerite and heulandite. Early on many specimens were labeled Coonabarrabran or Gunnedah, both towns a long way from the main collecting sites. There are at least three principal sites:
Garrawilla Station, Coonabarabran district, Pottinger Co., New South Wales, Australia
Glendowda Station, Tambar Springs, Pottinger Co., New South Wales, Australia
and
Mount Mitchell Station, Tambar Springs, Pottinger Co., New South Wales, Australia.
Specimens are found in large cavities in vesicular basalts with pink stellerite and red heulandite, which sometimes have attractive globular clusters of drusy quartz overgrowing them. A large amount of material has been collected by private collectors and dealers, but most landowners present have banned collecting due to some colectors doing the wrong thing by them.
Australia
New South Wales, Hardinge Co., Copeton Dam
Copeton is a popular fossicking area, and an area best know mineralogically for diamonds.
[More info needed]
Australia
New South Wales, Hardinge Co., Tingha
Tingha is a popular fossicking area, particularly at Stannifer, 10 km north-west of town along a bitumen road.
[More info needed]
Australia
New South Wales, Parry Co., Nundle, Hanging Rock
Hanging Rock is an old gold mining village and also a rock face on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. This former gold mining town is situated about 10 km south east of Nundle. Nundle is noted as one of the best areas in the State for crystals. Some gold and other precious stones to be found include zircons, green jasper, sapphires and serpentine minerals
Nundle was established at the foot of the Great Dividing Range when gold was discovered at “The Hanging Rock” and nearby Swamp Creek in 1852. By June 1852 there were 300 diggers on the fields at Oakenville Creek.[2] . Prospectors from California, Europe and China were also digging along the Peel River and up the mountain slopes.
[More info needed]
Australia
New South Wales, Robinson Co., Cobar, Kaloogleguy, CSA Mine
CSA Mine is an underground copper mine located in Cobar, Central Western NSW. The mine initially started in 1871 with an erratic production history until 1964, when Broken Hill South Ltd began large scale production. The mine passed to CRA in 1980 and then to Golden Shamrock Mines in 1992. The mine was closed in 1997/8 following its acquisition by Ashanti Goldfields and was reopened in 1999 by Glencore.
Since 1965 the mine has extracted substantial quantities of zinc, lead, silver and copper, but today, CSA Mine focuses on mining copper, with a silver co-product.
Good specimens are rarely seen.
References:
- Chapman, J. R. (2005): A note on some unusual primary minerals from the CSA mine, Cobar. Australian Journal of Mineralogy, 11, 73-74.
[More info needed]
Australia
New South Wales, Westmoreland Co., Oberon, Blue Hill quarry
The smoky quartz crystals from Blue Hill are found in north/south striking quartz veins cutting metasediments of Ordovician age. The quartz veins are genetically related to fluids from nearby granitic intrusions of Carboniferous age. Although veins up to one meter wide have been found most are between a few centimeters and thirty centimeters. The crystals are retrieved from clay filled vughs which appear randomly within the veins. Gem clear crystals up to fifteen centimeters have been observed and larger ones most probably exist. Although rarer, groups or clusters of crystals have also been collected. [from Mark Rheinberger]
Australia
New South Wales, Westmoreland Co., Oberon, Tarana District
Tarana lies within a narrow section on the eastern side of the Bathurst Batholith. The granites that make up the Bathurst Batholith are mostly barren of mineralization, although Feldspar, Quartz and Clays were mined in the Tarana district. Around Tarana and other areas to the south, Quartz (Amethyst, Smoky) and Feldspar crystals have been found in small gas cavity pegmatite bodies (miarolitic cavities). These cavities are difficult to locate but occur in the granite generally near the margin of the batholith.[From Mark Rheinberger]
The Smoky Quartz crystals range in size from tiny to about half a meter long (to date). Crystals often show signs of multiple episodes of growth and sometimes Amethyst forms last covering the smoky with small amethyst crystals. Amethyst scepters also occur occasionally on the smoky quartz.
