Collins Valley serpentine mine, Nelson Region, New Zealandi

Regional Level Types
Collins Valley serpentine mine	Mine
Nelson Region	Region
New Zealand	Country

A quarry operating during the 1970's producing crushed serpentine for agricultural application.

The quarry is 35 kilometres by road, on a hillside above, and a few hundred metres north of State Highway 6 at the western end of Collins Valley. Serpentine was mined by Highways Construction Ltd (a subsidiary of Transport (Nelson) Ltd) between 1979-1980 for crushed lime, transported and used on farmland in the Rai Valley, a short distance to the east. The operation was uneconomic, the mine closed, and plant was dismantled.

The geology information refers to a road cut on State Highway 6, on trend, less than 500 metres south of the quarry. It is likely the quarry geology is similar.

The site is part of an ultramafic belt stretching from D'Urville Island in the north, for 90 kilometres south-west. The road cuts revealed serpentinite in contact with spilite and greywacke. The rocks are part of a steep dipping, faulted and sheared, north north-east trending zone. The serpentinite has been crushed and re-cemented, and shows as a western and eastern body, with smaller serpentinite bodies between.

The dominant rock is greywacke, as fine tuffaceous sandstone, and minor argillite, with pumpellyite flakes, prehnite veins, un-twinned albite,and minor chlorite and epidote. Microscopic small radiolarian-like orbs were seen in some of the material (?).

Spilite shows as pyroxene, or less abundant shattered titanaugite, with epidote and pumpellyite fine grained masses, and ilmenite skeletal crystals.

The serpentinite is crushed and re-cemented with hydrogrossular, with minor chromite, and magnetite. Antigorite dominates the material when tested, with prehnite and aragonite veins, with lesser chrysotile and lizardite. Minor steatite lenses and pods occur within the serpentinite, the majority consisting of talc.

There is a black amphibolite body as part of the site, consisting of green hornblende, epidote, serpentinite, euhedral titanite, and minor apatite and prehnite veins.

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