Black Diamond Mine, Hatches Creek Wolfram Field, Hatches Creek, Barkly Region, Northern Territory, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Black Diamond Mine	Mine
Hatches Creek Wolfram Field	- not defined -
Hatches Creek	Creek
Barkly Region	Region
Northern Territory	Territory
Australia	Country

The Black Diamond wolfram mine is in the Wolfram Hill section of the Hatches Creek wolfram field. To reach take the track south, opposite the Pioneer mine on the Kurundi Road (Binns Track). After about two kilometres a track branches east north-east turning then gradually north over a one kilometre length to a 3 way intersection. Take the right track, which over another kilometre will go through a full half circle eventually heading west, and ending at the Black Diamond mine, which occupies a steep gully of Wolfram Hill.

This mine was one of the main producers on the field. It has three principal lodes, outcropping for 600 feet, north-east to south-west, 100 feet apart. A substantial tonnage of ellivial wolfram was won from the gully.

The lodes are in sandstone, quartzite, greywacke, and siltstone of the Hatches Creek sedimentary rocks. The bedding strikes east, and dips south by 25-85 degrees, with severe jointing. The outcrop of the lodes is said to be obscured by much mullock and workings in the gully.

Wolframite and quartz is associated with minor mica, very minor scheelite, bismutite, and malachite. The secondary minerals are more common at depth. High grade ore was found in the eastern strike, where the reef is flatter in dip, but the reef becomes poorer and more irregular at depth, where it splits frequently. This is caused by the junction of the reef with a second reef in the Footwall.

Main Lode, No. 3 Lode and South Lode are named by Ryan as the most important, who goes into great detail over the internal structures of the lodes. Comparatively the briefest descriptions will be given here.

The Main Lode is the most northern, developed by a number of shafts, an open cut 10 feet deep, and two adits a length of 200 feet each. A new Main Shaft was sunk in 1951 reaching a depth of 200 feet by 1956. The lode is 600 feet long, but surface outcropping is rare. The richest shoots are 14-30 inches wide, striking east, dipping south 78 degrees, bounded to the east and west by two faults called Kennedy and Bassula after the 1950's owners of the lease.

The No. 3 Lode outcrops for 108 feet, as a number of narrow discontinuous reefs at the north-east end of the workings. It contains shallow open cuts, and the No. 3 Shaft on a 12 inch wide reef. The Bassula Fault displaces the reef 10 feet east of the shaft.

The South Lode has limited outcrop over a length of 180 feet. The vertical South Shaft reaches a depth of 120 feet, on one reef 9-15 inches wide, dipping south 69-76 degrees. The reef is displaced by a number of vertical faults, at which point rich patches of wolfram was found.

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