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Wessels Mine

Producer in Eastern Cape, South Africa with commodities Manganese, Iron
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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. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  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 10079219
MRDS ID W028267
Record type Site
Current site name Wessels Mine
Related records 10304745

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 22.86819, -27.09662 (WGS84)
Elevation 1100
Relative position 16 KILOMETERS NORTHWEST OF HOTAZEL; 155 KILOMETERS NORTH OF THE TOWN OF POSTMASBURG

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Eastern Cape(province)

South Africa(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
South Africa Eastern Cape

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Manganese Critical Primary
Iron Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • COMBINED METAL CONTENT HIGH, AT ABOUT 61 PERCENT, BUT MANGANESE TO IRON RATIO CONSIDERED ONLY FAIR. LOW PHOSPHOROUS AND SULFUR CONTENTS COMBINE TO MAKE THE ORE AN EXCELLENT BLEND MATERIAL WITH MANGANESE FROM OTHER SOURCES.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bixbyite Ore
Clay Gangue

Analytical data

Result SEE PRODUCTION ENTRIES

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic)

Nearby scientific data

(1) 22.86819, -27.09662
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Low Intensity Anticlines And Synclines Regionally. Faulting Intermittent And Of Limited Magnitude
Type of structure Local
Structure description Orebodies Dip Gently Westward With Only Minor Undulations. Two Post-Mineral, Normal, Faults Exist Within The Central Portion Of The Minable Zone ( 20 - 40 Meter Throws), But Neither Are Located In Current Minng Areas And Not Expected To Influence Operations For A Number Of Years.

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR/BLANKET
    Strike N-S
    Dip 10 DEG. W.
    Thickness 4.5M
    Depth to top 370M
    Depth to bottom 374.5M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Gentle Uplift Of Continental Mass; Minor Folding And Faulting; Erosion; Manganiferous Solutions Circulated Through Tectonically Disturbed Banded Ironstone (Syngentically) To Give Rise To Metasomatic Replacement Of The Country Rock With Manganese Along Favorable Layers.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1951
Year of first production 1973

Mining district

District name Kalahari Field; Kuruman District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner South African Manganese Amcor Ltd.

Production statistics

  • Year 1977
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^47 % Mn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Manganese Manganese 47wt-pct
  • Year 1978
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^47 % Mn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Manganese Manganese 47wt-pct
  • Year 1979
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^ 13 % Fe (Approximately)
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Iron Iron 13wt-pct
  • Year 1980
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^ 13 % Fe (Approximately)
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Iron Iron 13wt-pct
  • Year 1981
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^47 % Mn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Manganese Manganese 47wt-pct
  • Year 1983
    Period 1965-1983
    Material ORE MN
    Description Cp_Grade: ^47 % Mn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Manganese Manganese 47wt-pct
  • Year 1983
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^ 13 % Fe (Approximately)
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Iron Iron 13wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • THIS FIRM DOES NOT PUBLISH PRODUCTION BY MINE AND TERMINATED ANNUAL OUTPUT ON A COMPANY BASIS IN 1976. TOTAL CUMULATIVE PRODUCTION THEREFORE IS ESTIMATED FROM PRESS RELEASES. ; ESTIMATE BASED ON TOTAL COUNTRY TOTAL AND VERBAL DISCUSSIONS WITH SAMANCOR AND SOUTH AFRICAN MINERALS BUREAU. ; THIS FIRM DOES NOT PUBLISH PRODUCTION BY MINE AND TERMINATED PUBLICATION OF ANNUAL OUTPUT ON A COMPANY BASIS IN 1976. TOTALS USED, THEREFORE, HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED FROM PRESS RELEASES. ANNUAL ANALYSES ARE NOT AVAILABLE. ; THIS FIRM DOES NOT PUBLISH PRODUCTION BY MINE AND, BEGINNING IN 1978, TERMINATED PUBLICATION OF ANNUAL OUTPUT ON A COMPANY BASIS. TOTALS USED, THEREFORE, HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED FROM PRESS RELEASES AND A PAST-EXPERIENCE DATA BASE. SIMILARLY, ANNUAL ANALYSES ARE NOT AVAILABLE. GRADE ESTIMATES ARE FROM COMPANY BROCHURES.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ESTIMATE (PROVED RESERVES ONLY) MADE BY REPORTER FROM PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF MINE, VERBAL STATEMENTS BY COMPANY PERSONNEL AND APPROXIMATIONS ADVANCED IN PROFESSIONAL JOURNAL ARTICLES. OFFICIAL, COMPANY-APPROVED, RESERVE DATA ARE NOT AVAILABLE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 374.5M

