Collection
The Karratha Queen
Australia's largest existing silver specimen
The Perth Mint
The Karratha Queen is the largest known exisiting native silver specimen in Australia - weighing an impressive 145 kilograms! It contains about 3520 troy ounces (109.5 kilograms) of silver.
The remarkable specimen was discovered in 2000 by Legend Mining Ltd, more than 80 metres underground at Elizabeth Hill Silver Mine in Western Australia's northern Pilbara region. The area where the Karratha Queen was found was due to be blasted, but in a twist of fate, the miners noticed a huge formation in the rock wall.
Active between 1998-2000, the Elizabeth Hill Silver Mine produced 1.17 million ounces of silver. Due to the unique mineralisation system, this included numerous native silver specimens worth multiple times their actual silver content.
In September 2022, Alien Metals Ltd, acquired Elizabeth Hill with a view to re-opening the mine as investigations suggest considerable untapped silver resource at the site.
The Karratha Queen is on loan from Hill 50 Gold Mines Pty Ltd.