Kenneth George Mcqueen

• PhD, BSc (Hons). Grad. Cert. Higher Educatioin
• Professor (Associate) at University of Canberra

The small shoots of ore lie near the base of altered ultramafic sequences. The deposits run 1-3% Ni and <4.5 million tons apiece. The ore bears a metamorphic imprint (550o-600oC) in terms of mineralogy and texture. Pentlandite is dominant, but evidence exists for initial magmatic sulphides. -K.A.R.

Dargue's Reef is a mesothermal, gold sulfide deposit developed in altered granitoid rocks of the Braidwood Granodiorite. Two main lodes consist of narrow zones of intense sericitic alteration and pyritization enclosed in areas of propylitic alteration. Deposition of barren euhedral-subhedral pyrite accompanied early-stage alteration and was followe...

The Wannaway Fe-Ni-Cu sulfide deposit is a metamorphosed volcanic peridotite-associated deposit preserved at the base of an altered Archean komatiitic flow sequence. The main ore zone occurs in a thick, largely dunitic unit, generally lying above the base of the unit but in places converging onto the underlying metabasalt. There is also a thin, dis...

Geochemically anomalous, pyritic sediments occur directly above a Mid Silurian unconformity in the Quidong area of southeastern New South Wales. The composition of these sediments reflects derivation from a mixture of: (a) feldspar- and mica-depleted detritus reworked from underlying quartz-rich flysch; (b) Mg-rich clay or chlorite precipitated fro...

These notes describe geological observations, the mining history and comments on the disappearance of NSW Government Geologist, Lamont Young at Mystery Bay with four other men on 10 October 1880. The notes are to be included as a report in the DIGS Website of the Geological Survey of NSW.

The ‘Lady Miner of Kingsgate’, New South Wales: Pauline Catherine Speckhardt The Kingsgate mines, located 28 km east of Glen Innes in the New England region of New South Wales, are famous among mineralogists and mineral collectors (e.g. Lawrence, 1998; Sharpe and Williams, 2004; Clissold et al., 2007, 2008). These mines worked unusual quartz-rich...

Introduction The northeast Lachlan and Macquarie region of central NSW has produced a plethora of mineral commodities related to the diverse geology and tectonic history of the underlying rocks of the eastern Lachlan Orogen (Fig. 2). Key, metal-rich tectonic components of this area include parts of the Hill End Trough and the Macquarie Arc. Ore typ...

The Australian Capital Territory Geochemical Urban Mapping (ACTGUM) project, a collaboration between the National Centre for Forensic Studies at the University of Canberra, Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Australian Federal Police, has been established as part of a research program for undergraduate and postgraduate science students. The ACTGUM p...

The discovery of gold in Australia forced many changes to theory on the occurrence and origin of gold deposits. Initial discoveries appeared to confirm existing ideas on the global distribution of gold-bearing terrains. Later discoveries and research would show that this confirmation was largely coincidental, but nevertheless helpful in early prosp...

Copper was discovered near Mount Hope in 1873 by Robert Fisher a shepherd on Coan Downs station. Further prospecting discovered other nearby copper deposits and later, areas of gold mineralisation. The main Mount Hope copper mine was worked intermittently until 1919. Further south, the Mount Hope South and Great Central copper mines were worked bet...

The uptake of Ni and other elements by Callitris glaucophylla (white cypress pine), from weathered ultramafic rocks under varying depths of transported regolith cover, is examined at two sites in the Miandetta area, New South Wales, Australia. Results show that C. glaucophylla can accumulate elevated Ni concentrations in the needles (leaves or phyl...

Several areas of skarn mineralization occur at Paddy’s River in the Australian Capital Territory. The deposits consist of zoned, magnetite- and silicate-rich metasomatic replacement skarns containing complex assemblages of prograde and retrograde primary minerals as an association of base metal sulfides, scheelite, minor silver, gold and bismuth. T...

Report No. R00034714 (GS2021/0042) Geological Survey of New South Wales, 2021, 27 pp.

Gold mining on Australian beaches during the late nineteenth century is a largely forgotten episode of Australian mining history. More than 30,000 ozs (0.933t) of gold was produced from beach mining along the east coast of New South Wales. This type of placer mining was a precursor to more extensive mineral sand mining of beaches and back beach are...

The Cangai copper mine was one of the most successful mining operations in NSW during the early 1900s. Following discovery in 1901 and initial mining by syndicates, the mine was operated by the Grafton Copper Mining Company Ltd from 1905 until 1917 and produced approximately 5,000 t of copper, as well as significant gold and silver, from an estimat...

In the early mining history of Australia, a small number of women appear as mine owners, managers and developers. Pauline Spechkardt was one sufficiently active and determined in her mining interests to earn the appellation of the ‘Lady Miner of Kingsgate’.

Copper was discovered at Girilambone in 1875, shortly after the initial discovery of copper in the region at Cobar and by one of the same discoverers. Early mining from 1881 to 1885, with hand sorting of oxidised ore and direct smelting or shipment for custom smelting, was a technical failure and financial fiasco. Failure was largely due to metallu...

