Zebra Rock Mine

We nearly forgot to go to the Zebra Rock Mine.  We were planning to drive from Keep River NP straight through to Katherine and as we drove along the highway we passed a sign to the Zebra Rock Mine.   

People had recommended it to Jenny and I and it had been on our ‘to do’ list.  Ross and Barb had also wanted to go there but had forgotten that it was along our way.  We stopped at the turnoff (which also happened to be the site of a weird red column of concrete that was apparently a Beef Monument) and had a quick discussion before deciding to head down to the mine to take a look.  There is a campsite there so we would stay overnight and continue to Katherine the next day.

The road into the mine/caravan park was again dirt and was windy and bumpy more than corrugated.  Lou took van protection duty and spent the trip holding onto the stove and drawer while we bounced slowly down the road (which we still consider to be in pretty good condition and totally suitable to a ‘semi offorad’ van). 

When we arrived, we had to wait in a carpark area while we checked in.  The dust there was horrendous, the worst we have experienced.  It was like stepping into inch deep red talcum powder and it was so light and fluffy that it was impossible to even walk slowly to prevent it kicking up.  Thankfully the carpark was the only place with that sort of dust and once we got into the caravan park itself we were back to regular annoying dust.

Zebra Rock is a rare type of striped rock found in very few places in the world.  Large deposits of it were covered over when they flooded the land to create Lake Argyle and this deposit is one of the last.  The mining lease is owned by a husband and wife and he mines and polishes the rock with a hand held grinder.  As she says, she is far more of a ‘people’ person so she runs the caravan park and the mine tours.  Geologists come from all over the world to examine the site and take specimens and the polished rock is made into jewellery and ornaments.  

When we arrived we were allowed to pick a small piece of zebra rock each from a bucket and they showed us how to polish it.  There is a polishing table set up in their courtyard area and we sat there to beautify our rocks.  You start with course sandpaper and wet it down while polishing.  Once you have sanded most of the muck off you move to the fine grade sandpaper to polish it up.  It is surprisingly effective and we got some good results even though the sandpaper available was well used and fairly poor.  We are looking forward to buying some fresh sandpaper next time we see a hardware store or even waiting until we get home to some power tools to give our rocks a really good polish.

Ben with his polished zebra rock.

We collected more rocks from the nearly creek bed where guests are allowed to fossick and we were also allowed to choose some more when we did a tour of the mine site the following morning.  The tour was interesting in that it was not at all what we expected.  The actual mine site is only the size of a swimming pool and it is above ground.  The owners located the Zebra Rock deposit and hired a bobcat to excavate it.  It is a horizontal seam so they have dug down a metre or so and then cleared a large flat area rather than digging down underground as you would imagine a ‘mine’ to be. 

We would have stayed an extra night at Zebra Rock as it is an interesting place but after dusk it becomes almost unbearable as all manner of insects come out.  Big and small, you can’t be outside without a critter getting in your face.  Inside wasn’t much better as there were millions of tiny bugs that managed to squeeze through the fly wire.