Adelaide Research & Scholarship: The geology of some South Australian iron deposits

¡5 6b1

TTM GEOLOGY OF

SOME SOUTH AUSîRALTAN ^TRON DEPOSITS

GB.AHAM

F.

tIIHIllE}f Department

of

^Mines

South Austra].Ía by

Jantrar*¡r, J966.

Ì

FrontisPiece

-

^{VÙILGENA HILL}

Ripp1e marks

ín

Haematite

JaspilÍte'

TABLE OF CO}iIIENTS

fllnfi¡fARY

SÎATEME}fI OF ^IííORK

TNTRODUCTION

DEPOSTTS TN CORES OF TITE NJIT. LOFTY RANGES

Mt. ^Jaggecl

Wenha$¡r s

TITE GAWLER PI,ATFORM

-

^E]ßE PENINSTII"A META-.TASPILTTES OF TIIE MIDDI,EBACK ^RANGES

IRON FORMATIONS OF CEMINAT EIN.E PENTNSIII'A

the t/Vamanboo Anonal-y The Kopi Anomalies

Meta-jaspilites ^near KYancutta MEIA.JASPTLITES OF TTIE LINCþLN ^UPI,AIIDS

Greenpatch Meta-j asPillte ^s

Koppio Meta-iasPllite

META-JASPTLITES OF EASTERN E1RE PE}rINSUI,A

Pt. Neill-

^(Carrow) Arronaly The Cowell Anomalies

ÎIIE GAIVLER PLATFORM

-

^YORKE PE{TIüSUI"A

THE GAVüLER PI"ATFORM

-

^{ÎITE CENTRAI PRO\IINCE}

Haematite

Jaspilites

on Yüilgena Station

Irrlagnetite tvletá-jaspilites ^oñ Mtrlgathing Station

Page

i iv

I

? o 10 11 13 L4 T6 29 30 32 38 42 44 46 4?

5I

53 59 65

MEIA-.]ASPILITES OF TI{E OI,ARY PROVTNC,E

Billeroo

Koolka

OId ToranÍnga ^Da.m

Pltrmbago

CT,ASTIC DEPOSITS OF ^TITE ADT,AIÐE GEOSYIüCT,INE

Ma1colm Creek

Iffllia-mstown Grits Yankalilla ^BaY

GI,ACIOGENE DEPOSITS OF fiIE ADU¡A.IDE GEOSY]\TCI,INE

Braernar

Iron

Formatlon etc.

DTAPIRIC DEPOSITS I\nRUDING ÎIIE ^ADELATDE GEOS)IXTSjTNE

Inon ^King

Hieks (Gtadstone)

the

Devilfs

ChimneY

OTHER DEPOSTTS OF TI{E ADELATDE GEOS]ßTCTJTNE

DEPOSITS RELATED TO I.,AI{Ð ST]RFACES

72 72

-14 7A

?e 80 81 83 83 88 88 1IO

rtz

114 116 118 119 l-,20 LzQ12t t22

L22 l;24J22 L25

L?-6

L26 L26 131 131 131 133 134L34 Replacernent Deposits

Haematites

-

^Angaston

Limonites -

Donnel-lYs Constock Oodlawirra

Strperficial ^Deposits

Laterites-- ^Radltrn

HiI1 District

Mt.

Lofty

^Ranges

Canga¡ Sêree ^Ore Buck-shot Grave1

DEPOSTTION OF SOUTH AUSTNATIAN ^{TRON DEPOSITS}

Jaspilltes

^and Meta-iasPilites Veins

of

Títanhaematite

Clastic Deposits

of

the Adelaide Geos¡mcline.

Glaeiogene Deposits

of

the Adelaide Geosyncllne

Diapirîc

Oeposits

of

the Adelaíde Geosyncline Othêr ^DeposLts

of

the Adelaide Geosyncline Deposits- related

to

land ^sttrfaces

AGES OF SOUTH AUSTRAJ,TA}Í IRON DEPOSIIS

JaspilÍtes

^and Meta-jaspilites Other

Ïron

^ÐeposÍts

STRUC"rUNAL Rffi,ATIONSTilPS IN ^{SOUTH AUSÎRALTA}

Section from

Pt.