Throughout mining history there have been various approaches to mineral discovery and mineral field development. To a large extent, the different approaches reflect the evolution of economic, socio-political and management structures, as well as changes in the science of ore discovery and mineral-related technology. Common features can be recognise...

Presentation at the 5th ARGA (Australian Regolith Geoscientists Association) Conference, Wallaroo South Australia 8-11th April 2018

It is generally assumed that severe dust events in western Iran could be responsible for elevated levels of toxic and radioactive elements in the region. Over a period of 5 months, from January 2013 to May 2013, dust particles in the size range PM10 (i.e. <10 µm) were collected at Abadan, a site beside the Persian Gulf. The research aim was to comp...

Early studies on sand dune movement and desertification in Iran have not always been convincingly demonstrated because of problems with the field-based measurements. In some areas where various land uses have been engulfed by aeolian sand dunes, desertification is clear, but in other less settled areas, it may not be so obvious. The objective of th...

The giant Broken Hill silver-lead-zinc deposit was discovered in the context of a sequence of earlier discoveries in the Barrier Ranges of western New South Wales. These early discoveries were of rich silver veins, suitable for mining by individual prospectors or small groups, but before they were worked out and abandoned they attracted larger inve...

he discovery of rich copper ore at Cobar in September 1870 by three itinerant tank sinkers resulted in a boom in copper prospecting throughout this region of northwestern New South Wales. Awareness that this was 'copper country' meant that the local population, as well as experienced prospectors, were alert for the telltale signs of green and blue...

The giant Broken Hill silver-lead-zinc deposit was discovered in the context of a sequence of earlier discoveries in the Barrier Ranges of western New South Wales. The early discoveries were rich silver veins, suitable for mining by individual prospectors or small groups, but before they were worked out and abandoned they attracted larger investors...

___________________________________________________________________________ Landscape evolution in much of southern Africa has been strongly influenced by plate tectonic processes since the breakup of Gondwana from 135 Ma, and particularly the development and persistence of the African Superswell with its related episodic tectonic uplift. Climatic...

In Tasmania, most salts in the landscape originate from rainfall and accumulate in landscapes after evaporation occurs. The distribution and quantity of salt in rainfall from an array of bulk deposition collectors in the Greater Tamar Catchment were assessed for the period September 2013 to August 2014. The bulk deposition samples were analysed for...

_______________________________________________________________________ The occurrence of gold in Australia was initially established by practical, if accidental, observation and followed up by theoretical prediction of exploitable deposits. However, it was the masterful orchestration of a gold rush by a shrewd, somewhat impractical prospector that...

Anthropogenic mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant capable of undergoing long-range atmospheric transport. Understanding the continental-scale biogeochemical controls on the spatial distribution of Hg in Australia with its unique biota, soils, and climate, is critical for modelling Hg emission rates and transport at regional to global scales. We hypo...

This study investigates the mineralogy and physico-chemical properties of atmospheric particulates collected at Abadan (southwestern Iran) near the Persian Gulf coast and Urmia (northwestern Iran) during ambient and dust events over 6 months (winter 2011; spring 2012). Particle sizes collected were: TSP (total suspended particulates); PM10 (particu...

Ores, like most rocks, are composed of minerals. With the development of geochemistry and the application of elemental analysis to mineral exploration there has been a tendency to overlook or downplay the fundamental relationship between the elements and their naturally occurring chemical compounds or minerals. Mineralogical exploration applies kno...

Dargue’s Reef is the largest known bedrock gold deposit in the Majors Creek goldfield of southern NSW. The history of its mining and exploitation highlight some of the challenges and developments in extracting gold from pyritic gold ores and also illustrates how the complex interplay of exploration, discovery, optimism, entrepreneurship, metal pric...

Custodians of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases currently provide timely and high quality spatial products to users, maintaining multiple databases at different scales for different uses. These custodians are also committed to maintaining and updating the currency of cartographic data sets. Maintaining multiple databases is resource-in...

In the late nineteenth century new techniques were developed in Australia to extract gold locked in pyrite in refractory gold ores. Developments were made at a number of gold mining centres, including in: central Victoria; at Harden and Majors Creek in New South Wales; at Ravenswood, Charters Towers and Mount Morgan in Queensland; and Kalgoorlie in...

This study documents nickel uptake by the widespread Australian native cypress pine species, Callitris glaucophylla. It shows pine needles from this species can effectively indicate elevated nickel contents in underlying saprolite to depths of 3m, but are unlikely to reveal anomalous levels below transported regolith >10m thick. Its roots extend at...

Hydrothermal alteration around the sediment-hosted Elura Zn-Pb-Ag sulphide deposit has produced detectable and systematic chemical changes that are also reflected in subtle mineralogical features (cryptic alteration). Iron carbonate development accompanied by potassic alteration, the destruction of albite and the absence of chlorite are the dominan...

