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Windimurra Vanadium Mine, Windimurra Station, Sandstone Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Windimurra Vanadium Mine	Mine
Windimurra Station	Station (farming)
Sandstone Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Layered gabbronic intrusion

Said to be one of the world's largest vanadium deposits. Located 80 kms east south-east of Mount Magnet.

Discovered in 1961 by Mangore Australia Limited, explored by Hawkstone Minerals Ltd 1973, then Ferrovanadium Corporation, Alcoa Australia/BHP in the 1980's and Precious Metals Australia in 1989. Xstrata commenced an open pit at the site between 1999-2003 to a depth of 35-40 metres.

Midwest Vanadium re-opened the mine in 2012, with an expected mine life of 28 years, and is expected to meet 7% of world demand for vanadium.

The deposit is found within the eastern flank of the 2000 square kilometre Windimurra intruded layered gabbro complex. The vanadium is hosted in the Shepherds Discordant Zone part of the Windimurra Complex, which is differentiated and moderately fractionated Archaean layered gabbroic intrusions. It is separated from younger granite-greenstone sequences by the Wymandoo Shear on the east and the Mully-Abraya Shear on the west. Vanadiferous titanoferous magnetite cumulate layers and lenses up to 10 metres thick occur in the upper portion of the complex, and minor chromite cumulates near the base.

The sequence shows vanadiferous magnetite gabbros weathered to 40-50 metres, oxidized to 30 metres, and through 5 metres of saprock, 30-40 metres of saprolite, 3-10 metres of mottled clays to a lateritic caprock up to 5 metres thick. This has largely eroded except at Hawkstone Ridge, at the northern end of the mining zone.

The deposit shows high vanadium but is not associated with any particular physical feature. This V zone is 80-100 metres thick and dips west at 35-45 degrees, the mineral found in titano magnetite or titano martite. The magnetite and magnetite gabbros strike for over 45 kilometres, and are 500-600 metres thick, with abundant magnetite float at the surface in the central portion of the strike.

Minerals found in the weathered portion are clays (kaolinite and vermiculite), chlorite, olivine,clinopyroxene, hematite, limonite, ilmenite, and goethite. The plagioclase has weathered to kaolinite, mafic minerals to kaolinite, hematite and goethite, and chlorite has altered to randomly distributed chlorite and vermiculite, and magnetite has oxidized to hematite via martite. Ilmenite has changed from trellis like laminae to granular rounded blebs.

Magnetite cumulates occur as blocky jointed outcrops, hematite and martite as grain boundaries along fractures, with minor kaolinite. Magnetite occurs in saprock as cores in hematite. Goethite is found as fibrous and spotty having weathered from magnetite, in magnetite gabbros along fractures and grain boundaries.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References

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