Latitude: 41°52'31"S
Longitude: 145°26'5"E
Other than the Comet-Maestri, the West Comet mine (1890-1910) produced more silver and lead than any other mine in the Dundas field. The workings, ~2 km east of Dundas, were formerly part of the Mt Dundas mine (on the Dundas Prospecting Association lease) and/or the Central Dundas mine, but in 1896 the two companies amalgamated to form the West Comet mine. Rod Williams worked the mine for crocoite during the 1970's and presently John Bishop is doing some mining there.
Other than the Comet-Maestri, the West Comet mine (1890-1910) produced more silver and lead than any other mine in the Dundas field. The workings, about 2 km east of Dundas, were formerly part of the Mt Dundas mine (on the Dundas Prospecting Association lease) and/or the Central Dundas mine, but in 1896 the two companies amalgamated to form the West Comet mine. Rod Williams worked the mine for crocoite during the 1970s. John Bishop presently operates the mine intermittently for specimens, and a few good crocoite, cerussite and mimetite specimens have been recovered recently.
The main lode was 16-22 m in width, striking NNW, dipping 45o W, and over 180 m in length and appears to be a northerly continuation of a lode cutting the Adelaide mine and Anderson’s Prospect. It lies on a faulted contact between serpentinite and Cambrian sedimentary rocks.
Crocoite was the main secondary mineral in the gossan, while rich shoots of chlorargyrite and galena occurred in the lode. By 1903, only the richest ore (galena) was marketable and subsequently this mine was operated for flux for the Zeehan smelters. Other minerals reported from the mine by Petterd (1910) include anglesite, ankerite, atacamite (unconfirmed), bindheimite, cerussite, cervantite (unconfirmed), hinsdalite and chalcophanite. Mimetite was recorded by Andersen (unpublished). Petterd (1910) reported crocoite from the mine to be “the most important find of all, both in regards to quantity and quality…it was obtained in the greatest profusion, many of the enormous crystals reaching the unparalleled length of 10 to 12 cm, with perfect terminations… extremely brilliant, of an intense scarlet colour and translucent to transparent”. Crocoite also occurs as small needles sprinkled on attractive blocky yellow cerussite crystals (Fig. 31). Specimens from this mine are now rare, but some private collections contain very good, unusually lustrous, deep red jackstraw aggregates, similar to those of the Adelaide mine.
References
Bottrill, R.S., Williams, P., Dohnt, S., Sorrell, S. and Kemp, N.R. (2006). Crocoite and associated minerals from Dundas and other locations in Tasmania. Australian Journal of Mineralogy. 12, 59-90
Petterd, W.F., 1910: The Minerals of Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania for 1910, 1-221. [also published as: Petterd, W.F. 1910, Catalogue of the Minerals of Tasmania. Geological Survey of Tasmania Records. 9.
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