Comments on the workings information

  • MECHANIZED ROOM AND PILLAR METHOD OF MINING. THE MINE OPERATES WITH ONE VERTICAL SHAFT (3 COMPARTMENT; CONCRETE LINED; 4.3 - METER DIAMETER; 395 - METER DEPTH) AND TWO INCLINED SHAFTS. THE VERTICAL SHAFT IS USED FOR HOISTING AND DOWNCAST FOR MEN AND MATERIALS. THE INCLINED SHAFTS (15 - DEGREE GRADIENTS) ARE FOR VENTILATION, ACCESS FOR RUBBER TIRED LOADING AND DRILLING EQUIPMENT AND SAFETY ESCAPES. MINING ROOMS ARE 6 - METERS SQUARE WITH 3 METER SQUARE PILLARS. 90 PERCENT EXTRACTION WITH PILLAR REMOVALS ON RETREAT BASIS PLANNED.

Comments on development

  • MILL.CAP: 1.0 MIL. MET. T/YR. ; ECON.YEAR: 1973 ; ECON.COM: REPORTEDLY THE WORLD'S LARGEST UNDERGROUND MANGANESE MINE. TWO UNUSUALLY UNIFORM OREBODIES, FLAT DIPS AND LOW COST MECHANIZED ROOM AND PILLAR MINING METHODS COMBINE TO MAKE OPERATION NOTABLY VIABLE. SALEABILITY OF THE ORE IS EXCELLENT--FOR THE FERROALLOYS INDUSTRY LOCALLY (AS DIRECT-FEED ORE) AND FOR EXPORT (AS BLEND ORE).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, FIFTH EDITION, HANDBOOK 7 , DEPARTMENT OF MINES, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY; 1976

  • Deposit

    MINERAL RESOURCES OF SOUTH-CENTRAL AFRICA; PELLETIER, R. A.; 1964

  • Deposit

    THE MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA, HANDBOOK 2 , DEPARTMENT OF MINES, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY; 1960

  • Production

    SOUTH AFRICAN MANGANESE AMCOR LIMITED ANNUAL REPORTS, 1974 - 1976 , AND SOUTH AFRICAN MANGANESE AMCOR LTD. BROCHURE; CIRCA 1976. AFTER 1976: PRESS RELEASES & SOUTH AFRICAN MINERALS BUREAU ; ESTIMATE BASED ON TOTAL COUNTRY PRODUCTION OF MANGANESE (SUPPLIED BY MINERALS BUREAU) AND INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY SAMANCOR OFFICIALS.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit TWO MINABLE HORIZONS EXIST AT WESSELS; THE "TOP OREBODY" (3.0 METERS IN THICKNESS) AND THE "BOTTOM OREBODY" (4.5 METERS). A THIRD (THE "MIDDLE OREBODY"), IS LENTICULAR, DISCONTINUOUS, AND NOT RECOVERED. MAX THICKNESS REFERS ONLY TO BOTTOM OREBODY. DEPTH TO TOP REFERS TO DEPTH OF BOTTOM OREBODY AT THE MINE'S SINGLE VERTICAL SHAFT. DIP IS MODERATELY VARIABLE (PLUS OR MINUS 10 DEGREES), BUT GENERALLY STRIKINGLY UNIFORM COMPARED TO OTHER OCCURRENCES IN THIS AREA. ULTIMATELY ORE MAY BE EXPECTED TO BE DEVELOPED TO DEPTHS IN EXCESS OF 425 METERS DOWN-DIP.
Deposit INFORMATION MERGED FROM RECORD NUMBER W028850 ; W028851 ; W030792 ; W032370 ; W033589

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1978 Sweetwood, Charles W. Department of State
Updater 01-AUG-1984 Mccarter Lorna D Department of State
Updater 01-MAY-1980 Sweetwood, Charles W. Department of State
Updater 01-JUL-1981 Mccarter, Lorna D. Department of State
Updater 01-AUG-1982 Mccarter, Lorna D. Department of State
Updater 01-AUG-1984 Mccarter, Lorna D. Department of State

Beyond USGS

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

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