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Telfer Mine

Producer in Western Australia, Australia with commodity Gold
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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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Ownership information
  12. Production statistics
  13. Reserves and resources
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10085216
MRDS ID W700777
Record type Site
Current site name Telfer Mine
Alternate or previous names West Dome, Main Dome, Bot Flat

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 122.21063, -21.72019 (WGS84)

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

  • IN THE SOUTHWESTERN PART OF THE GREAT SANDY DESERT IN THE PATERSON PROVINCE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Pyrite Ore
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Metamorphism, Hydrothermal

Analytical data

Result THE AVERAGE GRADE OF THE LIMONITIC DEPOSITS IS ABOUT 0.5 OZ AU/ST.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock unit name Mt. Crofton Granite;Malu Quartzite
    Rock description Mt. Crofton Granite;Malu Quartzite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Telfer Formation
    Rock description Telfer Formation
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite

Nearby scientific data

(1) 122.21063, -21.72019
ListMap

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1971
Year of first production 1977

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Joint Venture: Newmont Australia Ltd. (70%, And Bhp Gold Mines Ltd. (30%,
    Last year 1990

Production statistics

  • Year 1981
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^0.289 Oz Au/Mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Gold Gold 8g/mt
  • Year 1982
    Material AU
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^0.366 Oz Au/Mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Gold Gold 10g/mt
  • Year 1982
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^0.366 Oz Au/Mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Gold Gold 10g/mt

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1987
    Total resources 38300000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 2.35 g/mt Gold Major 1987

Comments on development

  • ORE PRODUCTION CAPACITY BETWEEN 300,000 AND 500,000 TONNES/YEAR. IN 1986, UNDERGOING A $A20.5 MILLION UPGRADE DESIGNED TO INCREASE PRODUCTION TO 250,000 TOZ/YR BY 1988, ALMOST 60% OVER 1986 OUTPUT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MINING MAGAZING, JANUARY 1989, P. 47.

  • Deposit

    ENGINEERING AND MINING MAGAZINE, JUNE, 1987, P. 9-10.

  • Deposit

    BOYLE, R.W., 1979, THE GEOCHEMISTRY OF GOLD AND ITS DEPOSITS: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA BULLETIN 280, 584 P.

  • Deposit

    ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, NOVEMBER, 1983, P. 111-112.

  • Deposit

    DIMO, G., 1990, TELFER GOLD DEPOSITS, IN HUGHES, F.E., ED., GEOLOGY OF THE MINERAL DEPOSITS OF AUSTRALIA AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA, VOLUME 1: AUSTRALASIAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGY MONOGRAPH 14, P. 643-651.

  • Production

    EMJ, 1983; DIMO, 1990.

  • Reserve-Resource

    DIMO, 1990.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit HYPOGENE, SUPERGENE, AND GOSSAN MINERALIZATION ARE PRESENT. MOST ECONOMIC MINERALIZATION IS DUE TO SUPERGENE ENRICHMENT OF THE PYRITIC PROTORE. QUARTZ AND QUARTZ-LIMONITE REEFS WITH PYRITE BOXWORKS AND FREE GOLD THAT ARE LARGELY CONCORDANT WITH A SEQUENCE OF METAMORPHOSED STABLE SHELF SEDIMENTS. MOST OF THE AURIFEROUS QUARTZ DEPOSITS OCCUR IN ANTICLINES AND DOMES AND MANY ARE SADDLE REEFS. THE MOST IMPORTANT ORE HORIZON IS THE MIDDLE VALE REEF, WHICH VARIES IN THICKNESS FROM A FEW CENTIMETERS TO A MAXIMUM OF 2.5 M. ADDITIONAL ORE IS FOUND IN 2 OTHER REEFS-- THE E-1 AND THE E-2 REEFS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-89 Beougher, Dee (Spanski, Gregory T.) U.S. Geological Survey }CORRECTED LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE
Updater 01-APR-94 Orris, Greta J. (Preston, W.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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