Westall

to

the Mumay Basin

Section from

Mt. Christie to

the ^Radium

HilI District

EI"ASSIFTC,A.TTON OF TRON DEPOSTTS

Lake SttperÍor Type, Volcanic Assocíation Lake Strperior Type¡ Sedimentary Association Braemar

lron

^Formatfon

CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPTflT PHOTOGRAPHS

135 135 136 13?

)3?

139

f40

L40

I4I

143 L47 150

APPEIVDIX

PLan Page

PI,ANS

Title

Sotrth Australia

Known

Iron

Deposits

Yorke Peninsula

-

^Mt.

^Lofty

^Ranges

The Gawler Platform Eyre Peninslrla -

Yorke Peninstrla Middleback Ranges

Stratigraphy

TìlamarrÍboo and Kopi Aeromagnetic Anomalies, Meta-jaspilites near Kyancutta

Warramboo

Frequency

Ðistribtrtion

of Errors

in

esti¡nated. iron

content

Vfaruamboo Aeromagnetic Anomaly Srotrnd Magnetic Contours and Trend.s

Warramboo Aerornagnetic Anomaly Composite Geophysical ^and.

Drilling

Profil-es

lVaruamboo A,ero¡nagnetic Anomaly

Correlation Logs

of

^{vfD 2}

E]æe Peninstrla

Geological Sketch Pla¡t

Lineoln Uplands

Stratigraphy

Scale

1ll = ^{80 m.}

lrf = ^{1O m.}

llr = ^{32 m.}

Díag.

Lll=4m.

Dlag.

ill -

20001 Pocket

Ïr

₌ ^20oor

Graphs

Ir

₌ ¹⁶

m.

Pocket

1 2 3

I

7

4

12

L4 i-5

I8

2?

28

35

40 6

?+

8

o

l0+

I1

L2 Greenpatch and Kopp

Míneralogical

Diag,

lo

Meta-jaspilite

Tab].e

^lable

Plan

13

L4 L5

16 L7

18 19

20

2I

22 23 24

25

26+

lit].e

Port

Neill

^{(earrow) Anomaly}

Mineralogical ^Table

îARCEOI,A

--ffi'fogical

PIan

TARCOOI,A

-ffiatigraphy

Braemar

-ilmire

Geological ^Sheet

Razorback Ridge

StratigraPhic ^column

Ltl= 8m. ⁵⁵

57 60 66 68 69 73

75 78

?9 81

87

llt=1m. ^Poeket

Scale Table

Page 47

Dlag.

Wllgena

Hill

^{1rr = 20001}

Geological ^Plart

Mt. Christíe

^{1'r = 4OOr}

Geological ^Plart

Mt. Christie GDI

^Table

Geological ^and AnalYtical ^Log

Fingerpost

HiIl lrr

₌ ^4OOl

Geological ^Plan

BÍlleroo l[

₌ ^2O0Cl

District

^GeologY

Koolka Ir

₌ ^SOO|

Geological ^Plan

OId Toraminga

Dam

^Lrr = ^ZCO|

Geological ^P1.an

Pltrmbago

^1rr = ^2OOl

Geotogical ^Pla¡t

Ma1co]m Creek

-

Vfilliamstown

Grit's Ir

= ^{1 m'} Geological Plan modified

from Gawler

Malcolm Creek

-

Vfílliarnstown

Grits

^Graphs

TiO2/Fe2O3

ratios

^etc _'

27 Diag. ⁹²

Plan

28

Tit].e

Razorback Ridge

Stratigraphl

c dÍstribution of

assays

Razorback Rldge

Histograns

of

AssaY Valtres

Iron

King

- ^fron

^Occurrence

Geologlcal ^PLa¡t

Iron

Ore

in

^{Sotrth AtrstraLia}

Generalised StratigraPhic

CoLumn

Iron

Ore 1n ^South Atrstralla Structural RelatíonshÍPs across the State

Scale

^Page

Lll =

4orr 661

¹⁰⁵

Diag. ^r06

ilr

₌

Loor

Pocket Table

Diag. ¹³⁸

29

30+

31 ul6

32

No

PHOTOGRAPHS

Description.

