KANGAROO ISLAND GEM FIELDS A VISIT OF INSPECTION PROMISING PROSPECTS [By our Special Reporter.]

Reprinted from The Register- Adelaide 1903

NB; there is no access to this location.

Between 12 and 18 months ago an elderly man named George Cox was out collecting yucca gum a few miles from Antechamber Bay, on Kangaroo Island. As he walked through the weird, strange-looking country, monopolized by the yucca, with here and there a tree surmounted by a long tail-like flower, he noticed quartz wash upon the ground. Some of the snail stones set him thinking and hoping. Cox tells the story that every night he used to pray to be put on to some gems. In a little while he found some pretty-coloured specimens, and with a delighted heart he showed them to his mates. They told the hunter after gems to take his stones to some place hot. The people on the island pooh-poohed the find, but after a time authorities came along who pronounced the stones to be tourmalines. For some months past the Kangaroo Island gem fields have been the topic of considerable discussion in Adelaide, and there have been enquiries from the other states and from abroad with reference to the discovery. Cox, it appears, went to the island several years ago to work the guano islands at the head of the American River, but eventually drifted along towards Antechamber Bay in search of gum.

—The First Syndicate

When the stones were taken to Adelaide, a company, called the Aorangie Syndicate, was formed in 100 shares of £5 each, the promoters getting 80, and the contributors 20 shares. Work was began and proceeded with for five months. The syndicate is said to have paid its way, and to have made a good sum out of the sale of the stones. Then Mr. … Kingsborough and Mr. Suhard got the option of the Aorangie, German, Burmah, and Te Raiigitiri leases for a certain period, and under certain conditions. The option syndicate, known as the Kangaroo Island Gem Syndicate, which has been doing the mining for the last two months, will in all probability take over the Aorangie Mine. Mr. S. Cullingworth is managing for the Kangaroo Island Gem, and Mr. … Mr. Edwin W. Streeter, F.R.G.S.. M.A.I., the well-known authority on gems, says, inter alia, in his excellent work:— ‘The Dutch are said to have introduced tourmaline into Europe from Ceylon. The first written history of the stone is found in a book published at Leipzig in 1707, called ‘Curious Speculations of Sleepless Nights.’ It is mentioned also in a catalogue of a collection of stones sent over from Ceylon to Leyden in 1711. For many years small quantities only of this stone were sent to Europe, and the German Jews were almost its only purchasers. Few minerals present greater complexity of chemical constitution than the tourmaline. Its composition has been said to resemble the prescription of a mediaeval doctor in which a little of everything was thrown in. To the student of physics, the tourmaline is a stone of singular interest, from the curious optical and electrical characters which it exhibits. It enjoys, though it rarely displays, a vivid or brilliant hue; hence it has become a great favourite with connoisseurs who can appreciate its soft and sombre tones, but has not acquired general popularity. Its colours consist of various shades of grey, yellow, blue, pink, and brown; all having a tendency towards the darker hues, even to black. The tourmaline possesses under a variety of mineralogical names, according to the colour which it presents. The red varieties are known as rubellite, blue as indicolite, and the clear and colourless crystals as achroite, while the common black tourmaline is still distinguished by the old German name of schorl. … In the United States, it has been discovered in great perfection and abundance, especially at Mount Mica, Paris, Maine. The green tourmaline generally occurs of an olive or dark green colour, and takes a perfect polish. The value of tourmaline depends upon the colour, quality, and size of the specimens; one of exceptional colour and purity of five carats weight might be worth about £20, but others only of a few shillings.’ Since this work was published the tourmaline has become much more fashionable in connection with jewellery.

—The Kangaroo Island Stones—

A German expert gem merchant, with whom the Adelaide people have been in communication for some time, after making enquiries in Germany and elsewhere on the Continent with reference to the Kangaroo Island stones which have been forwarded to him, writes:— ‘The best information I can give you is as follows:— The dark green are of very little value, as they are too blackish. Still, the value is from 9/ per oz. … When the former took charge a shaft had been sunk 12 ft., and beautiful stones obtained, Mr. … Cullingworth said, ‘we got stones very thick, and there were some beautiful little gems among them.’ A new shaft was sunk north of the old one, and the north drive from the old shaft has been put in 15 ft. In the new shaft blue stones, some pale and some dark in character, were met with. In the roof of the north drive similar stones to those in the open cut were obtained. Mr. Cullingworth, who thinks that it will be possible to work in future on the open cut system, remarked— ‘I have been on my hands and knees all over the hill, and have picked up many stones in the surface wash. I got samples 300 yards away on the eastern side of the hill on the surface. They were blue in colour.’ We went down the shafts along the drives and into the open cut, and in several places found good specimens. The nature of the country is felspathic granite, and it is easily worked; the best stones occur in pockets in the soft clay. There is nothing to indicate where these will occur. When found in the decomposed granite the tourmaline is mostly perished and in a crumbly state of decomposition itself. This is due of course to some chemical action. Huge quartz crystals, some of them 10 in. long, were come upon in the open cut point downwards, and in many cases green and blue varieties of the tourmaline stone were found embedded in them. Mr. Cullingworth stated that he had never seen crystals half as big before. Patches of quartz wash appear frequently on the surface, and this is said to be ‘a certain indication of the presence of the stones. To get into the ironstone pebbles seem to get away from them. There are eight men working on the Aorangie Mine, two on the Te Rangitiri, an adjoining block, and two men out prospecting under search rights. Both the above leases consist of 40 acres. The Dudley Gem Company has sections consisting of 80 acres adjoining the Aorangie, and with an option over another 40 acres. No opening up work has been done yet, but from the surface indications and the little work that has been done the holders are satisfied that the formation is unmistakably similar to the Aorangie, and that they will get equally satisfactory results. One gentleman who had walked over the hills told me that he thought the tourmaline bearing country was undoubtedly contained within a one or two mile belt, and outside this circumscribed area surface indications were not present. The country around is being thoroughly prospected. A few men are working near the lagoon at Antechamber Bay, while there is another show at Cape Willoughby. I could not hear whether anything had been found in either of these places.

—The Stones—

Messrs. Cullingworth and Andrew told me that they had found all shades of green stones, various shades of blue, lilac, pink, red, numerous specimens with pink kernels, and surrounding zones of green, salmon pink, brown, and black. … Every one in South Australia will watch the future developments with the keenest interest, as the success of such a field cannot be over-estimated. Those who wish to see the nature of the gems obtained up to the present cannot do better than pay a visit to Mr. Kingsborough’s office, where, as has been stated before, various coloured stones, cut and in their natural state, can be inspected. A beautiful specimen containing various shades of stones in the matrix and huge quartz crystals similar to those referred to above should not be overlooked.

Modern activity

In a report to the Australian Stock Exchange, Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) managing director Adrian Griffin said they found samples containing significant levels of lithium at 2010 ppm and tantalum at 770 ppm in rock-chip and float assays.

Griffin said the evidence from the lithium-anomalous pegmatite dykes at its Dudley prospect at the Kangaroo Island Project in South Australia were promising.

“Early results from the Dudley prospect indicate good potential for a new LCT pegmatite field, and we look forward to extending our exploration coverage later in the year,” he said.

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