Woodie Woodie Manganese Mine, East Pilbara Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Woodie Woodie Manganese Mine	Mine
East Pilbara Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Manganese was discovered here in 1950, and small scale mining took place until 1990, when large scale open pit mining of high-grade Mn ores took over.

The mine is located approximately 150 kilometres south-east of Marble Bar, in the southern Gregory Ranges, the last mountain range before the Great Sandy Desert. Consolidated Minerals Ltd operates the mine as a series of open cuts running north-south along the valley floor.

The company has built a bitumen road from Marble Bar to the mine through this scenic area, and is open to the public, although of course the mine is not.

Manganese deposits occur as cavity fill within the Carawine Dolomite, and as sheets/lenses in the Pinjian chert breccia overlying this dolomite. The Carawine Dolomite is a member of the 2600-2450 Ma Hamersley Group, and lies in an area of carbonates, shales and minor cherts that separate the Marra Mamba and Brockman Iron Formations, that hosts mines in the Pilbara to the west. It is believed the manganese has developed by supergene processes during the paleoproterozoic period, at least partially by hydrothermal processes. The largest manganese deposit found at the mine was a pipe like body to 30 metres, and others have been fissures or form cappings on the dolomite, or chert breccia above the dolomite.

The company describes itself as a boutique supplier of high grade manganese. Fifty trucks per day haul ore from the mine, 400 kilometres to Port Hedland. Estimated reserves as at June 2011 were 29.9 MT at 39.9% manganese. The company employs about 700 workers on a fly in/out basis.

For those who want to drive four days to the mine from Perth, lumps of manganese can be picked up at the mine entrance, having literally fallen off the back of a truck. The company should be congratulated for preserving an oasis at the mine entrance.

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