THE BYJERKERNO (EURIOWIE) TIN FIELDS

By Trevor Dart

Geologist and Mineral Collector

The Byjerkerno tin fields (otherwise known as the Euriowie tin fields) were first discov-ered in 1884 by Ralph Hodgson, John March and Henry Hines and pegged as the Caloola claim. Following this discovery more tin bearing veins were opened up to the north - with the Wheal (Huel) Byjerkerno mine and the Barrier Bischoff mine.

To the south of the Caloola mine large peg-matite veins were worked at the Lady Don, Trident and Mount Euriowie mines. The Lady Don and Trident mines would be reworked by H.J. Hore in 1949 for tin, then by L. Dan-son in the 1960’s and 70’s as a source of feldspar with lithium minerals.

The tin fields are around 10 km in strike length and straddle the boundary of two pas-toral stations. The northern section is on Sturt’s Meadow Station, while the southern section is on Poolamacca Station.

The area was used as a source of perma-nent water by the Wiljakali people and one waterhole still shows evidence of their occu-pation with numerous petroglyphs carved onto the surrounding rocks. This spot was exploited by the early tin miners with the construction of a small dam across the gorge above the Wiljakali waterhole. This dam ser-viced the small town that sprang up as min-ers came to the area to work the newly dis-covered deposits. By 1887 the township of Euriowie was well established with a popula-tion of 500. The town included a police sta-tion, two banks, six hotels and numerous stores and business places.

Geologically, the tin mining area lies within a large 14 km long syncline containing low grade metamorphic rocks such as phyllites and quartzites. Within these rocks are the pegmatite veins, most of which follow the strike of the host rocks. There are three types of pegmatite identified, those that carry the tin - cassiterite, those that have garnets and tourmaline and those that are just quartz and feldspar. The majority of the tin bearing pegmatite veins have a maximum width of only 3 – 4 metres, the exceptions to this rule

are the Trident pegmatite which is 50 metres wide and the Lady Don pegmatite that is 25 me-tres wide, both of which had a strike length of around 300 metres.

The pegmatites contain a number of associated minerals of interest to the collector. The mines at the north end of the field, especially the Huel Byjerkerno, contain crystalline stacks of pale green muscovite - often mistakenly referred to as fuchite. While there is a small amount of chromi-um present it is too low to be true fuchite. The southern end of the field and especially the Tri-dent and Lady Don pegmatites have a different assemblage including tourmaline - both schorl and elbaite, apatite, amblygonite and beryl - vari-ety vorobyevite (a white coloured variety rich in caesium).

At most of the larger diggings small blebs of cas-siterite can still be found, while the creeks that drain the area have the potential for alluvial grains and crystals.

The mining era ruins have been protected and the northern section (on Sturt’s Meadow Station) is now a reserve. Poolamacca Station is now in the care of the Aboriginal Lands commission and they have sought to protect their cultural heritage sites within the station. There is still much to see and the collecting of minerals at the old mines is allowed, provided collectors do not try to take away excessive quantities.

The whole area is very scenic and well worth visiting for that alone, or there is the chance to walk along a gorge and take in the historical and biological significance of this part of the Barrier Ranges.

Above Top: The dumps of the Huel Byjerkerno Mine

Above: The ruin of the bakers oven at the Huel Byjerkerno Mine.

Below Right: The dam across the waterhole with a gum tree grow-ing out of the middle. Aboriginal rock engravings can be seen on the rocks on either side.

Below Left: A large slab covered with petroglyphs.

Above: A view over the southern section of the Byjerkerno Tin fields. The Mount Euriowie Tin Mine is in the foreground

Left: Ruins of an old hut with the oven still intact. Near the Trident Mine

Below Left: Three single brownish col-oured cassiterite crystals from the alluvial diggings in Byjerkerno creek. Largest crystal is 1.5 cm across.

Bottom Left: Black cassiterite in a quartz and green mica rock from the Huel Byjerkerno mine. Overall size of the sam-ple is 9 x 9 x 5 cm.

Bottom Right: Green mica with quartz from the Huel Byjerkerno mine. Overall size of the sample is 10 x 5 x 5 cm..