1

2

3

GreenPatch

4

^GreenPatch

5 lron

^{Motrnt Mine}

Irtlilgena

Hill

Wilgena

Hill

Wilgena

Hilt Mt.

Christie

TrIest lVeI].

12 IÍt.

Christie

13 Mt.

Christie

Drill

^{cuttings beÍng logged}

^with

^a

binocular microscope'

Float of

^weathered qtrartz-magnetite (mantite) gneÍss

is the olly

òitrfa"" exþression'

Looks sotrth'

The coarse grained magnetite

meta-jasPilite

^{sanPled on,}

iriõ{äriürþicar Hirr-

for

metalltrrgícaL testing.

Mag¡etite

meta-jaspilíte

^{leached' of}

ilãn

^1eaving white quartz ^sand'' Irooks ^sotrth-

Sediment'ary strtrctures

in

^Haematite

Jaspil"ite.

Fossils (?)

and RiPPle ^Marks'

Fossils (?) in

^haematite

jaspilite'

IVlartite

nreta-jaspilite in

otrtcrop' PhotomicrograPh

of

^{TS 6035 X 7}

inä"iit" -rneia-iaspitite.

A'MDEil-, Phot'o ' PhotomicrograPh

of _!S

^{6036 X ?}

[/lä"ti{" -meia-iaspitite

'

^{AIúDEI., Prcüo'}

PhotomicrograPh

of fS

^{6058 X ?}

lnãrift" m"la-i.spilite.

^{AIVIDEI., Ehcifo'}

PhotomicrognaPh

of _!S

^{6056 X 7}

IVIa"iiiã -meia-iaspilite

'

^{AIIDEL Hroto'}

Billeroo

^{Peak looking sotrth'}

gilÍ""oo

South 1n

left

backgrottnd'' ïÍarramboo

Kyanctrtta Prospect ^1A

6

7 8

I

l"o

l1

lfest ^WeLI

L4

Billeroo

16 T7 No.

15

Billeroo

Koo]-ka

Koolka Koolka Pl-tubago PJ.tmbago

Yankalilla ^BaY

Braemar Iron

Formation

23 Braemar ïron Fornation

24 Braernar Iron

Formation

Braemar lron

For¡nation Braemar Iron

Forruation Braemar ïron

Forrnation

Braemar fron

For¡nation

Description.

Martite meta-jasPilite ^at

Billeroo

^Centre.

Koolka North looking ^{sotrth east.}

Koolka North looking west ^showing steep north ^plunge.

Koolka Sotrth from Koolka North looklng south ^{south west.}

General view lookir¡g north east'

View along otrterop

lookirg

^sotrth.

Basal

Grits.

Razorback Ridge ^(Member

n)

^viewed

across ^{Member C from}

Títl1tic Iron

Formation

in

^{Member D.}

Looki4g south east'

Ironback

Hil]. (tillite

^and

qrlartzite),

iron

^formation

in

the foregrotrnö and

in

^lower

hil.ls

^on

right.

Looks north east.

fronback ^{Range on}

right.

Iron formation on-the ^low

hil]-s

on ^1,he

1eft, interglacial

^{shales beyond'.}

Looks sotrth west.

Dolomitic

iron

formation

of

Levi

Range.

PhotomicrograPh showing micro-

fanlting

^{PLzeS/58 X}

^46'

^{AMDEL Photo-}

PhotomierograPh showing riqPle

marks with-concentration

of

^round.ed.

euhedra forming crests.

PL286/58 X

25,

^{AMDEL Photo.}

Photomicrograph showing martitised masnetite etrheclra ancl

erratlcs.

P7'ág/58

x 56.

^{.aMDEL Photo.}

18 l-9 20 2L 22

25 26 27

28

No.

29

30

31,

32

33 34

35

Description.

Braemar lron

Formation Braemar Iron

Formation Braemar lron

Formatlon

Iron

^King

Angaston

Donnellys Comstock Oodla $lirra

36

^Grants

37

Grants

Photomicrograph showing magnetite euhedra haõmatite ^and

erratics.

P?23/58 X

165.

^{AMDEI, Photo.}

TillÍtic iron

^{formation near}

fronback HiI]-.

Razorback Ri4ge' ^Members C and ^B

tested bY

dril1

^{hole RD}

t

^(collared

in

^{grrJ.If above}

^car)

^{a¡rd an}

adit.

General view looking north ^west

showing

the

dePosit ^and' Poor

otrtcroþ conditLons insíd'e diapirs.

Massive haematite

resting

on the

karst

surface

of

marble-

Limonite replacing ^{one bed' arotrnd'} the nose

of a

syncline. Irooks Sotrth.

Limonite

in

shale

in

southerlY

workings.

^{I¡ooks north-}

High ^grad.e

Laterite in

^Terminus

Qtrarry.

Low grade

Laterite in

^{East Qtrarry.}

t-

SIJÙIXÍARY

For eleven years, the authorr âs ^an

officer of

the Sotrth Atrstralia¡ Departnent

of

Mínes, Ínvestigated ^Sotrth Australian

iron cleposits.

FÍeld. work ^comprised geological

mapping, geophysicsr

drilling

^and

ninirg;

^Iaboratory

investigatíons mainly by the Australian Mineral Developnent

Laboratories comprÍsecl geophyeics, chemi.cal analyses t

petrological

exanrir¡ations and metall¡1rgieal investigations'

The data ^presented

ill-trstrate

^the

different

techniqtres app1-ied

to dÍfferent

^{ore t.l¡Pes}

'

JaspíIltes

^{are 1,he main}

iron

formations

ín

^sotrth

Arrstralia.

^The haernatite

jaspilite of

Ttilgena

Hill ⁱⁿ

the

central ^Province contains red chert ^{ancl shows}

ripple

marks a¡d

fossils

suggestir¡g

a

shallow ^trrater envirorunent and

indicating little

^{change since}

deposition'

iVletamo4fiism

of this

^horizon

to

the north ^{west prodtrced} the ^magnetlte

meta-iâspiliteofMt.Cnrlstie'Thisissimilartothe

meta-jaspitite of Btlleroo,

^Koolka,

etc. in

^1,he olary

Province.

^the

^least

meta.morphosed

jaspilites of

^the

MídöIeback Rarges have red chert and resemble the

jaspilíte of

Vfilgena

HiI}.

^{The fnore} metanonphosed varia¡rts ^contain magnetite, grey

chert,

ferrtrgÍnous

silicates

^{and non-}

fefftrgínotrs

earbonate.

^{Tn sotrthern Eyre} Peninsula, ^the

iron

^{oxide 1s magnetlte and the} non-ferrtrginoLls ^carbonates

t-1

aremetalDorphosedtocalc.Silieateminerals.InCentral

Eyre Peninstrla, near Cowe1l, imptrre

iron

formations ^have metamorphosedtogneissandrrgra.rtltêl|.Theironforrnations

can be traced ^{from Eyre} PenÍnsula throtrgh Yorke ^Peninsula ancl

St.

^{vincentrs GLr1f}

to

cores

Ín

^the

]lt' Lofty

^Ranges'

A,lttheaboveironformationsappeartobeeqtrivalent inage.lheyarenotlnterbeddedwithbasicvolcanicgas aretheArchaeanjaspilitesoftheWe-ctAtrstralfan

Goldfield.s.Theyaresimilartotheironformationofthe

Ha$ersleyRarrgesandarethtrsconsideredtobeLower Proterozoic

in

age.

IntheAdelaideGeosynclineclasticclepositsof

Torrensian age were d.epositecl about cores

in

the

Mt'

^Lofty

Ranges.

^East

of

the ^ranges, the glaciogene ^Braemar lron

Formation was formed by

the

^chemicar

precípitation

^of

magnetite ^ancl haematite

in a

cold ^sea

into

^{which glaciers}

were delivering rock flor.rr ^and

erratics. Tillitic

^{ore t}

r¡lithntrmerouserratics'Wasdeposited.nearsollrceareas andbeddecloreftrrtheraway.TheBraemarTronFormation

is

sturrtian

in age.

^Broeks

of iron ^ore,

^{possibly plucked}

from basement, occrlr

in

cliapirs

of

upper Proterozoic ^age

in

the FlÍnders

Ranges.

^{Apart from the Nairne Pyrite}

horizon

alr

other

iron

deposits are

directry

related. to

r¡leathered surfaces.

11L

Theevidenceavailablestrggeststhatlronforrnations areôepositedingeosync]-inesrrndervaryirtgc]-imatfc

conditions btrt ^{under some} specíally favourable combination

ofcirctrmstancesthatseldonoecurbtrtmaybeworldvuide

atthetíme.TheyarenotrestrictedtothePrecambria¡r.

iv

STA,T$/IEI\IT OF ^\'\|ORK'

From December ^Lg54

to

date, the ^{arrthorr âs an}

offÍcer of

the sotrth Atrstraliarr Department

of

Mines, lnvestigated

theironoreregourcesofSotrthAtrstra].ia.f'heworkwas

carriedotrttrndert'hesupen'isionofT.A.BarltesgI,.Vü.Per.lrin

andK.R.Miles.lhesegentlenenaretha¡rkedfortheir

inspiration

^a¡rd

kindly directíon'

FieLd \fork.

The

wrÍter

personalty took

part

1n

all

the

fiel'd

geologicalinvestigatlonsassistedinindividtralareasand forvarylrrgperiodsbyanumberofjunÍorgeol.ogists.It

was also ^possible

to

reqtrest herp from other ^groups

fn

^the

Department¡

ê.$., in

strnreying, geophysicst

drilling

^and

mini4g.Suehassistaneewasessentlaltotheprojectand

while cletailed acknowledgments

will

^{be rnacle}

^to

^many

indivícltralsintherelevantplacesinthetext,itisnot possibletorecordallassistanceneceived.Thanksare dtretoall-DepartmentaloffÍcersforsinceneservíceand

for

^{marry trseftrl} discr'rssiorls '

v

LaboratorY Investigat'ions'

Thechemicalarralyses,petrologica}descriptionse-nd

metalltrrgicalrestrltsqtrotedarefromreportsofthe

Atrstra].iarr\{ineralDeveloprnentLaboratoriestotheS.A.

MinesDepartment.lhematerialexarnined'wassubmitted.by the

writer

^{who was} responsíble

for

Departmental

liaison

^at the technical

level'

Appreciation

for

contintrotrs

co-operation by

all

^ANIDtr.,

officers is

^{recordecl bttt}

especially

that of

^{A'tJf ¡G'}

fühittle

(for¡oerty Cnief

petrologist),

M.J. ^{Btteknell arrd} D.E. Ayres (Petrologist-")'

These

officers

^were contintrally ^{pressed 1,o} distinguish diagenetichae¡natitefromsecondarymartiteorhaematite

arrdtoestj.matemineralpercentagearrdgrainsizeínan

attempttogatherd.atal,oclarifyoriginsandmetamorphlsm.

The

strsceptibilities

^qtroted' were meastlred by comptrters of theExplorationGeophysicsSectlonoftheDepartment.

Plans

1,

^{'?, 1O, 26 and 30} were prepared' by the ^Drafting

Branch

of

the DePartment'

General.

FromJtrnetoSeptemberlgss,thear-rthorwassentby

theDepart¡rentonanintensÍvesttrdytotrrofirondeposits

inSweden,CanadaandtheUnited.States.Theclassical

depositswereínspectedaswe].Iasantrmbermorerecent}y

vi

developed.

^The opportuníty

of

welding detall-ed

field

observationsinthreecontinentswíthdatafromthewid'e

rangeoflaboratorymethodsavailabtehasrnadepossiblea

ntrnber

of

^novel approaches which have prodtrced

original

restrlts.Asonlyafewofthedatacollectedlnloyears canbetrsed,thesewillbeselectedtoil}ustratedifferent

approaches applícable

to d'lfferent

^{ore types'}

The atrthor

is ^grateftrl

^t'o

^his

supervisors ^{1n the}

DepartrnentforpernrissiontosubmitthlsportionofhÍs Departmenta}work.AlistofoverScDepart¡nentalreports bythewriter,andwhtchrelatetotheironoreinvestigerL{on

is

^aPPend.ed.