Carina Iron Ore Mine, Yilgarn Shire, Western Australia, Australiai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Carina Iron Ore Mine | Mine |
| Yilgarn Shire | Shire |
| Western Australia | State |
| Australia | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
30° 28' 18'' South , 119° 59' 50'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Locality type:
Köppen climate type:
The Carina iron ore mine is about 100 kilometres north-east of Southern Cross. Access is marked by signage from the Great Eastern Highway at Boondi Rocks. The road heads north and is called Ryans Find Road. It is a public road, in fact the only one into the area, although mine signage near its entrance leads people to believe it is a mine access road and off limits.
After 40 kilometres, the Trans Australian Railway Line is met, and is the site for the ore loading facilities. The ore is transported by rail to Fremantle. The Ryans Find Road continues north north-west into remote areas. The Carina mine is 50 kilometres north-west of the rail loading facilities, and ore is hauled via its own privately constructed road.
The deposit was discovered in 2007, in a north north-west to south south-east range of hills in a remote and little visited area. Mining commenced late 2011, and exports 500 million tonnes per annum. In 2010, the JORC Inferred Resource (at 55% Fe cut-off) was 26.7 Mt at 58.9% Fe. The mine is owned by Polaris Metals Ltd. At completion of mining the open pit will cover 40 ha, be 1500 metres long, to a maximum depth of 170 metres.
After spending a small fortune establishing the mine, the low iron ore price (2015), could see the mine close early. The company plans to develop several deposits across a vast area to the north and east. At least two of these have been knocked back by the Department of Environment, and conservation groups have been vocal about planned mining at the Aurora and Helena Ranges.
Carina is located in the sinistral Mount Dimer Shear Zone. This is a north-west trending package of komatiitic basalts, peridotite, and altered talc-chloritic schists, passing into mafic lavas, and high Mg basalts and vesicular basalts. This is interbedded by thin horizons of chert and banded iron formations (BIF).
The ore body is a steeply west dipping zone of goethite, with minor hematite, 1500 metres in length and a maximum of 90 metres wide. The ore is the result of supergene enrichment of siderite-ankerite-magnetite-pyrite parent BIF.
The ore body occupies a doubly plunging, overturned syncline, dipping west. The syncline is sub-parallel to the Mount Dimer Shear Zone, and has a complex history with multiple phases of deformation. Both limbs dip mainly steeply west, with the western limb larger and more structurally deformed. The ore body ends abruptly to the north by a fault.
The majority of the ore body is goethite, as earthy masses, and colloform bands, with botryoidal surfaces. Hematite occurs as earthy masses, ochrous bands, alternating with the colloform goethite and botryoidal concretions within vugh cavities. Hematite also occurs as specularite to coarse platy masses up to 4 cms. North-east trending structures within the ore body contain zones of specular hematite, with increased grades of Fe up to 66%. Goethite and hematite are dominant at 97% of the ore body with the remainder quartz, siderite, and rare ankerite.
Ankerite and siderite (and less commonly quartz) are found as drusy linings to vughs, and infilling thin fractures. Intensely pyritic zones showing massive pyrite are found at the south-west and south-east margins of the ore body. These zones can be over 15 metres thick, and in some cases are in sharp contact with the goethite ore body.
A few hematite specimens have been seen in circulation from the mine.
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Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
7 valid minerals.
Rock Types Recorded
Note: data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!
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Alphabetical List Tree DiagramDetailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Ankerite Formula: Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 Reference: Nicolson, B.E. et al (2010), The Geology and Mineralisation of the Carina Iron Ore Deposit, Applied Earth Science, Vol 119, Issue 1, pp 40-48, 01/03/2010 |
| ⓘ Goethite Formula: α-Fe3+O(OH) Reference: Nicolson, B.E. et al (2010), The Geology and Mineralisation of the Carina Iron Ore Deposit, Applied Earth Science, Vol 119, Issue 1, pp 40-48, 01/03/2010 |
| ⓘ Hematite Formula: Fe2O3 Reference: Nicolson, B.E. et al (2010), The Geology and Mineralisation of the Carina Iron Ore Deposit, Applied Earth Science, Vol 119, Issue 1, pp 40-48, 01/03/2010 |
| ⓘ Magnetite Formula: Fe2+Fe3+2O4 Reference: Nicolson, B.E., Kettlewell, D, Lea, J. (2010), The Geology and Mineralisation of the Carina Iron Ore Deposit. Central Yilgarn. Western Australia, Applied Earth Science, Vol 119, Issue 1, pp40-48, 01 March |
| ⓘ Pyrite Formula: FeS2 Reference: Nicolson, B.E. et al (2010), The Geology and Mineralisation of the Carina Iron Ore Deposit, Applied Earth Science, Vol 119, Issue 1, pp 40-48, 01/03/2010 |
| ⓘ Quartz Formula: SiO2 Reference: Nicolson, B.E. et al (2010), The Geology and Mineralisation of the Carina Iron Ore Deposit, Applied Earth Science, Vol 119, Issue 1, pp 40-48, 01/03/2010 |
| ⓘ Siderite Formula: FeCO3 Reference: Nicolson, B.E. et al (2010), The Geology and Mineralisation of the Carina Iron Ore Deposit, Applied Earth Science, Vol 119, Issue 1, pp 40-48, 01/03/2010 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Pyrite | 2.EB.05a | FeS2 |
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
| ⓘ | Goethite | 4.00. | α-Fe3+O(OH) |
| ⓘ | Hematite | 4.CB.05 | Fe2O3 |
| ⓘ | Magnetite | 4.BB.05 | Fe2+Fe3+2O4 |
| ⓘ | Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
| ⓘ | Ankerite | 5.AB.10 | Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 |
| ⓘ | Siderite | 5.AB.05 | FeCO3 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Goethite | α-Fe3+O(OH) |
| C | Carbon | |
| C | ⓘ Ankerite | Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 |
| C | ⓘ Siderite | FeCO3 |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Goethite | α-Fe3+O(OH) |
| O | ⓘ Hematite | Fe2O3 |
| O | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| O | ⓘ Ankerite | Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 |
| O | ⓘ Siderite | FeCO3 |
| O | ⓘ Magnetite | Fe2+Fe23+O4 |
| Mg | Magnesium | |
| Mg | ⓘ Ankerite | Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| S | Sulfur | |
| S | ⓘ Pyrite | FeS2 |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Ca | ⓘ Ankerite | Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 |
| Fe | Iron | |
| Fe | ⓘ Pyrite | FeS2 |
| Fe | ⓘ Goethite | α-Fe3+O(OH) |
| Fe | ⓘ Hematite | Fe2O3 |
| Fe | ⓘ Ankerite | Ca(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)2 |
| Fe | ⓘ Siderite | FeCO3 |
| Fe | ⓘ Magnetite | Fe2+Fe23+O4 |
References
Sort by
Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A)Nicolson, B.E., Kettlewell, D., Lea, J. (2010) The Geology and Mineralisation of the Carina Iron Ore Deposit. Central Yilgarn. Western Australia, Applied Earth Science, 119(1), 40-48.
Mineral Resources (2011) Yilgarn Iron Ore-Carina Project Update, Issue 1, May 2011.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper (2015) Iron Ore Carnage: West Australian Mines Could Close by July, 07/03/2015.
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Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
Australia
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- West Australian ElementCraton
- Yilgarn CratonCraton
Australian PlateTectonic Plate
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Carina Iron Ore Mine, Yilgarn Shire, Western Australia, Australia