1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Sherlock Bay, Australia

Occurrence in Western Australia, Australia with commodities Nickel, Copper, Iron, Sulfur
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Ownership information
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10079592
MRDS ID W029628
Record type Site
Current site name Sherlock Bay, Australia

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 117.54936, -20.79662 (WGS84)
Relative position 26 MILES EAST OF CAPE LAMBERT

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Western Australia(province)

Australia(country)

Australia(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Australia Western Australia

Comments on the location information

  • NEAR COAST OF THE INDIAN OCEAN,PILBARA-REGION

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Nickel Critical Primary
Copper Secondary
Iron Tertiary
Sulfur Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • THE MAJOR PRIMARY ORE MINERAL IS PENTLANDITE, WHICH IS GENERALLY ASSOCIATED WITH NICKELLIFEROUS PYRRHOTITE. THIS PRIMARY ASSEMBLAGE HAS BEEN ALTERED TO A VIOLARITE-PYRITE ASSEMBLAGE IN THE ZONE DOWN TO ABOUT 200 M BELOW SURFACE.VARYING AMOUNTS OF CHALCOPYRITE AND OTHER COPPER-BEARING SULFIDES ACCOMPANY THE NICKEL-IRON SULFIDES. THE NICKEL-COPPER RATIO VARIES BETWEEN ABOUT 3:1 AND 60:1

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Pentlandite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Epidote Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Stilpnomelane Gangue

Analytical data

Result NICKEL-COPPER RATIO 5:1

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Mafic Volcanic Rock > Basalt
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite

Nearby scientific data

(1) 117.54936, -20.79662
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Pilbara Archaean Block

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE SHERLOCK BAY NI-CU DEPOSIT IS A BANDED QUARTZ-AMPHIBOLE-MAGNETITE-SULFIDE ROCK WHICH IN OUTCROP APPEARS TO BE AN IRON FORMATION. THE MINERALIZATION SEEMS TO BE WITHIN A FRACTURE ZONE, AND THE QUARTZ AMPHIBOLE MAGNETITE AND SULFIDES HAVE BEEN INTRUDED. THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF THE NI AND CU MINERALIZATION AND MUCH OF THE ASSOCIATED MINERALS WITHIN THE MINERALIZED HORIZON IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE NEARBY ULTRAMAFIC. THE MECHANISM BY WHICH THE NI, CU, FE AND SULPHUR ARE TRANSPORTED AND PRECIPITATED IS NOT KNOWN.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Both
Significant No

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Texas Gulf

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • H1) OUTLINED TO A DEPTH OF 1000 M OVER A STRIKE LENGTH OF 2 KM.

Comments on development

  • IDENTIFIED RECOURCES (1975)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    AUSTRALIAN MINERAL INDUSTRY, VOL. 28 NO. 4 (1976) P.108

  • Deposit

    MILLER L.J.& SMITH M.E.: SHERLOCK BAY NICKEL-COPPER (ECON. GEOL. OF AUSTRALIA...1975 (1976 B 849)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit 4 ORE ZONES: { NO.1 1000 M LONG, 35 M WIDTH, STRIKE TO W, DIP 85 DEG. N { NO.2 500 M LONG, 40 M WIDTH, STRIKE E TO W, DIP 85 DEG. N { NO.3 1000 M LONG, 70 M WIDTH, STRIKE E TO W DIP 85 DEG. N { NO.4 200 M LONG, 30 M WIDTH

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1977 Saam, Henning G. (Shaffer, Glenn L.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site