Ken Shoot, Kambalda Nickel mines, Kambalda, Coolgardie Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Ken Shoot	- not defined -
Kambalda Nickel mines	Group of Mines
Kambalda	Town
Coolgardie Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Located 2.5 kilometres north-west of the Fisher shoot. It is contained in the McMahon Complex, including the Gellaty, Gordon, Wroth, and Loreto shoots. Ken showed no outcrop. Discovered late 1971. Mined via 900 metre drive from the McMahon decline, ore production from late 1972.

The komatiite flow is 50 metres thick, increasing to 100 metres thick on the western margin. Footwall is dark green grey or pale grey metabasalt as a complex pile of small basalt flows, ultramafics, and metasediment. Pillowed zones are common in the upper levels, with massive Fe-Ni-Cu sulphides. The Footwall is disrupted by low and high angle reverse faults, most dipping west.

The ultramafic host is talc-magnesite, and chlorite rock. Basal peridotitic, upper plagioclase. The Ken shoot is bounded by faults, and a porphyry intrusion to the south, and metasediment to the north.

The deposit is 400 metres long, trending north north-west, dipping 25-60 degrees north north-west.

Hanging Wall ore only accounts for 6% of the ore volume at the deposit. Contact ore is found in 13 sub-shoots, as massive, disseminated, and minor matrix ore. The largest sub-shoots are called Ken Main, and Ken Lower Trough, with massive ore in both as short lenses, and greater amounts of lower grade disseminated ore.

Massive ore is fine grained pyrite lenses in depressions up to 160 metres long, up to 2 metres thick, with disseminated ore also up to 2 metres thick. Primary ore is pyrrhotite, pentlandite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, with minor magnetite, chromite and gersdorffite. Pentlandite is partly replaced by violarite in the contact ore in the upper levels. Pyrite is locally dominant is some areas. Massive ore grades at 8-19% Ni.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References