Capel South Mine, Australia

Past Producer in Western Australia, Australia with commodities Titanium, Metal, Zirconium
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. Workings at the site
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10100224
MRDS ID W029676
Record type Site
Current site name Capel South Mine, Australia
Alternate or previous names Capel Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 115.49934, -33.59597 (WGS84)
Elevation 12
Relative position 3.8 KM SOUTHWEST OF CAPEL

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

  • 30 KM FROM THE PORT BUNBURY

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Titanium, Metal Critical Primary
Zirconium Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ALSO PRODUCTION OF SYNTHETIC ILMENITE WITH 92.5 % TI02 { (BASE METAL IS SECONDARY ILMENITE WITH 60 TO 62 % TI02) { THE SYNTHETIC RUTILE CONTAINS 92.5 TO 93 % TI02, 3.5 % FE + MN, 0.14 % H20

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Ilmenite Ore
Rutile Ore
Xenotime Ore
Zircon Ore
Clay Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result COMPOSITION OF HEAVY MINERAL FRACTIONS (IN WEIGHT PER CENT), ILMENITE 78.2, ALTERED ILMENITE 7.0, LEUCOXENE 3.2, RUTILE 0.4, ZIRCON 8.0

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Mafic Volcanic Rock > Basalt
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) 115.49934, -33.59597

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Fossil Shoreline, The Capel Line

Ore body information

  • General form LENS
    Thickness 10M
    Length 16000M
    Width 2500M

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE CAPEL SOUTH DEPOSITS LIE UNCONFORMABLE, COMMONLY ON A FOSSIL SEA CLIFF BETWEEN 3 AND 6 M HIGH OVER THE LEEDERVILLE FORMATION

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Year of first production 1956

Mining district

District name Capel

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Western Titanium Ltd.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Consolidated Gold Fields (Aust.) Ltd.

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION AT PRESENT, KIPPENBERGER (1977) { 200000 T ILMENITE, 99.2 % WITH ABOUT 54 % TI02 (PRIMARY ILMENITE) { 20000 T ILMENITE WITH ABOUT 60 % TI02 (SECONDARY ILMENITE) { 20000 T ZIRCON, 99.4 % WITH ABOUT 66 % ZR02 { 5000 T RUTILE WITH 96 % TI02 { 2500 T LEUCOXENE WITH 88 TO 90 % TI02 { 1500 T MONAZITE, ABOUT 95 % WITH 61 % RARE EARTHS { 10 T XENOTIME WITH 46 % RARE EARTHS { SOME ILMENITE AND ALL ALTERED ILMENITE ARE PROCESSED AT THE MINE SITE IN AN ILMENITE UP-GRADING PLANT, PRODUCING SYNTHETIC RUTILE.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • H.M.-HEAVY MINERAL; 1) PROVED + PROBABLE RESERVES.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall length 14500M
    Overall width 310M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE CONTENT OF HEAVY MINERALS VARIES. IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE DEPOSIT THE HEAVY MINERAL CONTENT REACHES 40 TO 50 %. TODAY THE AVERAGEGRADE REACHES ABOUT 16 %. THE CUT-OFF GRADE IS 5.5 %. IN THE LOWER PARTS OF THE DEPOSIT THE CONTENT IS USUALLY HIGHER.

Comments on development

  • THERE IS DRY MINING AND MINING WITH DREDGES.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    KIPPENBERGER, C.: B.G.R. INTERNER BERICHT, 1977, INFORMATIONSREISE ZU AUSTRALISCHEN BERGBAUBETRIEBEN.

  • Deposit

    HEAVY MINERAL SAND DEPOSITS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 1977, J.L. BAXTER

  • Production

    J.L. BAXTER (1977)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THERE ARE THREE DISTINCT ORE BODIES WITHIN CAPEL SOUTH MINE.
Deposit THE BURIED OREBODY IS OVERLYING THE LEEDERVILLE FORMATION. IT IS A SEQUENCE OF FINE AND MEDIUM-GRAINED SANDS WITH A BASE 5.8 M ABOVE SEA LEVEL. INDIVIDUAL LENSES ARE UP TO 1 KM LONG, 4.5 M THICK AND 100 M WIDE. THE NORTHERN OREBODY IS SEPARATED FROM THE BURIED OREBODY BY GREEN-GREY TO WHITE CLAYED SAND AND SANDY CLAY ABOUT 2 TO 5 M THICK WITH USUALLY LOW HEAVY MINERAL CONTENT. THE NORTHERN OREBODY CONSISTS OF WELL-SORTED QUARTZ SAND CONTAINING UP TO 80 % HEAVY MINERALS IN THE NORTHEAST AND UP TO 60 % IN THE SOUTHWEST.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1978 Saam, Henning G. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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