Merensky Reef

Producer in South Africa with commodities PGE, Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, Iridium, Osmium, Nickel, Copper, Gold, Chromium, Molybdenum, Lead
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Ore body information
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Links to other databases
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. General comments
  14. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10039232
MRDS ID M046821
Record type Site
Current site name Merensky Reef

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 28.50142, -24.49668 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

South Africa(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country
South Africa

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION PLOTTED IN CENTER OF BUSHVELD COMPLEX

Commodities

Commodity Importance
PGE Critical Primary
Platinum Critical Primary
Palladium Critical Primary
Rhodium Critical Primary
Iridium Critical Primary
Osmium Primary
Nickel Critical Primary
Copper Primary
Gold Primary
Chromium Critical Secondary
Molybdenum Secondary
Lead Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Cubanite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Magnetite Ore
Skutterudite Ore
Sperrylite Ore

Nearby scientific data

(1) 28.50142, -24.49668

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form SHEET

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discoverer A. F. Lombard, A Prospector

Mining district

District name Bushveld Complex

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RATIO OF AU TO PGM = 1:18 , CALCULATED TONNAGE OF EXPLOITABLE ORE IS 3,300,000,000 TONS

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    WAGNER, 1929 , PLATINUM DEPOSITS AND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA: C. STRUIK, CAPETOWN

  • Deposit

    VON GRUENWALDT, 1977 , MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE BUSHVELD COMPLEX

  • Deposit

    VERMAAK AND HENDRIKS, 1976 , MINERALOGY OF MERENSKY REEF: ECON. GEOL. V. 71 , N. 7

  • Deposit

    VERMAAK, 1976 , MERENSKY REEF ENVIRONMENT AND GENESIS: ECON. GEOL. V. 71 , N. 7 .

  • Deposit

    5) COUSINS, 1969 , THE MERENSKY REEF OF THE BUSHVELD: ECON. GEOL. MON. NO. 4 .

  • Deposit

    6) VON GRUENWALDT, 1977 , MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE BUSHVELD: MINERALS SCI. ENG. V. 9 , NO. 2 .

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit REEF NAMED FOR DR. HANS MERENSKY

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1977 Blair, Will N. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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