Carlaminda Blue pegmatite quarry (Johnson Well; Dollar Well), Gabyon Station, Yalgoo Shire, Western Australia, Australiai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Carlaminda Blue pegmatite quarry (Johnson Well; Dollar Well) | Quarry |
| Gabyon Station | - not defined - |
| Yalgoo Shire | Shire |
| Western Australia | State |
| Australia | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
28° 11' 59'' South , 116° 41' 40'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
KΓΆppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
246076
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:246076:8
GUID (UUID V4):
88400560-6ada-4083-bbd3-f7b436bcc2ed
The western section of this pegmatite is on Gabyon Station, and the eastern section is on Carlaminda Station. About 30 kilometres north north-west of Yalgoo. It is known for fine examples of blue lepidolite. Most lepidolite in Western Australia is purple.
It is thought to have been discovered sometime after 1913, however is not noted in literature until the site was visited by geologist E.S. Simpson, several times across 1922-23. Little appears to have happened at the pegmatite for many years after that. It was mapped in 1968 by I. Lewis of Placer Prospecting Pty Ltd in 1968. It was further mapped and described by Besley and Cruz in 1982. Between 1981-89 the leasees were West Coast Holdings Limited and Command Minerals NL. Their exploration work encountered rubidium, caesium, lithium, tin, and tantalum, but the pegmatite was too small to mined economically.
The licence was held by another company between 1990 to 1998. As soon as this was relinquished Eric McNess and Louis James became leasees of the deposit. Some small scale mining subsequently took place by McNess and his mining partner who went by the name of Steve Sickrich, of the fine grained lepidolite as carving material to be exported overseas. They had been so keen to take over the lease as they had mistaken the rock for the highly valuable lapis lazuli. They were later told by the Kalgoorlie School of Mines that is was lepidolite, much to their dis-appointment.
The reference states at one point around 2003, the material was advertised by the totally fictitious name of arrossonite. The material was for sale in Western Australia in the early 2000's, and a small amount made it overseas, in particular the Denver Show in 2003.
Faulting has caused the pegmatite to break into at least four major segments. It is 860 metres long and averaging 18 metres wide, striking north-west to south-east, dipping gently 10-20 degress to the north. The central parts of the pegmatite contain albitic zones associated with purple and blue micas. These are common in the pegmatite as fine grained bright blue, chrome and purple coloured lepidolite masses in sugary albite. It is also found in the format of 1-2cm sized balls, and similar sized flat mica masses. Albite-quartz-microcline are found along the border zones.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsMineral List
4 valid minerals.
Rock Types Recorded
Note: data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!
Select Rock List Type
Alphabetical List Tree DiagramDetailed Mineral List:
| β Albite Formula: Na(AlSi3O8) |
| β 'Lepidolite' |
| β Microcline Formula: K(AlSi3O8) |
| β Muscovite Formula: KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| β Quartz Formula: SiO2 |
| β 'Tantalite' Formula: (Mn,Fe)(Ta,Nb)2O6 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| β | Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| Group 9 - Silicates | |||
| β | Muscovite | 9.EC.15 | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| β | Microcline | 9.FA.30 | K(AlSi3O8) |
| β | Albite | 9.FA.35 | Na(AlSi3O8) |
| Unclassified | |||
| β | 'Lepidolite' | - | |
| β | 'Tantalite' | - | (Mn,Fe)(Ta,Nb)2O6 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | β Albite | Na(AlSi3O8) |
| O | β Microcline | K(AlSi3O8) |
| O | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| O | β Quartz | SiO2 |
| O | β Tantalite | (Mn,Fe)(Ta,Nb)2O6 |
| Na | Sodium | |
| Na | β Albite | Na(AlSi3O8) |
| Al | Aluminium | |
| Al | β Albite | Na(AlSi3O8) |
| Al | β Microcline | K(AlSi3O8) |
| Al | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | β Albite | Na(AlSi3O8) |
| Si | β Microcline | K(AlSi3O8) |
| Si | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Si | β Quartz | SiO2 |
| K | Potassium | |
| K | β Microcline | K(AlSi3O8) |
| K | β Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Mn | Manganese | |
| Mn | β Tantalite | (Mn,Fe)(Ta,Nb)2O6 |
| Fe | Iron | |
| Fe | β Tantalite | (Mn,Fe)(Ta,Nb)2O6 |
| Nb | Niobium | |
| Nb | β Tantalite | (Mn,Fe)(Ta,Nb)2O6 |
| Ta | Tantalum | |
| Ta | β Tantalite | (Mn,Fe)(Ta,Nb)2O6 |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
Australia
- Western Australia
- West Australian ElementCraton
- Yilgarn CratonCraton
Australian PlateTectonic Plate
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References
