Burnwell Mine, Mount Somers, Ashburton District, Canterbury Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 43° 38' 44'' South , 171° 17' 50'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -43.64560,171.29741 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
The Burnwell Coal Mining Company began mining coal at their site in 1922. Maps place this just east of the modern abandoned silica sand quarry, although what on the ground evidence remains of the coal mine is uncertain. The following year the company takes out a 12 month lease over the nearby Mount Somers coal mine.
The company is also interested in developing the newly discovered sand on their lease for glass manufacture. No more information was found.
There is a large silica glass sand quarry immediately west of the coal mine site, as seen from the Ashburton Gorge Road, and maps place a fireclay pottery pit a little to the north-east on the hill above the Woolshed Creek access road. Called Newburn Clay Pit, only a minor scar can be seen on the hill side.
No minerals currently recorded for this locality.
Regional Geology
This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.
Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org
| Eocene - Late Cretaceous 33.9 - 100.5 Ma ID: 1313030 | Eyre Group and Broken River Formation Late Cretaceous-Eocene terrestrial sedimentary rocks Age: Phanerozoic (33.9 - 100.5 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Eyre Group; Broken River Formation Description: Quartz sandstone, carbonaceous mudstone and claystone with minor conglomerate and lensoidal coal seams. Comments: Zealandia Megasequence Terrestrial and Shallow Marine Sedimentary Rocks (Paleogene to Cretaceous) Lithology: Sandstone, mudstone, claystone, conglomerate, coal Reference: Edbrooke, S.W., Heron, D.W., Forsyth, P.J., Jongens, R. (compilers). Geology Map of New Zealand 1:1 000 000. GNS Science Geological Map 2. [12] |
| Lutetian - Danian 41.3 - 66 Ma ID: 1334281 | Broken River Formation Paleocene - Eocene mudstone (Eyre Group) Age: Paleogene (41.3 - 66 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Broken River Formation Description: Carbonaceous and quartzose claystone mudstone and sandstone; local coal seams. Comments: Paleogene sedimentary rocks. Age based on Paleontology/palynology/stratigraphy, Dt-Dp fossils Lithology: Major:: {claystone},Minor:: {lignite, sandstone} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13] |
| Triassic - Permian 201.3 - 298.9 Ma ID: 3188829 | Paleozoic-Mesozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Phanerozoic (201.3 - 298.9 Ma) Lithology: Argillite,limestone,chert,greywacke Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154] |
Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
References