Australia
New South Wales, Yancowinna Co., Broken Hill
Bipyramidal quartz crystals, to about 10mm diameter.
Drusy crusts on gossan (rare)
Good crystals to a couple cm occurred in some Ca-Mn carbonate veins in these mines. They were usually quite glassy, but some were amethystine, and other pink (probably mostly due to overgrwing rhodochrosite).
[we need a real good image]
Australia
New South Wales, Yancowinna Co., Corona station
This was an important site for collecting amethyst in the 1970’s-1980’s, but I gather the site is nearly worked out now. The actual site was on a neighbouring station, accessed via Corona, but I forget the name now. The collecting focused a on a couple veins with open vughs with generally small crystals to about 1 cm. They range from pale to very deepl coloured.
Some samples are quite green , from bleaching from exposure to the sun (these contain fine inclusions of a green micaceous mineral). Other are smoky to near colourless.
Australia
Northern Territory, Harts Ranges (Hartz Ranges), Entia Valley
A 25 mm wide double terminated Amethyst quartz
A sceptre quartz with a rather thin stem. Field of view: 28mm.
This site was only found in the 1990's I think, but has become a minor classic site for sceptre crystals, though they are usually small.
Australia
Northern Territory, Victoria-Birrindudu Basin, Wave Hill
Wave Hill Fossicking Area lies within Wave Hill Station (also known as Kalkarindji ). The Designated Fossicking Area is designated as FA8 on the Northern Territory Government Department of Mines and Energy maps. (http://gemfossicking.com.au/wavehill_station.html)
Gemstones found in the Wave Hill area of Kalkarindji include Prehnite, Smokey Quartz, Agate, Jasper, Amethyst, Citrine crystal and Calcite. Extensive areas around here are under lain by volcanic rocks; these basalts contain geodes which decompose and weather out over time to form hollow lava encrusted boulders with their inner surfaces encrusted with crystals. These can be found either on the surface or buried in the soil. Where the boulder has been broken or decomposed banded red and white agate or quartz crystal remains.
Similar material occurs on nearby Camfield Station.
"Theses sites are in the Wyalong Ranges, south west of Katherine and when you get to Top Springs Roadhouse head south west towards Wave Hill you will see the ranges, that have much basalt and is the place to find Quartz, Agate (mostly pink and white banding) and Prehnite. Much of the amethyst has pit marks but very good examples do exist. [Costas Constantinides ]
Australia
Queensland, Biggenden Shire, ]Biggenden Mine (Mount Biggenden Mine; Biggenden Gold And Bismuth Mine; Mount Biggenden Bismuth Mine; Mount Biggenden Magnetite Mine; Biggenden Quarry)
A magnetite-rich skarn deposit, mined in the 1970s, that produced a great many interesting minerals. Can anyone tell us more?
Australia
Queensland, Junction View via Gatton, Black Duck Creek
Interesting quartz - who can tell us more?
Australia
Queensland, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Cloncurry District, Kuridala
"This location is about 7km south east of the abandoned township of Kuridala. The road is about the worst in Qld. The amethyst was found by the Tunneys in the early 1990's; they also found the Silver Phantom silver mine and numerous small copper shows in the area." Costas Constantinides
Australia
Queensland, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Cloncurry District, Mt Elliott Mine
This was an old copper mine reopened in the 1990's using open stope methods and ore was hauled out using a decline road, and produced a lot of interesting copper minerals (especially micros) and skarn minerals. The adit/portal is now sealed off to stop the more adventurous fossicker as even today amethyst is still everywhere.
"The Mt Elliot mine quartz and amethyst is nearly always found coating diopside crystals.. The Mt Elliot copper mine was of course famous for the large selenites that had native copper inclusions and for diopside, native copper, allanite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, andradite, scapolite, magnetite, calcite etc " Costas Constantinides
Australia
Queensland, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Mary Kathleen District
(Costas Constantinides) "re the other red/milky quartz that says Crystal Mountain ,I do'nt think this is so. All the quartz that comes out of Crystal Mt is long prisms ,mostly clearish ,some with chlorite inclusions..ths piece could come from any where within a 20 K radius of Mary Kathleen,,there is a lot of it for the person who is prepared to dig..
