Although minerals are plentiful in Australia — from Azurite to Zeolite — mining them has proven to be a challenge. By Suzanne Wade

The continent “down under” may be best known for opal, but mineral enthusiasts have long known that Australia’s underground wealth includes exceptional mineral specimens whose beauty, size, and color are unrivaled.

Historically, the continent has produced world-class specimens from the silver-lead-zinc deposits of the Broken Hills area in New South Wales, the silver-lead deposits in Dundas, Tasmania, and the uranium mines in the Northern Territory. More than 100 mineral species have been first described from Australia, including 11 from the Broken Hills area.

Malachite after azurite and wulfenite from the Whim Well Mine in Western Australia. Photo by Adam Wright/The Adelaide Mining Company Pty.

In recent years, though, Australian collectors have seen fewer spectacular finds, as increased levels of mechanized mining, the decline of mineral collecting as a hobby, and increasing concerns about legal liability combined to reduce the number of mineral specimens making their way to market.

“The large scale of mechanization of mining today means that many specimens do not survive mining processes, and the management of mining companies do not look kindly on collectors on their leases for many reasons, including public liability issues,” says Tony Forsyth of the Australian Mineral Collector in Brisbane, Queensland.

In addition, as mining jobs have changed, so have the backgrounds of the people who hold them. “A lot of people employed in large, modern mines don’t come from a mining background,” observes Australian mineral collector and dealer Michael Newnham of Croydon, Australia. “Most of the people who used to collect minerals in Australia came from families of miners, where fathers and grandfathers were all miners and passed their interest on to their sons. Kids were exposed to mining and minerals when their father brought home something interesting.” In addition, Newnham points out, safety concerns keep miners within the security of the large machines they operate.

Liability and other legal concerns are also increasingly closing non-active mining sites to commercial collecting. “The biggest problem now is public liability and access to land titles,” says Tom Kapitany of Crystal World in Melbourne, Australia. “It’s hard even to get access to areas because landowners are worried about people hurting themselves. [And if you do get access,] you have to go through heritage surveys, environmental surveys, and educational surveys to mine. So it’s hard to get out there for commercial collecting, and the big mining companies don’t want to stop a million-dollar-a-day operation to get crystals.”

A recent discovery, which the mine owners call the Premiere Pocket, has produced a fresh flood of attractive material.

A 13.5 x 11.5 x 10.5 cm crocoite specimen from the Premiere Pocket of the Adelaide Mine in Tasmania. Photo by Adam Wright/The Adelaide Mining Company Pty. Ltd.

Throw in the cost of fuel to travel through large swaths of largely uninhabited land, and it becomes clear why many Australian mineral dealers have turned to China and Russia rather than concentrate their efforts on Australian localities. “It’s not that we don’t have minerals,” says Kapitany. “But it costs a lot to chase and find and mine them.”

One exception to the rule, though, is the Adelaide Mine in Tasmania, on the western coast of Australia, a renowned source of crocoite. “The crocoite is the best location in the world,” says Chris Wright of Wright’s Rock Shop in Hot Springs, Arkansas. “There is just nothing comparable to it.”

A recent discovery, which the mine owners call the Premiere Pocket, has produced a fresh flood of attractive material. “It was just fabulous to see these red needles in the roof and walls of the mine,” says Forsyth, who recently returned from a visit to the mine. “Pieces go to many thousands of dollars in value and are represented in all major collections around the world. Needles up to 100 mm are common on many of their specimens.”

Mimetite from the Elura Mine in Cobar, New South Wales. Specimen courtesy and photo by Michael Newnham.

The Adelaide is a rarity, a mine operated exclusively for its world-famous mineral specimens. “This is probably Australia’s most prolific producer of high-quality specimens,” says Forsyth. “Run by a couple of dedicated collectors, they have brought a high degree of professionalism and marketing of the crocoite.”

Other minerals being mined commercially in Australia include gemmy prehnite, variscite, and chrysoprase, although most are being mined as gem material rather than mineral specimens, says Kapitany. Chalcocite crystals from the Tilson Mine and some good specimens of cerussite from Mount Ida have also recently appeared on the market, reports Forsyth.

