Matombo Area

Prospect in Morogoro, Tanzania with commodity Graphite
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Nearby scientific data
  7. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  8. Links to other databases
  9. Bibliographic references
  10. General comments
  11. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10158709
MAS/MILS ID 7830450001
Record type Site
Current site name Matombo Area

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: 37.79289, -7.11859 (WGS84)
Elevation 760

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Morogoro(province)

Tanzania(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Tanzania Morogoro

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Graphite Critical Primary

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) 37.79289, -7.11859

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Prospect
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    DMA SERIES 1501 MAP, SHEET SB 37-14, SCALE 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    DEKUN, N. THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF AFRICA, ELSEVIER PUBL.

  • Deposit

    CO., N.Y., 1965, P. 517.

  • Deposit

    HARRIS, J.F., SUMMARY OF THE GEOLOGY OF TANGANYIKA, GEOL.

  • Deposit

    SURV. OF TANGANYIKA, MEMOIR NO. 1, PART IV-ECONOMIC

  • Deposit

    GEOLOGY, 1961, PP. 80-81.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit NUMBER OF AREAS OF SOFT, EASILY MINEABLE,GRAPHITE BEARING MATERIAL ALONG 6.5 KM LENGTH ON W SIDE OF THE MIKESE- KISAKI ROAD,NEAR MATAMBA MARKET. CO-ORDINATES ARE FOR RICHEST DEPOSIT, LOCATED 1.6 KM SE OF MTOMBOZI MISSION, ABOUT 43 KM NE OF KISAKI. BY 1960 4 AREAS HAD BEEN TRENCHED AND SAMPLED BY GEOL. SURVEY. DEPTH OF WEATHERING CAN REACH IS M OR MORE. THE GRADE RANGE OF 3 200-LB. PIT SAMPLES FROM THE RICHER AREAS OF THE RICHEST OF THE DEPOSITS WAS BETWEEN 12 AND 25 % GRAPHITE. 1960-ROUGH ESTIMATE OF RESERVES BASED ON LIMITED PITING AND TRENCHING WAS 317,450 MT OF GRAPHITE BEARING MATERIAL AT MTOMBOZI AND 326,520 MT AT THE MTUKIRA DEPOSIT. AV. GRADE NOT GIVEN BECAUSE OF EXTREME VARIABILITY. 3 DISADVANTAGES TO MATERIAL LOW PROPORTION OF LARGE FLAKE, FLAKES ARE BOOKY AND INTERLEAVED WITH IMPURITIES (ESPEC- IALLY MICA), AND VOLUMINOUS SLIMES PRODUCED MAKE FLOTATION DIFFICULT. 19, 18 AND 11 % CONCS. HAVE BEEN MADE IN WHICH MORE THAN HALF WAS FLAKE (+60 MESH) BUT FLAKES UNSATISFACTORY AND C CONTENT ONLY 75 %. ONE SAMPLE WAS TREATED AS MINED WITH NO GRINDING AND GAVE 37 TO 52 % C CONCS. A LIGHT GRIND BEFORE FLOTATION GAVE SLIGHTLY HIGHER GRADES (48 TO 58% C). HIGH-CARBON FINES CAN BE PRODUCED FROM ROUGHING CONCS.BY 2 METHODS: (1)PROLONGED WET GRINDING, WET SCREENING ON 150 MESH, DRYING OVERSIZE AND GRINDING TO PASS 150 MESH, OR (2) WET GRINDING AND REFLOTATION FOLLOWED BY DAY GRINDING OF CONC. TO PASS 150 MESH. PROCESS (1) GAVE PRODUCT OF 92.5 % C BUT A RECOVERY OF ONLY 43 % OF GRAPHITE. PROCESS (2) GAVE PRODUCT OF 90.4 % C AND A RECOVERY OF 56% OF GRAPHITE. DOUBTFUL IF EITHER PROCESS ECONOMIC EXCEPT AS SUBSIDIARY TO MANUFACTURE OF CRUCIBLE FLAKE. WATER IS AVAILABLE FROM PEREANIAL STREAMS AT MTOMBOZI.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 21-OCT-1983 Boyle, Ed U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

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