(4) the areas north of Mary Kathleen has Toms Mountain for platey red and hematite included quartz
the areas south of Mary Kathleen has Crystal Mountain for primatic types
Other sites include: Smoky Mountain for prismatic hematite quartz
Skeletal Hill for skeletal quartz
Windy Hill for hematitic phantom quartz(these are very good)
Graves area Ballara mostly stubby hematite and skeletal quartz "
Australia
Queensland, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Mary Kathleen District, Ballara, Graves area
"This piece comes from a locally named the Graves area near the abandoned town of Ballara. There are numerous sites that produce this type of skeletal growth (some argue that its hoppered and not skeletal).
Ballara is about 15K south of Mary Kathleen Mine." [Costas Constantinides ]
Australia
Queensland, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Mary Kathleen District, Hightville, Smoky Mountain
This hematite included quartz comes from Smoky Mountain (it was thought the quartz was smoky and not heavily included by hematite as is now known. [Costas Constantinides ]
Australia
Queensland, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Mary Kathleen District, Hightville, Crystal Mountain
[pictures needed]
Crystal Mountain is about 500metres east of Smoky Mountain in the same range of hills. Very popular with locals and visitors. [Costas Constantinides ]
Australia
Queensland, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Mary Kathleen District, Toms Mountain
This site is just west of the old Mary Kathleen open cut. It contains platey red and hematite included quartz. [Costas Constantinides ]
Australia
Queensland, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Cloncurry District, Starra (Selwyn), Amethyst castle
[pictures needed]
"There is another amethyst site between the Mt Elliot Mine and Selwyn. Its known as Amethyst Castle by everyone locally..Not great specimens but the lapidary people love it for its dark facetting colour and for the chevron banding found there." [Costas Constantinides ]
A small hill, next to a castle-like mesa, has produced a lot of large, dark but gemmy amethyst crystals, to several cm across, mostly iron stained and heavily fossicked by local collectors.
Australia
South Australia, Adelaide Hills
Quartz veins in late Proterozoic sandstones in operating and abandoned quarries produced some superb crystallised quartz specimens especially in the 1960’s - 1980’s – maybe still? There were a lot of sites, a couple of the best are the Ashton and White Rock Quarries (see below). Crystals were up to 150mm long, usually glassy to white and sharp but with some clay and/or iron staining needing cleaning. Its not usually easy to pick the exact location of the specimens.
Australia
South Australia, Adelaide Hills, Ashton Quarry
A typical specimen for this location.
Quartz collected in the mid 1970's; main crystal is 13.6cm tall and 7.2cm wide across penetration side growths.
Displays several generations of growth and unusual termination which is complete. Specimens were cheap and prolific in the 1960's and 70's.
A 95mm long double terminated quartz
Australia
South Australia, Adelaide Hills, White Rock Quarry
One of the best sites in Australia for good crystals. This one is a perfect doubly terminated floater, with a small attached daughter crystal. Specimens were cheap and prolific in the 1970's and 80's.
Australia
South Australia, Adelaide Hills, Williamstown
A hematitic quartz ~35mm long
Australia
South Australia, Olary district
Excellent crystals have been found in a number of sites in this area, including Weekeroo, Dome Rock and Kings Bluff, and range from colourless to smoky, and up to about 100mm long.
