Mount Cobalt Mine

The Mount Cobalt Mine sits in the Selwyn District, Cloncurry Shire, Queensland, Australia, about 100 km south of Cloncurry and 153 km southeast of Mount Isa. Queensland is in northeastern Australia, and this area is part of the outback, known for its vast, rugged landscapes. Nearby, Mount Isa is famous for its large-scale mining operations, producing copper, silver, lead, and zinc.

The mine primarily extracted cobalt, along with arsenic and copper, operating from 1921 to 1934. It produced 766 tons of cobalt from about 2000 tons of ore. It’s particularly noted for erythrite, a pink cobalt arsenate mineral, which is highly sought after by collectors.

The mine’s geology features sulphides and fracture fillings in a sheared contact between a metadolerite sill and quartzite and schist, with disseminated sulphides in metadolerite/amphibolite. This is part of the Proterozoic Mount Isa Inlier, shaped by ancient tectonic and metamorphic processes.

Discovered in 1919, the mine operated for 13 years, ceasing in 1934. It’s now abandoned, with underground access only via a dangerous shaft. The dumps, once rich in erythrite, are largely picked over by collectors.

The Cloncurry region, where the mine is located, has a culture rooted in mining, grazing, and aviation. Cloncurry, known as the “friendly heart of the outback,” is famous as Qantas’s birthplace and home to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, with attractions like the John Flynn Place museum.

The area has a hot semi-arid climate, with wet summers (December to March) and dry winters (April to November). Average annual temperature is 25.7°C, with rainfall at 420.4 mm, mostly in January. The ecology features spinifex grasslands and eucalypt woodlands, typical of the outback.