Henry William Nancarrow was a 'Cousin Jack' of all trades who helped finance and develop copper mining at Cobar in western New South Wales in 1872. Many Cornish immigrants to Australia became linked with mining and there is a tendency to assume that mining was their sole or primary interest. However, a significant number brought skills in other tra...

More than 40 tonnes of gold have been produced from the Braidwood‐Majors Creek‐Araluen goldfields. Most of this was alluvial gold derived from erosion of primary gold deposits within and immediately surrounding the Braidwood Granodiorite. Previous research has shown that the primary mineralisation was related to mesothermal, CO2‐bearing fluids that...

Gold nuggets were a feature and an attraction of the Australian gold rushes. Many large nuggets were discovered, but almost all were broken up and melted down. A few large nuggets survive including the Maitland Bar nugget, which was purchased soon after its discovery in 1887 by the New South Wales Colonial Government for £1,236 14s 1d. The Maitland...

Chemical processes play a major role in landscape evolution wherever chemical weathering is extensive and physical erosion more limited. Geochemical and biochemical changes in the regolith produce new minerals and components that can affect its chemical and physical stability. The effects include changes in solubility, permeability, grainsize, hard...

Analysis of REE distributions through weathered profiles on siliclastic metasedimentary rocks in the Cobar region indicates that older profiles (60-20 Ma), beneath Paleocene lake sediments and Early Miocene lava flows, commonly show depletion of light rare earths (LREE) in the upper saprolite. Cerium which is depleted in the upper saprolite can be...

Hydrothermal alteration around the Elura Zn-Pb-Ag sulfide deposit has produced detectable and systematic chemical changes that are also reflected in subtle mineralogical features. Iron carbonate development accompanied by potassic alteration, the destruction of albite and absence of chlorite are the dominant mineral alteration effects in the surrou...

The McKinnons gold mine, ∼35 km southwest of Cobar in New South Wales is a non-operational opencut mine with extensive regolith profile development down to a depth of ∼80 m. Twenty-three oriented paleomagnetic samples, from saprolite at different levels through the profile, yielded two well-defined paleomagnetic poles, one of Paleocene age (60 ± 10...

In 1851-1852 the Reverend W.B. Clarke, widely considered Australia's first geologist, discovered copper at Quidong in the Bombala area of southern New South Wales. Clarke’s focus was on gold and he panned colours of the metal from detritus trapped in cavities in a limestone outcrop on the edge of the Delegate River at Quidong. Observing nearby vein...

Geochemical anomalies are geochemical features different from what is considered normal. They can be the result of: 1. unusual or uncommon processes concentrating particular elements (e.g. an ore-forming process, weathering and element dispersion from an unusual element concentration such as an orebody); 2. element accumulation or concentration by...

This Guide is designed to assist mineral explorers working in the regolith-dominated terrains of the central region of the Gawler Craton in South Australia, in particular those areas of weathered bedrock where dominantly terrestrial deposits form patchy and comparatively thin (<100 m) cover. From a mineral industry perspective, the Gawler Craton is...

This Guide is designed to assist mineral explorers working in regolith-dominated regions of the Curnamona Province. Although the information presented may be applied across the Curnamona region, the focus is on the southern Curnamona Province where there has been the greatest number of regolith studies. The Guide provides an introduction to the reg...

Following discovery of alluvial gold in the Milparinka-Tibooburra region in 1880, attention was turned to developing the nearby gold-bearing quartz reefs. Initially there were great hopes that the area, with its similar geology to Bendigo, would prove to be a rich reef-mining field. Companies where set up locally, in Melbourne and in Adelaide, but...

Characterisation of aeolian material in the Girilambone Region of New South Wales (600 km NW of Sydney), using particle size analysis, mineralogy, geochemistry and micromorphological analysis, shows that it consists of spheroidal, highly abraded 70 μm quartz grains. Although relatively pure aeolian accessions are found on top of Tertiary leucitite...

Outcrops of leucitite lavas occur as scattered remnants up to 40 m thick in the El Capitan area, northeast of Cobar in western New South Wales. Two eruption sites have been located for these lavas. Preserved volcanic features indicate that the lavas were erupted on to a relatively low-relief, Early Miocene land surface, flowed along a shallow valle...

In the late nineteenth century, the Grey Ranges in far northwestern New South Wales were the scene for one of the thirstiest gold rushes in Australia. From 1880 to 1882 a succession of discoveries and rushes established the Albert Goldfield, covering an arid, 80x16 km tract extending from Mount Browne to Tibooburra. These alluvial diggings were amo...

Progressive weathering of rocks results in significant element fractionation in the Earth's regolith zone. This is most obvious and important in areas, including much of Australia, where weathering has been intense/prolonged and profiles well-preserved. The principle chemical processes include replacement of more soluble ions by protons and oxidati...

INTRODUCTION Geochemical data from the regolith can be used in five practical ways: • To detect anomalous abundances of target and pathfinder elements during mineral exploration (or for other purposes); • To distinguish different regolith materials (and help decipher their evolution); • To determine the parent rock type; • To estimate the degree of...