Australia
South Australia, Eyre peninsula, Cowell, Kathleen Patricia Mine
info needed
Australia
South Australia, Flinders Ranges, North Flinders Ranges, Umberatana, Tourmaline Hill granite pegmatites
info needed
Australia
South Australia, Flinders Ranges, North Flinders Ranges, Arkaroola Station, Mt Gee
This site is a highly vuggy deposits riddled with quartz-filled vughs, with some large and fascinating specimens found, usually iron-stained.
photos and info needed
Tasmania
Philosophers Ridge, Queenstown district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © Andrew tuma |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-129736.html
Quartz veins are well exposed on the rocky surface on Philosophers Ridge and near the Iron Blow mine. Although the veins are highly weathered and decomposed, spectacular quartz crystals to 6 cm can be collected, usually lustrous and colourless or milky. Some exhibit fascinating chlorite and haematite inclusions, colouring them variously green, red or black, or rarely smoky or amethystine. Some of the haematitic quartz crystals are sprinkled with small black to blue anatase crystals.
It occurs as lustrous, often spectacular crystals to 50 mm in several varieties: colourless; green (chloritic); red to bluish or black (haematitic); or rarely smoky or amethystine crystals (Day, 2001), as well as a massive, milky gangue mineral. Quartz forms in at least four stages: it is the main matrix and second crystallising phase in vughs in the veins , but it may overgrow later minerals, indicating a spasmodic deposition and forming interesting "phantoms". Some good Japan-law twins and “faden” habits occur. Some exhibit fascinating vermicular chlorite and specular to colloidal haematite inclusions, usually much less than a millimetre in size.
Prince Lyell mine, Queenstown district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © R Bottrill 2008 |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-219701.html
The Mt Lyell copper-gold mines produce some excellent crystallised specimens of quartz, usually with chalcopyrite, haematite, dolomite-ankerite and other minerals, in late stage veins. The deposits are generally considered to be of Cambrian volcanic origin, but the late stage, mineralised but undeformed veins,may be of Devonian age.
The opportunities to collect on the mine leases are infrequent and collecting is discouraged by mine management. However some miners continue to rescue specimens of reasonable quality and these are readily available from some outlets in Queenstown and elsewhere.
Mt Bischoff, Waratah, Waratah district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-213312.html
Quartz crystals are common in this mine, usually in quite small crystals (to 1cm) with cassiterite and pyrite, etc, but some excellent large black to smoky crystals have also been found [##Steve Sorell photo]
Mt Cleveland Sn Mine, Luina, Heazlewood district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © R. Bottrill |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-220298.html
Some excellent large crystals were found in this mine, to 150mm long, commonly with dolomite and fluorite, when underground mining was undertaken in the 1960’s-70’s.
Mt Read, Williamsford, Rosebery district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © R Bottrill 2008 |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-179932.html
Excellent bright red crystals are sporadically collected in this area.
Aberfoyle Mine (Aberfoyle Tin Mine; Rossarden Tin Mine), Rossarden district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © 2003 John H. Betts |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-9970.html
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| © R Bottrill |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-211904.html
The mine is developed on a number of relatively narrow quartz lodes traversing hornfelsed slates of the Ordovician to Early Devonian Mathinna Beds. The lodes are related to an underlying granite, part of the Ben Lomond pluton, of late Devonian age. These granites are responsible for the tin and tungsten mineralisation throughout Tasmania, and some of the gold, copper, silver and lead mines also.
The veins are vuggy and mostly zoned, with a selvage of muscovite-cassiterite-wolframite, overgrown by quartz, topaz, fluorapatite and fluorite, with a central zone of late stage sulphides, haematite, scheelite and carbonates. There may, however, be several generations of some minerals. The wallrocks are hornfelsed, and locally silicified, sericitised and tourmalinised.
Quartz makes up the bulk of the veins, and occurs as good crystals in vughs, from colourless to smokey, amethystine or white in colour.
Oakleigh Creek mine, Upper Forth Valley, Tasmania, Australia
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| © Andrew tuma |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-129687.html
Some excellent large milky white crystals were found in this abandoned mine, to 150mm long, commonly with cassiterite and wolframite, also fluorite and muscovite, when underground mining was undertaken in the 1960’s-70’s.