Most, however, are leases worked for just a couple of weeks each year. “It’s a labor of love,” Kapitany says. “You have to have some financial independence because it’s so hard to sustain. There are seven to eight people in Australia mining [mineral specimens], and only two or three of us are making any money.”

Another mineral that is still commercially viable is gold. “Australia has large areas of country suitable for gold prospecting with metal detectors, and this is a regular pastime for many people,” says Forsyth. “Large areas of Western Australia are still available for prospecting this way and there are fossicking tours available for detector groups.” The appeal is strengthened by Australia’s history as a source of exceptionally large nuggets, including the Hand of Faith at 875 ounces, found in 1980, and The Welcome Stranger at 2,300 ounces, found in 1872.

The ease of prospecting for gold has encouraged amateur collectors and ensured a steady supply of gold specimens. “It’s a cheap thing to do, so you’ll get three or four guys going out for a week,” says Kapitany. “They might find $100 worth of gold, or they might find a $20,000 nugget in the first half-hour. And a good specimen is worth well above gold value, so they’re preserved.”

Individual collectors also continue to find rhodonite and other minerals in the Broken Hills area. “The rhodonite is some of the best in the world,” says Wright. “What is exceptional in the Australian material is the clarity and the size of the crystals.”

Clusters of smoky quartz from a seam at Torrington in north­eastern New South Wales. Photo by Tony Forsyth.

“There are still many old mining families living in the Broken Hills, and they know they can get good money for specimens, so they’re quite keen to save anything found,” says Newnham. “But they don’t find things very often now, and they’re not the quality they used to find.” Still, he says, collectors can watch for garnet, rhodonite, and other well-crystallized specimens making occasional appearances on the market.

Collectors exploring abandoned mines elsewhere in New South Wales, such as Torrington, Emmaville, and Elsmore, also continue to produce high-quality specimens of smoky quartz and other quartz varieties, says Forsyth. In addition, topaz, beryl, cassiterite, wolframite, adularia, and monazite are still commonly found in the area.

None of these sites are producing mineral specimens in any significant volume, however. “Cassiterite out of Elsmore is still coming sporadically, but there’s not a quantity of it coming out,” says Kapitany. “Sometimes there’s a lot more coming out, but the last year and a half there has really not been much of anything.”

Of the sporadic finds he has seen, Kapitany says some of the most interesting include magnetite crystals of up to four inches from Western Australia, molybdenum crystals from northern New South Wales, green and orange gypsum from Mount Gunson, and doubly terminated smoky quartz crystals from Mooralla, Victoria. “The green and orange gypsum is quite a beautiful mineral. We had some good ones this year in Denver, and other dealers had good material in Tucson,” he says.

“Yowah Nut” boulder opal from Yowah in southwest Queensland. Photo by Tony Forsyth.

Although rising metal prices have encouraged exploration and opening of new copper mines, it is doubtful increased mining will result in a new boom in copper-related mineral specimens. “There are lots of copper mines opening up, but they’re just not interested in mineral specimens,” says Kapitany. “To them it’s nickel and dime stuff, not worth the effort.” In addition, several mines have pursued legal action against miners and gleaners who have rescued valuable specimens from ore piles.

But with copper one of Australia’s great mineral resources, there are still some sporadic sources of copper-related minerals, such as malachite and azurite. Areyonga in the Northern Territory is producing sizable disks of azurite in large enough numbers to be found in mineral dealers’ stocks, says Kapitany, and the copper mines at Whim Creek in Western Australia are also occasionally producing attractive malachite specimens.

With so many known mineral riches — and potentially many more in this largely undeveloped country of 20 million people — Australia is likely to continue to produce spectacular mineral finds. While there may be fewer collectors than there once were, those that remain are passionate about their vocation. “I love that thrill of the chase,” says Forsyth, “to get out to the real desolate areas and check out old mine dumps or rock exposures for specimens.”

Mineral collecting has always depended on a strong streak of serendipity; the factors working against mineral collecting merely make exceptional specimens rarer, not impossible. “You can always say you might see something,” says Wright. “The rhodonite there is a possibility. The chalcocite may be a one-time find, but you don’t know. Anything is possible in mining.”

January/February 2007 • Australian Minerals: A Labor of Love • The Gemmys • News & Updates • In This Issue • Visit the Tucson Show Guide