Wannaway

Past Producer in Western Australia, Australia with commodities Nickel, Copper, Palladium, Gold, Iridium, Iron
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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Ownership information
  14. Reserves and resources
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10100223
MRDS ID W029638
Record type Site
Current site name Wannaway

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 121.54919, -31.61274 (WGS84)
Relative position ABOUT 18 KM SSW OF WIDGIEMOOLTHA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Western Australia(province)

Australia(country)

Australia(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Australia Western Australia

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Nickel Critical Primary
Copper Secondary
Palladium Critical Tertiary
Gold Tertiary
Iridium Critical Tertiary
Iron Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • IN THE AUSTRALIAN SULFIDE DEPOSITS THE MAJOR PRIMARY ORE MINERAL IS PENTLANDITE, WHICH IS GENERALLY ASSOCIATED WITH NICKELLIFEROUS PYRRHOTITE. IN MOST DEPOSITS 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
Bornite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chromite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Millerite Ore
Pentlandite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore

Analytical data

Result NICKEL-COPPER RATIO IS 20 TO 1 AND 10 TO 1. NI SULFIDES: PD = 126 PPB, AU = 7.1 PPB, IR = 15.9 PPB, CU = 948 PPM, NI = 1.47%
Result NI GOSSANS: PD = 52 PPB, IR = 15 PPB, AU = 0.2 PPB.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Amphibolite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Serpentinite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) 121.54919, -31.61274

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Is Located On The West Flank Of The Widmooltha Dome
Type of structure Local
Structure description The Deposit Is Associated With The Basalt Ultramafic Contact. In The Upper 250 M The Mineralization Is Off-Contact And Separated From The Footwall Amphibolite By Up To 12 M Of Barren Serpentinite. At Depth, It Occurs At The Basal Contact And Massive Sulfides Locally Enter Footwall Structures.

Ore body information

  • General form LENS, IRREGULAR
    Dip 65 DEG.W
    Thickness 18M
    Length 400M
    Width 21M
    Depth to top 370M

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE MINERALIZATION COMPRISES 90% WEAKLY DISSEMINATED SULFIDES IN SERPENTINITE AND 10% MASSIVE AND HEAVILY DISSEMINATED MATERIAL.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1969

Mining district

District name Widgiemooltha Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Multiple Ownership:
  • Type Owner
    Owner Anaconda Co.
    Interest 60
  • Type Owner
    Owner Zinc Rio Tinto Of Australia
    Interest 26.67
  • Type Owner
    Owner New Broken Hill Consolidated Ltd.
    Interest 13.33

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1975
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Nickel Ni 1.23 wt-pct Nickel Major 1975
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1975
    Total resources 45000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Nickel Ni 1.2 wt-pct Nickel Major 1975
    Copper Cu 0.1 wt-pct Copper Minor 1975

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • H1)THIS ESTIMATES INCLUDE SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITIES OF MINERALIZATION OR AVERAGING BETWEEN 0.5% AND 1% NICKEL, WHICH MAY NOT PROVE TO BE ECONOMIC.

Comments on the workings information

  • SHAFT- 210 M.

Comments on development

  • IN 1972 PRODUCTION COULD BEGIN, BUT THE MINE WAS PLACED ON A CARE-AND-MAINTENANCE BASIS BECAUSE OF LACK OF MARKETS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIS RECORD CONTAINS DATA FROM DUPLICATE RECORD M046762 OF W.N. BLAIR WHICH HAS BEEN DELETED FROM MAIN MRDS.
Deposit THICKNESS OF THE MINERALIZED INTERVAL IS UP TO 18 M AND THE MAIN ZONE IS MORE THAN 9 M THICK. THE SOUTHERN END IS IRREGULAR AND PATCHES OF MINERALIZATION UP TO 1.5 M WIDE OCCUR 200-250 M SOUTH OF MAIN DEPOSIT.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1974 Shaffer, Glenn L. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1977 Saam, Henning G. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-APR-1994 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Operator history (post-MRDS)

MRDS records operators as of each record's last update (≤ 2019). Some of the operators listed here have since changed hands or dissolved:

Curated by qvyshift.com from publicly-reported M&A activity (SEC filings, press releases, USGS Mineral Yearbooks). Not authoritative — verify against primary sources before relying on it. The MSHA panel above is the current authoritative source for actively-permitted mines.