Hellyer-Que River Mines, Waratah district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © R. Bottrill 2007 |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-164308.html
These two Pb-Zn mines are located close to one another, are probably tectonically displaced parts of the one ore deposit, and were mined almost simultaneously (1974-2000; McArthur and Dronseika, 1990). They are, again like Rosebery, volcanogenic massive Pb-Zn-Fe-Cu sulphide deposits hosted by the Cambrian Mt Read Volcanics. Quartz occurs in lustrous crystals to ~6 centimetres in vughs in both the Que River and Hellyer Mines. Good, small tennantite-tetrahedrite crystals have been found on quartz crystals in the Que River mine (Fig 9).
[Good quartz crystals also occur in many of the Zeehan and Heazlewood mines, and the Hercules, Que River and Rosebery mines (Fig. 9).]
Mt Heemskirk mineral field, Zeehan district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © R Bottrill 2008 |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-219700.html
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| © R. Bottrill 2005 |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-220144.html
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| © R. Bottrill 2005 |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-85119.html
Quartz occurs in miarolytic cavities and small pegmatite pods in Devonian granites, where it is mostly smoky to milky in colour, but some colourless quartz, amethyst and citrine crystals also occur. Black tourmaline is a common associate, and some caviries contain cassiterite. Local collectors walk through the granite heathlands looking for residual quartz and excavate pockets where signs of crystals are found.
also, Trial Harbour
In the old Mt Heemskirk tin field, north of Trial Harbour and west of Zeehan, some sporadically large miarolitic cavities in Devonian tin-bearing granite contain vughs containing interesting crystal groups of quartz (smoky, milky and green with tourmaline inclusions to about 10 cm (Fig#)) and tourmaline (schorl, black to dark green, to 6 cm), plus sporadic pods of cassiterite.
Renison mine, Zeehan district, Tasmania, Australia
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| © R. Bottrill |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-220302.html
This tin mine has produced some interesting quartz crystals commonly as crystals in vughs with rhodochrosite, ankerite-dolomite, siderite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite fluorite vivianite (Bottrill, unpub. data).
[geology, history]
Gladstone, Tasmania, Australia
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| © R. Bottrill |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-220143.html
Smoky quartz crystals, mostly gemmy in part, and up to metre in length, occur in decomposed pegmatite pockets and stream gravels at Gladstone.
Tulendeena, Tasmania, Australia
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| © A.Tuma |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-213500.html
At Tulendeena, east of Scottsdale, quartz occurs in miarolytic cavities and small pegmatite pods in Devonian granites, where it is mostly smoky to black in colour, and occurs with some green to white micrcocline crystals. The granite is pretty massive and there has been little collecting, but the area has good potential.
Moina, Tasmania
[Pix]
The All Nations mine, Moina
[Pix]
The All Nations mine, ~1 km to the east of the quarry on Dolcoath Hill, Moina, is an old tin-tungsten-bismuth vein deposit in sandstone, containing some excellent quartz crystals (commonly gemmy, ranging from colourless to smoky or milky(Fig#)) and some small but fine wolframite and orange-brown monazite crystals.
The Princess Mine, Moina
[Pix]
which recently produced excellent crystals of topaz, fluorite and bismuthinite, and is presently being reopened by miners for gems and minerals. Large smoky quartz crystals (<20 cm) also occur in the general area.
Shepherd & Murphy, Moina
[Pix]
This mine, on the western side of Dolcoath Hill, was one of the more important in the district and probably produced over 1000 t of combined Sn, W & Bi metal between 1893 - 1957. It contains several quartz-cassiterite-wolframite-bismuth veins, alluvial deposits and skarns. Recent exploration has uncovered large resources of fluorite, gold and zinc in the skarns. Crystallised specimens of topaz, quartz, molybdenite, bismuthinite, and realgar(Fig#) can be found on the dumps.
