Radium Hill Mine

Producer in South Australia, Australia with commodities Uranium, REE, Scandium
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. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10107881
MRDS ID D003137
Record type Site
Current site name Radium Hill Mine
Alternate or previous names Includes Three Principal Lodes, The Whip, Geiger, And Old Main.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 140.62985, -32.34203 (WGS84)
Relative position ABOUT 32 KILOMETERS EAST SOUTHEAST OF OLARY; ABOUT 96 KILOMETERS SOUTHWEST OF BROKEN HILL; ABOUT 515 KILOMETERS NORTHEAST OF ADELAIDE.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

South Australia(province)

Australia(country)

Australia(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Australia South Australia

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION SHOWN ON GEOL. REC. ON MAP, OLARY PROVINCE, GEOL. SUR. S. AUS. BULL. 30 , DICKINSON AND OTHERS, 1954

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Uranium Primary
REE Critical Primary
Scandium Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Xenotime Ore
Biotite Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Ilmenite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Rutile Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoarchean
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) 140.62985, -32.34203

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Mac Donald Fault And Dey Lineament

Ore body information

  • Strike NE
    Dip 30 - 70 SE
    Width 6.1M
    Depth to bottom 335.28M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Lodes Are In A Set Of Northwest-Southwest Shears And Fissures Developed Between Two Ancient Northwest-Southeast-Trending Regional Faults (Mac Donald And Dey Lineaments) Spaced About 3 Miles Apart Which Are Marked By Later Amphibolite Dykes. The Major Anticlinal Structure Is Also The Locus Of Greatly Increased Igneous Activity, Introduced Davidite Which Extensively Replaced The Ilmeno-Rutile-Hematite Amphibolite, Pegmatite, And Quartz Dykes.

Comments on the geologic information

  • 1730 M.Y. FOR DAVIDITE

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1906
Discoverer Prospector, A. J. Smith

Mining district

District name Radium Hill Area (Mining Field)

Comments on the production information

  • ITEM 1 CONTAINED ITEM 2 . PARKIN AND OTHERS, 1969 : THE MINE CLOSED IN 1962 ON COMPLETION OF SALES CONTRACT AND ALMOST COMPLETE DEPLETION OF KNOWN RESERVES. SINCE 1966 INTEREST IN URANIUM HAS REVIVED AND EXPLORATION ACTIVITY INTENSIFIED.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • URANIUM RESERVES REMAINING AFTER 1961 WERE TAKEN AS NEGLIGIBLE

Comments on development

  • WORKED SPORADICALLY FOR RADIUM 1906 TO 1931 . PRODUCTION OF URANIUM OXIDE BEGAN IN 1954

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    PARKIN, L. W., ED., WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY FIRMAN, J., JOHNS, R. K., LUDBROOK, N. H., THOMSON, B. P., AND WOPFNER, H., 1969 , HANDBOOK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN GEOLOGY: SOUTH AUSTRALIA DEPT. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 268 P.

  • Deposit

    DICKINSON, S. B., SPRIGG, R. C., KING, D., WADE, M. L., WEBB, B. P., WHITTLE, A. W. G., STILLWELL, F. L., AND EDWARDS, A. B., 1954 , URANIUM DEPOSITS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA: SOUTH AUSTRALIA DEPT. MINES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 30

  • Deposit

    LIDDY, J. C., 1972 , URANIUM POTENTIAL OF AUSTRALIA: AUST. MINING 64 NO. 5 , P. 24 - 33

  • Deposit

    WARREN, R. G., 1972 , A COMMENTARY ON THE METALLOGENIC MAP OF AUSTRALIA AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA: AUSTRALIA BUR. MINERAL RESOURCES, GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS BULL. 145 , 85 P.

  • Deposit

    5) MC LEOD, I. R., ED., 1965 , AUSTRALIAN MINERAL INDUSTRY: THE MINERAL DEPOSITS: AUSTRALIA BUR. MINERAL RESOURCES, GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS BULL. 72 , 690 P.

  • Deposit

    6) HEINRICH, E. W., 1958 , MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY OF RADIOACTIVE RAW MATERIALS: NEW YORK, MC GRAW - HILL BOOK COMPANY, 654 P.

  • Deposit

    7) PARKIN, L. W., 1965 , RADIUM HILL URANIUM MINE: GEOL. AUST., ORE DEPTS., 2ND, P. 312 - 313 .

  • Deposit

    8) PARKIN, L. W., AND GLASSON, K. R., 1954 , THE GEOLOGY OF RADIUM HILL URANIUM MINE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 49 , NO. 8 , P. 815 - 825

  • Production

    ITEMS 1 , 2 , LIDDY, 1972 . ITEM 3 , WARREN, 1972 . ITEM 5 , PARKIN AND OTHERS, 1969

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1974 Byers, Virginia P. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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