Field+Trips+2010

=A Review of the Club's Field Trips for 2010=

Due the the breaking of an eight year drought, many of the field trips for this year were cancelled as steady rain cut roads and washed out access to collecting locations.

May – Silverton and Surroundings
The field trip for May was out to Silverton and the old Umberumberka Mines. A few nice malachites were found at the Umberumberka East mine, along with the usual siderite at the main Umberumberka Mine. A quick detour out to check the level of the Umberumberka reservoir after the recent rains gave an opportunity to check out an iron ore deposit next to the road and collect some small but nice magnetite crystals.

June – Purnamoota Station - Black Prince Mine area
The next month - June - saw a trip into the Black Prince Mine and the surrounding area. For this trip we were joined by members of the Queensland Mineralogical Society, who were in town following the national conference in Adelaide. This day we were able to find some nice tourmalines from the outcrop, 1 km north of the Black Prince, while at the Black Prince Mine itself some nice samples of copper and lead minerals were collected. Apparently the micro-mounters were very happy with their finds.

September – Rock-On Gem and Mineral Show
Field trips followed the show and on the Monday we ventured down to the Tikalina – Radium Hill area. After a brief stop at the old Radium Hill mine to collect pyrite, actinolite and davidite we headed to the kyanite quarry on to of the hill back on Tikalina. Once all in attendance had picked up their share of kyanite we moved to the shooting range where nice magnetite crystals were found. All in attendance agreed that this was a great day out and everyone found something worth taking home.

The second field trip following the Rock-On was out the Menindee Road to Farmcote Station and the Rockwell Quartz reef. After some bashing and turning of boulders most of the persons in attendance were able to find a good sample or two of clear quartz crystals. This was only a half day trip so most had finished by lunchtime and we came back ito town.

November – Nine Mile Station - Barrier Colorado Mine area
The field trip for November, was to explore the copper mining area around the Barrier Colorado Mine on Nine Mile Station. This was new ground and well worth exploring. The Barrier Colorado Mine has some good colour but very little in the way of crystals. A small digging on the northern flank of the ridge, 700 metres from the Barrier Colorado, produced some exceptional gahnite crystals. Though they were not big, with an average size of 6-8mm, the crystals were very sharp and a deep green. Certainly worth coming back for another look. The rest of the day saw the group investigate four more mines including two more copper mines and both the Parnell and Southern Cross mines. Very little else was found, however it was worth checking to obtain a better knowledge of these locations. The walk over the ridge produced some magnificent views.