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Yoganup, Waroona, Mundijong, Gingin |
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Western Australia, WA, Australia |
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Ti Zr
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Super Porphyry Cu and Au
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IOCG Deposits - 70 papers
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The Yoganup, Waroona, Mundijong and Gingin heavy mineral deposits are located within the Perth Basin and are 150 km south (near Bunbury, Boyanup, Capel and Busselton), 90 km south (near Waroona), 40 km south-west and 90 km north of Perth respectively in Western Australia.
The Perth Basin is an approximately 1000 x 15 km, north-south trending trough bounded to the east by the Darling Fault and to the west by the continental shelf which has undergone two major stages of evolution, namely:
i). An early Silurian to the early Cretaceous phase composed of a thick sequences of continental siliciclastic sediments with minor shallow marine sediments, during which time the basin was probably bounded by continental crust both to the east and west.
ii). A second phase that persisted from the early Cretaceous to the present, during which time the sediments represent a marginal sag basin, occurring as generally thin sequences of shallow marine sediments. Eustatic sea level changes over this period, and possibly some tectonic movement, have caused near-shore sediments to be deposited over much of the east-west extent of the basin, especially along the coastal plains.
The detrital heavy minerals of the Perth Basin include ilmenite, rutile and zircon which were derived from igneous and metamorphic rocks in the adjacent Archaean shield to the east in the interior of Western Australia, concentrated through multiple phases of weathering, erosion and deposition. Economic accumulations of heavy minerals are mostly found in high energy Cainozoic shoreline deposits, although significant accumulations also occur in older Cretaceous fluvial sediments.
Most of the high grade heavy mineral deposits of the Perth Basin occur as shoreline accumulations lying unconformably on Mesozoic sediments or weathered Precambrian basement. The extensive deposits against the Darling Scarp and the Whicher Scarp in the South Perth Basin (Yoganup, Boyanup, Waroona), and the Gingin Scarp in the North Perth Basin (Gingin, Cooljarloo, Eneabba) are of this type and are correlated together as the Yoganup Formation, of possible Pliocene age.
A younger series of shorelines, within Quaternary sediments, occur to the west of these deposits and are economically significant in the South Perth Basin near Capel, but have not been as significant to the north. These younger strandlines are known to exist in the North Perth Basin (near Dongara, Jurien and possibly Eneabba West), but are covered by a limestone ridge in most of the prospective areas. The younger strandlines typically contain higher garnet concentrations and less altered ilmenite than the older strands.
The Capel and Eneabba districts have been the most significant mineral sand producing areas within the Perth Basin. The various deposits are situated in what were northward facing embayments, with heavy minerals probably having been accumulated from a combination of longshore drift and wave action. Mineralisation is also partly controlled by the location of palaeo-drainages and sediment sources.
The mines at Yoganup, Waroona, Mundijong and Gingin principally contain ilmenite (60 to 80% of the HM), zircon (7 to 11% of the HM), leucoxene (2.5 to 8.5% of the HM), monazite (0.3 to 0.5% of the HM) and 2.2 to 14% others, including rutile).
The Yoganup Formation in these areas is composed of probable Pliocene siliciclastics laid down along a palaeo-shoreline during periods of elevated sea level, now at 24.4 to 65.5 m above the present mean sea level. Examples of the dimensions of mineralised intervals are those at Yoganup North which are strandlines each being up to 4.5 km long, up to 400 m wide and mineralised over a 20 m vertical interval. Reserves are based on a 4% HM cut-off.
To 1988 cumulative production from these deposits totalled around 10 Mt of combined ilmenite, zircon, leucoxene, monazite and rutile with remaining reserves were estimated at around 13 Mt.
For detail consult the reference(s) listed below.
The most recent source geological information used to prepare this decription was dated: 1990.
This description is a summary from published sources, the chief of which are listed below.
© Copyright Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, storage or dissemination prohibited.
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Selected References:
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Masters, B.K., 1990 - Heavy Mineral deposits in the Yoganup Formation: in Hughes, F.E. (Ed.), 1990 Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia & Papua New Guinea The AusIMM, Melbourne Mono 14, v2. pp. 1595-1597.
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Welch B K, Sofoulis J, Fitzgerald A C F 1975 - Mineral sand deposits of the Capel area, W.A.: in Knight C L, (Ed.), 1975 Economic Geology of Australia & Papua New Guinea The AusIMM, Melbourne Mono 5 pp 1070-1088
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Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd (PorterGeo) provides access to this database at no charge. It is largely based on scientific papers and reports in the public domain, and was current when the sources consulted were published. While PorterGeo endeavour to ensure the information was accurate at the time of compilation and subsequent updating, PorterGeo, its employees and servants: i). do not warrant, or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use of the information contained herein as to its correctness, accuracy, currency, or otherwise; and ii). expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or conclusions contained herein.
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