Guidebook to the Pegmatites of Western Australia

Western Australia is a treasure trove. Emeralds, green tourmalines, purple lepidolite, lustrous black tantalite and other minerals are found in pegmatites scattered across the vastness of Western Australia. Fossickers, prospectors, and miners have searched out and mined these pegmatites since the late 1800s. Successive mineral booms for cassiterite, muscovite, beryl, lithium, feldspar and most recently tantalum during the 1990s resulted in further pegmatite exploration. The locations, directions to the deposits and descriptions of these localities areoften buried in obscure or unpublished reports or even kept secret by a handful of fossickers.