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Kunwarara

Producer in Queensland, Australia with commodity Magnesite
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Ownership information
  12. Reserves and resources
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10023253
MRDS ID I000050
Record type Site
Current site name Kunwarara

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 150.21536, -22.91336 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 2000(meters)
Relative position IN MARLBOROUGH-PRINCHESTER AREA, 55 KM NORTHWEST OF ROCKHAMPTON., Accurate To Nearest Minute.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Queensland(province)

Australia(country)

Australia(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Australia Queensland

Comments on the location information

  • THE LOCATION IS ADJACENT TO THE MAIN QUEENSLAND STATE RAILWAY AND TO NATIONAL HIGHWAY #1.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Magnesite Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • THE MAGNESITE OCCURS AS CRYPTOCRYSTALLINE NODULES UP TO 1 M IN DIAMETER.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Magnesite Ore
Clay Gangue
Dolomite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result MAGNESITE RUNS ABOUT 93% MGCO3. THE MAGNESITE HAS LOW IRON CONTENT. MGCO3 TO ORE RATIO IS >40% BY VOLUME. IN SOLID SOLUTION, THE MAGNESITE CONTAINS 0.8-1.1% CAO, 60-100 PPM FE2O3, < 30 PPM NIO, AND 200-900 PPM MNO.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) 150.21536, -22.91336
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Width 3000M

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE DEPOSIT IS NEAR THE CENTER OF A 130 SQ. KM BASIN WHICH CONTAINS A 2-19 M THICK HORIZON OF FLAT-LYING DOLOMITIC MATERIAL UNDERLAIN BY TERTIARY GRAVELS THAT REST ON GRANITIC BASEMENT ROCKS. CONTACT METAMORPHOSED SERPENTINITE TO THE WEST OF THE BASIN WAS ERODED DURING TERTIARY AND TRANSPORTED AND DEPOSITED AT THE CENTER OF THE BASIN AS MAGNESITE AND AT THE EDGES AS DOLOMITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1985
Discoverer Queensland Metals Corporation
Year of first production 1991

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Queensland Metals Corp. N.L. (50%); Pancontinental Minin

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1986
    Total resources 460000000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Magnesite Mg 50 wt-pct Magnesium Major 1986
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1987
    Total resources 550000000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Magnesite Mg 47 wt-pct Magnesium Major 1987
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1990
    Total resources 800000000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Magnesite Mg 43 wt-pct Magnesium Major 1990

Comments on development

  • PRODUCTION BEGAN APRIL 7, 1991. TO 1988, 802 DRILL HOLES, TOTALLING 12,119 M DEFINED THE DEPOSIT (INCLUDES 63 CALDWELD HOLES 900 MM IN DIAMETER). ; TOTAL$: 130US

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1988, MINERAL NOTES: NO. 246, P. 66.

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1986, QMC PUSHES ON WITH KUNWARARA MAGNESITE: NO. 221, P. 8-9.

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1986, PRIME SITES SELECTED FOR KUNWARARA MAGNESITE: NO. 225, P. 8.

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1986, KUNWARARA MAGNESITE-- 450M. TONNE RESERVE: NO. 224, P. 8.

  • Deposit

    SCHMIDT, I.H., 1987, TURKEY'S SALDA LAKE-- A GENETIC MODEL FOR AUSTRALIA'S NEWLY DISCOVERED MAGNESITE DEPOSITS: INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, NO. 239, P. 19-31.

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1991, WORLD OF MINERALS: NO. 285, P. 8-9.

  • Deposit

    FROST, M.T., MCCALLLUM, D., JONES, M.H., AND CANTERFORD, J.H., 1988, THE KUNWARARA MAGNESITE PROJECT--THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MAJOR NEW DEPOSIT IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, IN CLARKE, G.M., ED., 8TH "INDUSTRIAL MINERALS" INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS: LONDON, METAL BULLETIN PLC, P. 230-239.

  • Reserve-Resource

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1986; SCHMIDT, 1987; 1990 ESTIMATE IS FROM ADVERTISEMENT IN INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, NO. 275, P. 23.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit WHITE MAGNESITE NODULES (ABOUT 50% BY VOLUME) OCCUR IN A SAND-CLAY-MAGNESITE MATRIX AS A STRATIFORM HORIZON 2.5 TO 18. 5 (AVERAGING 7.25) M THICK. THE DEPOSIT IS COVERED BY AN AVERAGE 4.2 M THICK SOFT BLACK SOIL AND HAS 2 HIGH GRADE AREAS. THE DEPOSIT FORMS AN ARCUATE ZONE WITH A STRIKE LENGTH OF 1.3 KM, WIDTH OF 500-3000 M, AND SURFACE AREA OF 2540 HECTARES OR 63 SQ KMS. THE MAGNESITE NODULES ARE LOW-IRON, HIGH-GRADE, CRYPTOCRYSTALLINE MAGNESITE. ABOUT 85 MT OF HIGH QUALITY, BONE MAGNESITE IS CONTAINED IN 4 HIGH GRADE ZONES. THE DEPOSIT PROBABLY FORMED IN A SHALLOW LAKE, WHICH HAS SINCE INFILLED. LOCALLY DOLOMITE-RICH NODULES OCCUR, BUT THEY ARE RESTRICTED TO CERTAIN AREAS AND HORIZONS AND POSE NO MAJOR MINING PROBLEM.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-89 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-DEC-91 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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