Base Metal Mines of Northern Australia

A Tour to Order - Organised by Porter GeoConsultancy
Base Metal Mines of Northern Australia
7 to 10 November 2005

A special 'Tour to Order' organised by Porter GeoConsultancy (PGC) to the specifications of the Hindustan Zinc and Exploration divisions of the major Indian based multi-national company Vedanta Resources

The tour group visited a representative selection of four key base metal deposits in Queensland and the Northern Territory, and comprised a party of six senior geological and mining engineering professionals / managers.

All mine visit approvals, and the planning and organisation of logisitics (including ground transport and air charters), meals (including special dietary requirements) and accommodation were undertaken by PGC.

Group Photo - See who took the tour,

The tour was not escorted by PGC. A detailed itinery explaining the arrangements, what logistics items had been arranged and where they were to be picked up or departed from, at what time, maps, reporting places and times for each mine visit, contact names and phone numbers for the hosts for each visit, etc., was presented to the tour members prior to the commencement of the tour, to manage themselves.

A technical Literature Compilation covering the regional to local setting, geology and mineralisation at each mine and a set of geological maps relevant to the deposits visited were also purchased/prepared and presented to the tour party prior to the commencement of the tour.

The group was based in Mount Isa, northwest Queensland throughout, travelling from there to the mines by either hire minibus or by charter aircraft and returning each afternoon or evening.

The group arrived in Mount Isa on the evening of Sunday 6 November from India, via Brisbane, to check in at their hotel, after picking up their pre-booked hire minibus at Mount Isa Airport. Next morning, they departed by road for the 90 minute drive east to Cloncurry and on to the open pit Ernest Henry IOCG deposit within the Eastern Fold Belt of the Mount Isa Inlier. The deposit was emplaced during the Early Mesoproterozoic, but is hosted by the Late Palaeoproterozoic Eastern Succession of the Inlier. The technical visit lasted until mid afternoon, when they departed for the return to Mount Isa.

The following morning saw a 07:00 am departure on a pre-booked, 200 km air charter from Mount Isa to the Cannington stratabound, and structurally controlled, massive sulphide Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu deposit hosted by high grade metamorphic rocks. Like Ernest Henry, Cannington lies within the Late Palaeoproterozoic Eastern Succession of the Mount Isa Inlier. It is an underground operation. The visit lasted until the mid to late afternoon when they flew back to Mount Isa.

On Wednesday 9 November, they departed Mount Isa by air charter again, this time for a 650 km, 90 minute flight to the McArthur River, stratabound, sediment hosted, massive sulphide Zn-Pb-Ag deposit in the Late Palaeoproterozoic McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory. The mine is an underground operation. The visit lasted until mid-afternoon, followed by the return flight to Mount Isa.

The following day, Thursday 10 November was spent visiting the George Fisher underground mine 20 km north of the city of Mt Isa. George Fisher is another sediment hosted, stratabound, massive sulphide Zn-Pb-Ag deposit hosted by the late Palaeoproterozoic Western Succession of the Mount Isa Inlier. The group returned to Mount Isa that afternoon to connect with a commuter flight to Townsville where they overnighted, before taking a flight to Brisbane early next morning to connect with their overseas flight home. The image above is of the Mount Isa mine and section of the town.