Raposos Gold Mine

Producer in Minas Gerais, Brazil with commodities Gold, Palladium, Silver
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. Ownership information
  15. Production statistics
  16. Reserves and resources
  17. Workings at the site
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10068857
MRDS ID W002126
Record type Site
Current site name Raposos Gold Mine
Alternate or previous names Mina Grande, Raposos, Lodes Espirito Santo, Mina Grande, Espirito West

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -43.80978, -19.96388 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 500(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Minas Gerais(province)

Brazil(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Brazil Minas Gerais

Comments on the location information

  • USED MINE SYMBOL ON NOVA LIMA QUADRANGLE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Palladium Critical Primary
Silver Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ORE BODIES WITH A HIGH PROPORTION OF PYRRHOTITE TO OTHER SULFIDES HAVE LARGE AMOUNTS OF GOLD. GOLD IS 3 TO 60 MICRONS, SOME UP TO 150 MICRONS.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Hematite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Martite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Quartz Gangue
Siderite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Sericitization, Carbonatization, Chloritization (Inner To Outer Zone)

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Iron Formation
    Rock unit name Rio Das Velhas Super Group
    Rock description Rio Das Velhas Super Group
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoarchean
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoarchean

Nearby scientific data

(1) -43.80978, -19.96388

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Eastward Plunging, Asymmetric Folds
Type of structure Local
Structure description Asymmetric And Isoclinal Folds

Ore body information

  • General form VEIN, IRREGULAR BEDS
    Thickness 30M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Iron-Formation With Bands Of Siderite Preferentially Replaced By Gold-Sulfide Ore

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE NOVA LIMA METASEDIMENTS RESTS UNCONFORMABLY ON THE OLDER ENGENHEIRO CORREA GRANITE BUT BOTH UNITS ARE MEMBERS OF THE RIO DAS VELHAS SUPER GROUP.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1750

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner St. John Del-Rey Mining Co. , Mineracao Morro Velho, S. A.
    First year 1910

Production statistics

  • Year 1972
    Material AU
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^6 G/Ton
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Gold Gold 6g/mt
  • Year 1980
    Material AU
    Description Ap_Grade: ^11.38 G/T Au
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Gold Gold 11g/mt
  • Year 1991
    Material AU
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^5.68 G/T Au
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Gold Gold 6g/mt

Comments on the production information

  • THIS AMOUNT IS PRODUCED FROM THE OUTPUT OF THIS MINE PLUS THE OUTPUT OF SEVEN OTHER MINES IN NOVA LIMA. THE RAPOSO MINE HAS PRODUCED MORE THAN 3.5 MILLION TONS OF ORE WITH AN AVERAGE GRADE OF 9-10 GRAMS PER METRIC TON.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1984
    Total resources 1400000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 8.5 g/mt Gold Major 1984
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1955
    Total resources 1694080000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 9.5 g/mt Gold Major 1955

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ORE(1) ALL RESERVES WITH GREATER THAN 8 G/T AU; ORE(2) ALL RESERVES ESPIRITO SANTO LODE, ORE(3) ALL RESERVES MINA GRANDE LODE, ORE(4) ALL RESERVES ESPIRITO WEST LODE

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 2454M

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    RIDGE, J.D., 1972, ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES OF MINERAL DEPOSITS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

  • Deposit

    TOLBERT, G.E., 1964, GEOLOGY OF THE RAPOSOS GOLD MINE, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL-ECONOMIC GEOLOGY VOL 59

  • Deposit

    LADEIRA, E.A., 1991, GENESIS OF GOLD IN QUADRILATERO FERRIFERO, A REMARKABLE CASE OF PERMANENCY, RECYCLING AND INHERITANCE - A TRIBUTE TO DJALMA GUIMARAES, PIERRE ROUTHIER AND HANS RAMBERG: IN BRAZIL GOLD '91 E.A. LADEIRA, ED., BALKEMA ROTTERDAM, P. 11-30.

  • Deposit

    CEASAR, P. DE A.B., 1984, PRINCIPIAS DEPOSITOS MINERAIS: CONCEITOS, METODOLOGIA E LISTAGEM IN SCHOBBENHAUS, C., AMEIDA CAMPOS, D., DERZE, G.R., AND ASMUS, H.E., EDS., GEOLOGIA DO BRASIL: BRASILIA, DEPARTAMENTO NACIONAL DA PRODUCAO MINERAL, P. 249-419.

  • Deposit

    ABREU, A.S., DINIZ, H.B., BUENO DO PRADO, M.G. AND SANTOS, S.P., 1988, A MINA DE OURO DE SAO BENTO, SANTA BARBARA, MINAS GERAIS IN SCHOBBENHAUS BRASIL; V. 3, P. 393-411.

  • Deposit

    VIEIRA, F.W.R., 1991, TEXTURES AND PROCESSES OF HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION AND MINERALIZATION IN THE NOVA LIMA GROUP, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL, IN BRAZIL GOLD '91, E.A. LADEIRA, ED.: BALKEMA, ROTTERDAM, P. 319-325.

  • Deposit

    GAIR, J.E., 1962, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE NOVA LIMA AND RIO ACIMA QUADRANGLES, MINAS GERAIS, BRASIL: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 341-A, 67 P.

  • Deposit

    1959 GEOLMAP GENE E. TOLBER

  • Production

    WRITTEN COMMUN. FROM A. RANSOME AMERICAN EMBASSY AT RIO DE JANEIRO

  • Reserve-Resource

    CEASAR (1984), GAIR (1962)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE GOLD SULFIDE ORE PREDOMINATELY REPLACED BANDS OF SIDERITE IN THE QUARTZ-SIDERITE IRON FORMATION, BUT LESS AMOUNTS OF GOLD ARE FOUND IN THE MAGNETITE-QUARTZ IRON AND PYRITE IRON FORMATIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE FAR LESS WELL MINERALIZED.
Deposit Discovery Year: EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-1974 Warfle, Thomas M. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-SEP-1993 Page, Norman J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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