Elizabeth Hill Mine (Elizabeth Hills Mine; Elizabeth Hill Silver mine), Karratha, City of Karratha, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Elizabeth Hill Mine (Elizabeth Hills Mine; Elizabeth Hill Silver mine)	Mine
Karratha	Town
City of Karratha	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

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An underground silver mine, located approximately 40 km South of Karratha. The mine operated 1998-2000.

It would appear that the correct name is Elizabeth Hill Mine - as per the 2009 annual report of the mining company involved - East Coast Minerals. There are, however, numerous references to the name Elizabeth Hills Mine, Elizabeth Hill silver and Elizabeth Hill deposit.

The mine can be seen to the west of the Karratha-Tom Price Road, as part of a hill cut away. It is a small underground mine that accessed high-grade silver ore. Mined by East Coast Minerals, and Legend Minerals between 1998-2000. East Coast Minerals has subsequently acquired Legend Minerals stake in the deposit. Since 2000, only drilling has taken place north and south of the mine, but further ecomonic levels of silver were not found (2011 Annual Report).

The deposit is hosted by granite, monzogranite, intrusive gabbro and pyroxenite. The last two form rafts, 2m-+50m within the granite, dipping west. The Munni Munni Fault and basal contact of the Minni Munni Complex are the structural controls on the veining. The veins dip near vertical, 10-15 metres wide. One source states there were four pods or ore shoots, plunging shallowly south, 20-80 metres long, 5 to 15 metres wide, showing stratiform concentrations of Ni-Cu sulphides, and variable PGE.

At the 82 metre level, the drive exposed the core of the vein system, as a 15 metre wide body of carbonate-quartz breccia containing pyroxenite and granite. The veins contained 1% Ag, with 20% of this native silver as veins, sheets, wires, crystals, globules, and dendrites. Remaining minerals showed a complex of Ag sulphides and sulphosalts, and base metal sulphides, amounting to 60 ore species (which annoyingly the source does not list), including native metals, alloys and sulphides. Gangue minerals are quartz, calcite, calcian siderite, and chlorite.

Within the system is a layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pentlandite, and PGE's; hydrothermal Cu-Zn-Pb like chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena, and an exotic suite of Ag sulphides containing Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, Pb, As, Sb values, with argentopentlandite given as an example.

The dominant mineral assemblage is primary, but supergene minerals like marcasite, violarite, millerite and mckinstryite do exist, with oxidised products like goethite down to a depth of 100 metres. Acanthite is noted as being widespread.

Western Australia is one of the most mineral rich regions in the world, yet mineral specimens are comparatively rare. Large mining companies view mineral specimen collecting as little more than a nuisance. The Elizabeth Hill Mine was small enough to see value in providing specimens, and in 1999 an Australian dealer was able to access the site.

The dealer described lumps of pure silver masses up to 40kg in the ore dump, and the mine reported masses to 100kg. He noted also silver wires in the underground workings. The dealer was able to collect undamaged specimens to 11 kg. He also noted vanadanite, chalcanthite, galena, and unidentified silver halides on the ore stockpile. A few hundred silver specimens were collected and many of these are now in circulation. There were also a few specimens of red prismatic vanadinite crystals up to 3.5 mms long on calcite, as well as specimens of chlorargyrite micro-crystals placed on the Australian market at this time. Little else is believed to be in the collector market, although the deposit would have readily provided other species, had the opportunity existed.

Structure and mineralization: Orebody symmetry is controlled by the Munni Munni fault and 15° to 45° S-dipping basal contact between Munni Munni Complex and Cherratta granitoids. Contact rocks in the northern Munni Munni Complex are mainly sulfidic gabbronorite and olivine micro-gabbro. An adjacent en echelon shear body east of the Munni Munni fault serves as the host structure for the richest Ag ore shoots encased by lowgrade envelopes. Hosts are silicified-carbonatized-chloritized metamorphic granitoids, gabbros, and pyroxenites.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

Mineral List

40 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded