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Mt.Windarra South, Australia

Past Producer in Western Australia, Australia with commodities Nickel, Copper, Iron, Sulfur
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10079593
MRDS ID W029632
Record type Site
Current site name Mt.Windarra South, Australia

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 122.23253, -28.47954 (WGS84)
Relative position ABOUT 270 KM NNE FROM KALGOORLIE, 15 KM SOUTH OF MT.WINDARRA NORTH, 22.5 KM FROM LAVERTON
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Geographic areas

Country State
Australia Western Australia

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Nickel Primary
Copper Secondary
Iron Tertiary
Sulfur Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • IN THE AUSTRALIAN SULFIDE DEPOSITS THE MAJOR PRIMARY ORE MINERAL IS PENTLANDITE,WHICH IS GENERALLY ASSOCIATED WITH NICKELLIFEROUS PYRRHOTITE. IN MOST DEPOSITS THIS PRIMARY ASSEMBLAGE HAS BEEN ALTERED TO A VIOLARITE-PYRITE ASSEMBLAGE IN THE ZONE DOWN TO ABOUT 200 M BELOW SURFACE. VARYING AMOUNTS OF CHALCOPYRITE AND OTHER COPPER-BEARING SULFIDES ACCOMPANY THE NICKEL-IRON SULFIDES. THE NICKEL-COPPER RATIO VARIES BETWEEN ABOUT 3:1 AND 60:1.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoarchean
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoarchean
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eoarchean
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock unit name Ultramfics, Granites, Granites Gneisses
    Rock description Ultramfics, Granites, Granites Gneisses
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock
    Rock unit name Alluvial Clays And Gravels;Ultramafics, Metasediments, Banded Iron Form. Granites, Granite Gneisses
    Rock description Alluvial Clays And Gravels;Ultramafics, Metasediments, Banded Iron Form. Granites, Granite Gneisses
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Iron Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) 122.23253, -28.47954
ListMap

Geologic structures

Type Description Terms
Regional Yilgarn Block Of The Western Australian Shield
Local Footwall Contact To The Banded Iron Formation

Ore body information

  • General form LENS
    Dip 45 DEG. SOUTH
    Depth to bottom 300M
    Width 25M
    Length 1280M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Banded Iron Formation

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE SULFIDE OREBODY LIE WITHIN AN ULTRAMAFIC COMPLEX, AT OR NEAR ITS FOOTWALL CONTACT WITH A BANDED IRON FORMATION. THE ORE OCCURS IN A GEOLOGICALLY SIMILAR ENVIRONMENT. THE DEPOSIT IS COVERED BY AN AVERAGE 30 M OF WATER-BEARING CLAYS AND GRAVELS. SOUTH WINDARRA ORE CONSISTS OF DISSEMINATED AND MASSIVE SULFIDES IN ULTRMAFIC ROCKS, WITH MINOR ORE DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN THE BANDED IRON FORMATION. AT SOUTH WINDARRA THE ORE OCCUR GENERALLY CONFORMABLE WITH THE BANDED IRON. ALTERATION OF ORE IS GREATER THAN AT MT.WINDARRA. THE WATER IS HIGHLY SALINE. THE ZONE OF OXIDATION EXTENDS FROM THE TOP OF THE BEDROCK TO 50-75 M BELOW THE SURFACE. PYRITE, THE ONLY REMAINING SULFIDE IN THIS ZONE, IS FOUND NEAR BASE. IN THE SUPERGENE SULFIDE ZONE VIOLARITE IS THE ONLY IMPORTANT NICKEL MINERAL. IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH PYRITE AND MINOR SECONDARY COPPER SULFIDES.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both metallic and non-metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1971
Discoverer Uhh Jouit Venture Group
Year of first production 1974

Ownership information

  • Type Joint Venture Owner
    Owner Uhh Group:
  • Type Joint Venture Partner
    Owner Union Oil Dep. Corp.
  • Type Joint Venture Partner
    Owner Australian Hanna Ltd.
  • Type Joint Venture Partner
    Owner Homestake Iron Ore Co
  • Type Operator
    Owner Poseidon Ltd.

Comments on the production information

  • THE PRODUCTION TARGET FROM THE OPEN PIT IS 400,000 MTPY, WHICH WILL GIVE 4.5 YEARS TO OPEN-PIT RESERVES.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • H1) RESERVES ARE ESTIMATED TO APPROXIMATELY 174 M DEPTH. ESTIMATES ALLOW FOR MINING LOSS AND MINING DILUTION

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 300M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE OPEN PIT IS OF KIDNEY SHAPE AND HAS THE FOLLOWING DESIGN DETAILS: MAXIMUM LENGTH AT SURFACE 600 M, MAXIMUM WIDTH AT SURFACE 300 M, TOTAL FINAL DEPTH 134 M, FINAL BENCH HEIGHT 10 M, FACE ANGLE 68 DEG., BERM WIDTH 7.5 M, HAUL WIDTH 15 M, HAUL ROAD GRADE 10 % . THE QUANTITIES OF VARIOUS MATERIAL IN THE PIT ARE: ALUVIAL OVERBURDEN 4,513,000 M3, OXIDIZED BEDROCK 962,000 M3, WASTE ROCK 3,321,000 M3, HIGH GRADE ORE 579,000 M3, REMOVAL OF OVERBURDEN, DRILL AND BLAST OPERATIONS, TOGETHER WITH TRUCKING OF PIT ORE WAS AWARDED TO A CONTRACTOR, ALSO HAULING ORE FROM PIT RIM STOCKPILE TO THE CRUSHER AT MT. WINDARA, DISTANCE OF 16 KM .

Comments on development

  • THERE IS A SUBSEQUENT UNDERGROUND MINING CALLS FOR A PRODUCTION RATE OF 250,000 MTPY

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS W029632

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    E/MJ FEB. 1974 P. 53

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE OVERALL WASTE-TO-ORE RATIO IS ABOUT 15:1;

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1978 Saam, Henning G. U.S. Geological Survey