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Rustenburg Mine

Producer in South Africa with commodities Platinum, Osmium, Iridium, Gold, Nickel, Copper, Chromium
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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. Alteration
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10038809
MRDS ID M046256
Record type Site
Current site name Rustenburg Mine
Alternate or previous names Waterval Mine, Rustenburg Platinum Mines, Ltd.
Related records 10134615, 10232002

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 27.35367, -25.6783 (WGS84)
Relative position 7 MILES EAST OF RUSTENBURG

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

South Africa(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Platinum Critical Primary
Osmium Secondary
Iridium Critical Secondary
Gold Secondary
Nickel Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary
Chromium Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chromite Ore
Cubanite Ore
Electrum Ore
Gold Ore
Graphite Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Millerite Ore
Pentlandite Ore
Platinum Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Rutile Ore
Sperrylite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidization To 120 Ft. Vertically

Analytical data

Result PYRRHOTITE = 46.06% AVG, PENTLANDITE = 32.99 AVG., CHALCOPYRITE = 19.06% AVG., PYRITE = 2.74%
Result RELATIVE ABUNDANCE, MINERAL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE COMBINED PLATINUM GROUP METALS IN SILICATE ORE (VOLUME PERCENT) 12.06% IN PYRRHOTITE, 9.5% IN CHALCOPYRITE, 69.0% IN PENTLANDITE 9.09% ENCLOSED IN GANGUE, AND COMBINED PLATINUM GROUP METALS IN CHROMITE ORE (VOLUME PERCENT) 8.54% IN PYRRHOTITE, 21.4% IN CHALCOPYRITE, 58.26% IN PENTLANDITE, 11.76% ENCLOSED IN GANGUE. TYPICAL ORE= PT 60%, PD 27%, RU 5%, RH 2.7%, IR .7%, OS .6%, AU 4%

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite > Harzburgite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Pyroxenite

Nearby scientific data

(1) 27.35367, -25.6783
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description "Potholes" = Basin - Shaped Structure In Reef, "Koppie" = Dome - Shaped Structure In Reef.

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR SHEET
    Strike EAST - WEST
    Dip 9 DEG 30 FT N
    Thickness 0.38M
    Length 112651M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Igneous Sheet

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1924

Mining district

District name Rustenburg District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Rustenburg Platinum Mines, Ltd.
    Home office Rustenburg, R.S.A.

Comments on the production information

  • ESTIMATED 1974 PRODUCTION 1,775,000 OUNCES PT-GROUP METALS

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RUSTENBURG AND UNION TOGETHER

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 12874.4M
    Overall depth 304.8M
    Overall length 12874.4M

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MERTIE, 1969, ECONOMIC GEOL. OF THE PLATINUM METALS: U. S. G. S. PROF. PAPER 630, P. 39 - 41

  • Deposit

    BRABERS, COMPILER, 1971; LIST OF WORKING MINES IN REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: DEPT. MINES, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, 25 P.

  • Deposit

    STUMPFL, AND TARKIAN, 1976, PLATINUM GENESIS: ECON. GEOL. V.71, N.7

  • Deposit

    KINGSTON, 1966, MERENSKY REEF AT RUSTENBURG MINE: MINERALOG. MAG., V.35

  • Deposit

    5) PLATINUM METALS SERVICE, 1957, PT MINING IN THE TRANSVAAL: JOHNSON, MATTHEY AND CO, V.1,N.1.

  • Deposit

    6) BUTTERMAN, W.C., 1975, PT-GROUP METALS: U.S. DEPT. INTERIOR, BUR. MINE, MINERAL YEARBOOK, 1973.

  • Deposit

    7) SOUTH AFRICAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 1970, GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, SCALE 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    8) COVDINS, 1969, THE MERENSKY REEF BUSHVELD COMPLEX: ECON. GEOL. MON. NO.4.

  • Deposit

    9) WAGNER, 1929, PT DEPOSITS AND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA: OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH.

  • Deposit

    10) MINING MAGAZINE, 1977, RUSTENBURG CUTS OUTPUT: V.137, NO.6.

  • Deposit

    11) ENG. JOURNAL, 1978.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit POTGIETERUST PLATINUMS, LTD, AND WATERVAL (RUSTENBURG) PLATINUM MINING CO. MERGED IN 1932 TO FORM THE RUSTENBURG PLATINUM MINES, LTD. THIS IS THE LONGEST AND OLDEST SF PRODUCER. WILL CUT PT OUTPUT BY 15% FROM PRESENT ONE MILLION OZ PER YEAR. (DEC, 1977)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1975 Blair, Will N. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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