An abandoned copper mine located between Melrose and Wilmington. Access is prohibited because the mine is situated in a National Park.
However, collecting on dump material in the creek bed below the fence is possible (with permission of the landholder).
One of the many things that make this site unusual is the very limited amount of sulphides.
The water in the main shaft is in fact so pure that it is pumped for use at the nearby town of Wilmington and surrounding area!
Legend has it that upon dewatering the mine in the early 1900's tools where found from the original mining period, which contained 'no rust', however of course this cannot be confirmed. Although as can be seen by the photos of the interior of the mine, there is very little degrading of materials placed during mining, some of which are well over 100 years old!
Refs.:
- Birch, B. & Mumme, W. G. (1988): Hentschelite and perloffite from the Spring Creek Copper Mine, South Australia. Mineralogical Magazine: 52, 408-411.
- Beyer, B. D. & Elliott, Peter (1996): Minerals from the Spring Creek mine, near Wilmington, South Australia. Australian Journal of Mineralogy: 2(2), 57-70.
- Pring, A., U. Kolitsch, W. D. Birch, B. D. Beyer, P. Elliott, P. Ayyappan and A. Ramanan (1999): Bariosincosite, a new hydrated barium vanadium phosphate, from the Spring Creek Mine, South Australia. Mineralogical Magazine: 63, 735-741.
- Kolitsch, U., M. R. Taylor, G. Fallon and A. Pring (1999): Springcreekite, BaV3+3(PO4)2(OH,H2O)6, a new member of the crandallite group, from the Spring Creek mine, South Australia: the first natural V3+-member of the alunite family and its crystal structure. N. Jb. Mineral. Mh. 1999, 529-544.
- Kolitsch, U., A. Pring and P. Elliott (1999): An update on the mineralogy of the Spring Creek mine, South Australia, including the new species springcreekite, bariosincosite and tomaite. Australian J. Mineral. 5, 55-62. [Note: in the subsequent issue tomaite was corrected to johntomaite.]
- American Mineralogist (2000): 85: 1324.
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Map Reference: 32°43'52"S , 138°7'37"E
Important Disclaimer: This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to
visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders
for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.
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