Ore and gangue mineralogy of the Almanda Mine, Cherry Gardens, South Australia

The Almanda mine, in the Cherry Gardens area of the Adelaide Hills, was a short-lived but relatively rich, 19th century silver mine. Mineralization consisted of both oxidized and sulfide-rich material, present within a near-vertical lode in late Cryogenian phyllites. In this study, a suite of sulfide-rich and gossanous samples from dumps of the historic workings was used to determine the mineralogical hosts of silver in the ore, and to understand the genesis of the mineralization. As well as silver, the mesothermal mineralization is enriched in arsenic, copper, bismuth, antimony and zinc. The implications of the mineralogy on the processing behaviour of the ore, given the amalgamation
technology used in the 19th century, are discussed.