Green Parrot Mine, Jervois Range, Jervois Station, Central Desert Region, Northern Territory, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Green Parrot Mine	Mine
Jervois Range	Mountain Range
Jervois Station	- not defined -
Central Desert Region	Region
Northern Territory	Territory
Australia	Country

An abandoned open cut and underground copper, lead, silver and zinc mine.

The Green Parrot Mine is 15 kilometres north of the Plenty Highway, and 500 metres west of the Lucy Creek track, as part of a J shaped, steeply north plunging syncline, 2 kilometres east of the Jervois Range escarpment. The Marshall Attutra mine is 500 metres to the north. The steep to vertical dipping Green Parrot lode is north-south, occupying the western slopes of a low ridge, marked with old open cuts, an adit, at least two shafts, one with a metal headframe above it, and a large rusting old tank. Remains of a couple of former processing plants are also in the area.

Generally speaking the Jervois mines are hosted by the Bonya Metamorphic Complex, a high temperature, low pressure package of metasedimentary rocks. This is dominated by the quartz-mica schist, interbedded with fine to medium grained beds of metasedimentary sandstone, 1-30 cms across, and locally thicker. Within this are broad belts of cordierite and andalusite porphyroblasts, giving the rock a knotted appearance. Also found are localised beds of marble and calc-silicate rock. The area also contains beds of finely bedded quartz-tourmaline, fine to coarse grained rhyolite, areas intruded by pegmatites, amphibolite and granites.

(Wygralak) in summary states the Green Parrot deposit is contained in calc-silicate rocks and skarn lenses, with pods of Pb-Zn-Ag mineralisation, near the western boundary of the lode. Mineralisation is strongly deformed into boudins, and narrow transgressive galena veins. Primary ore is galena, bornite and sphalerite, with oxidsed zone showing malachite, azurite, cerussite, anglesite and chrysocolla.

(Robertson) From east to west the site shows as garnetiferous quartz-mica schist containing lenses of garnetiferous magnetite-quartz granulite, showing no surface copper mineralisation. To the east by 500 feet are similar lenses but these are cupriferous. Going west is a succession of thin banded metamorphics with a diverse mineralogical content. This is capped by a north-south trending Cu-Zn gossan, containing garnet, chlorite, epidote and actinolite. Under this is granulite forming lenses up to 600 feet long, and 70 feet wide in mica schist. The western slope is not well exposed, but the surface shows limestone lenses, quartzite, and granulite in schist. Further west are a few small outcrops of porphyroblastic cordierite-quartz-mica schist. Nearby are six small pegmatitic muscovite-albite granite areas 10-100 feet wide.

Copper mineralisation is confined to the western most garnetiferous quartz granulite, and immediately adjacent schist. Copper in the section is richest at the eastern sheared margin. The oxidised lode contains malachite, cuprite, azurite, chrysocolla, atacamite and turquoise. There is also a band of chalcocite.

Lead lodes at the mine show erratic values in impure calcareous beds in granulite cutting out 90 feet below the surface. It contains cerussite, pyromorphite, and galena, with rich galena pockets showing in iron, and manganese stained marble in the irregularly shaped pits. The pits also show carbonate cemented breccia, and complex structural features along its northern wall. Ag and Pb values in the copper lodes are variable, however shaft B contains silver at a high 20 ounce per tonne.

Scheelite bearing skarn occurs west of the Green Parrot deposit. All scheelite in the area fluoro's yellow from included molybdenum.

Petrocarb mentions the deposit contains spotted andalusite schist, cordierite mica schist with fine andalusite schist, diopside garnet skarn, cordierite schist with skarn like epidote rich bands, magnetite biotite schist, quartz garnet mica schist with chalcopyrite, and diopside hematite schist. Massive cordierite with calc-silicate rock veins contain purple fluorite up to one inch in diameter.

The lodes were discovered by cattle drover Tom Hanlon in 1929. D.A. Shanasy and T.B. Crosbie held the lease from 30 August 1945 to 30 August 1949, then K.G. Johannsen 25 September 1949 to 29 October 1971. Johannsen intermittently mined several deposits in the area across the 1950's to 60's, constructing two processing plants, carting ore for flux to Mount Isa, and producing concentrate for the fertilizer industry. New Consolidated Goldfields explored the area from 1961-1965, Petrocarb Exploration NL in the early 1970's. Then the Plenty River Mining Company took out 2000 tonnes of ore between 1981 to 1983, when low metal prices saw them cease operations. Otter Exploration NL explored the area in the late 1980's, and at the time of writing KGL Resources had held the leases for several years.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

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