Australia, Victoria, Mooralla
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| © Safaa Yu |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-76873.html
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| © 2001 John H. Betts |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-974.html
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| © Rob Lavinsky |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-34661.html
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| © |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-99176.html
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| © viccloete |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-109941.html
From Steve Sorrell at crocoite.com:
Mooralla has long been a famous collecting area, mainly in lapidary circles, and is renowned for its spectacular specimens of smoky quartz. Lesser known is the occurrence of other forms of quartz, including epimorphs, and a small number of other minerals.
The popular smoky quartz collecting area of Mooralla, also known variously as Black Range or Anderson’s Creek, is located west of the Grampians in western Victoria near the Rocklands Reservoir. The township of Mooralla consisting mainly of a few buildings, is a few kilometres to the southeast. See Map at MultiMap.com.
Access is via a rough track, which is often difficult to travel on, particularly following bouts of wet weather. The collecting area itself is Victoria’s only? fossicking reserve, and is "looked after" by the Horsham Gem Club members. Fossickers are allowed to camp there, and a toilet facility was erected a number of years ago. Those that have used this facility will attest to the resilient nature of the local flies, who may be trapped for many months, but when the lid is lifted, sound like a jumbo jet taking off as they escape!
The treasured smoky quartz "geodes" that have been highly sought since the 1960s, occur in a decomposing rhyolite, and are sometimes described as miarolitic cavities. Where once good specimens could be extracted from near the surface, holes are now dug down to depths approaching 6 metres in the main part of the field. For those that like smaller specimens, loose crystals, or the other minerals that are occasionally found, shallow holes to about 2 metres deep at the perimeters of the field will fulfill their needs.
Quartz is the dominant mineral found at Mooralla. The most popular, sought after, and aesthetic form, is the so-called Mooralla Crystal (smoky quartz), which may be found as simple or complex crystals, or groups of crystals to many centimetres in length, and rarely as sceptres. Many of these crystals are not simply a dark form of quartz, but exhibit wisp-like curls of smoke that swirl through the crystal. Gas bubbles in liquid inclusions are not uncommon but are difficult to find until you have "got your eye in". Recent editions of both the Mineralogical Record and the UK Journal of Mines and Mineralogy have featured photographs of Mooralla Crystals (although both have misspelt the locality as "Moorella"
, and the special publication from the Mineralogical Society of Victoria, Gemstones of Victoria, features a small section on Mooralla.
Loose crystals are common where they have weathered out of the rhyolite. However, deeper down, specimens on matrix can still be collected, but beware. Some crystals that look like they are firmly attached, may come away when the specimen is washed. Even many of the more resilient crystals may show signs of damage to terminations and internal fractures, possibly pointing to some geological activity after they had formed.
Other forms of crystalline quartz include pale lilac amethyst, which is scarce and usually only occurs in small crystals up to about 1cm in length, and small colourless quartz to only a few millimetres which often lines cavities. Rarely, cavities may be filled with banded agate, a cryptocrystalline form of quartz.
Terip Terip in Victoria.
{photos needed]
Some seven or eight years ago an area measuring 200 x150m was excavated on a pegmatite exposure near Terip Terip, to a depth of about 30m, when pumps could not keep up with the influx of ground waters and work stopped. Dark smoky with good lustre and large gemmy sections were recovered mainly as singles to 50cm, with crystals measuring 20 to 30cm being relatively common. Unfortunately, their recovery was undertaken by a number of well intentioned but inexperienced collectors and the majority of specimens showed significant damage. The largest group I have seen recovered from this deposit measured some 60x 50cm at the base. [Jon Mommers]
Lake Boga granite quarry, Lake Boga, Victoria, Australia
[
www.mindat.org]
Australia
Western Australia, Mitchell Plateau
Excellent specimens of glassy crystals with epidote
Photos and Info needed
Australia
Western Australia, Pilbara Region
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| © vasco trancoso |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-201088.html
Info needed
Australia
Western Australia, Wyloo
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| © Greg Andrew |
http://www.mindat.org/photo-171334.html
Info needed
[Ralph Bottrill, 9th April 2009]
Ralph
Edited 23 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2009 03:47AM by Ralph Bottrill.
