Horseshoe Lights Mine, Peak Hill Mining District, Meekatharra Shire, Western Australia, Australiai
Regional Level Types | |
---|---|
Horseshoe Lights Mine | Mine |
Peak Hill Mining District | Mining District |
Meekatharra Shire | Shire |
Western Australia | State |
Australia | Country |
This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
25° 27' 14'' South , 118° 34' 17'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
11886
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:11886:1
GUID (UUID V4):
c448944f-8764-4315-bd14-922fff9e1059
The Horseshoe Lights deposit was discovered in 1946 by a prospector. From that time to 1987 it had various owners, 1988-1991 Barrick and 1992-1994 Sabminco when mining ceased. Up to this time it produced 300 000 oz of gold and 54 000 tonnes of copper. Silver is also found in minor amounts.
The mine is located 34 kilometres north of Peak Hill and 150 kilometres north of Meekatharra, on the western side of the Horseshoe Range (named after the shape it makes in the landscape).
The deposit is hosted by the palaeoproterozoic Glengarry Sub-Basin within the Nabberu Basin. Mineralisation is in the upper part of the Narracoota Volcanics of tholeiitic basalt grading up to Mg basalt. Below this is the Thaduna Greywacke of greywacke with subordinate mudstone, and an upper unit of sandstone, grit and conglomerate.
The top of the Narracoota Volcanic is weakly metamorphosed volcaniclastics of quartz-chlorite schist, quartz eye tuffs and altered volcanics, capped by a prominent 1-2 metre thick poorly bedded chert/banded iron formation, with magnetite, specular hematite, and gold associated with pyrite.
The intermediate host is a suite of green, fine grained quartz-chlorite schist, quartz-sericite,quartz-kaolin schist, quartz-eye schist, with scattered 1-10cm thick chert bands. The main orebody is a series of lenses and pods, fragmented by shearing, containing quartz-hematite-goethite gossan with an average width of 20 metres, 50-200 metres strike length and 50 metres thick. The gossan contains high gold, although below 100 metres chalcocite, digenite, and covellite is dominant, above the primary minerals of pyrite and lesser chalcopyrite. To the east and west are veins and blebs of chalcopyrite-pyrite in the footwall and hanging wall.
The ore body is an enriched gossanous zone, steep dipping, lens shaped series of shoots, with high gold grades at the centre of the body, decreasing towards the margins.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsMineral List
16 valid minerals.
Rock Types Recorded
Note: data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!
Select Rock List Type
Alphabetical List Tree DiagramDetailed Mineral List:
ⓘ Chalcocite Formula: Cu2S |
ⓘ Chalcopyrite Formula: CuFeS2 |
ⓘ Chlorargyrite Formula: AgCl References: Knut Eldjarn CollectionIdentified by Knut Eldjarn: Visual Identification |
ⓘ 'Chlorite Group' |
ⓘ Covellite Formula: CuS |
ⓘ Digenite Formula: Cu9S5 |
ⓘ Galena Formula: PbS |
ⓘ Goethite Formula: α-Fe3+O(OH) |
ⓘ Gold Formula: Au References: |
ⓘ Hematite Formula: Fe2O3 |
ⓘ Iodargyrite Formula: AgI |
ⓘ Kaolinite Formula: Al2(Si2O5)(OH)4 |
ⓘ Magnetite Formula: Fe2+Fe3+2O4 |
ⓘ Malachite Formula: Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
ⓘ Muscovite Formula: KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
ⓘ Muscovite var. Sericite Formula: KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
ⓘ Pyrite Formula: FeS2 |
ⓘ Quartz Formula: SiO2 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
Group 1 - Elements | |||
---|---|---|---|
ⓘ | Gold | 1.AA.05 | Au |
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
ⓘ | Chalcocite | 2.BA.05 | Cu2S |
ⓘ | Digenite | 2.BA.10 | Cu9S5 |
ⓘ | Covellite | 2.CA.05a | CuS |
ⓘ | Chalcopyrite | 2.CB.10a | CuFeS2 |
ⓘ | Galena | 2.CD.10 | PbS |
ⓘ | Pyrite | 2.EB.05a | FeS2 |
Group 3 - Halides | |||
ⓘ | Iodargyrite | 3.AA.10 | AgI |
ⓘ | Chlorargyrite | 3.AA.15 | AgCl |
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
ⓘ | Goethite | 4.00. | α-Fe3+O(OH) |
ⓘ | Magnetite | 4.BB.05 | Fe2+Fe3+2O4 |
ⓘ | Hematite | 4.CB.05 | Fe2O3 |
ⓘ | Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
ⓘ | Malachite | 5.BA.10 | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
Group 9 - Silicates | |||
ⓘ | Muscovite | 9.EC.15 | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
ⓘ | var. Sericite | 9.EC.15 | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
ⓘ | Kaolinite | 9.ED.05 | Al2(Si2O5)(OH)4 |
Unclassified | |||
ⓘ | 'Chlorite Group' | - |
List of minerals for each chemical element
H | Hydrogen | |
---|---|---|
H | ⓘ Goethite | α-Fe3+O(OH) |
H | ⓘ Kaolinite | Al2(Si2O5)(OH)4 |
H | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
H | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
H | ⓘ Muscovite var. Sericite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
C | Carbon | |
C | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
O | Oxygen | |
O | ⓘ Goethite | α-Fe3+O(OH) |
O | ⓘ Hematite | Fe2O3 |
O | ⓘ Kaolinite | Al2(Si2O5)(OH)4 |
O | ⓘ Magnetite | Fe2+Fe23+O4 |
O | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
O | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
O | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
O | ⓘ Muscovite var. Sericite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
Al | Aluminium | |
Al | ⓘ Kaolinite | Al2(Si2O5)(OH)4 |
Al | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
Al | ⓘ Muscovite var. Sericite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
Si | Silicon | |
Si | ⓘ Kaolinite | Al2(Si2O5)(OH)4 |
Si | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
Si | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
Si | ⓘ Muscovite var. Sericite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
S | Sulfur | |
S | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
S | ⓘ Chalcocite | Cu2S |
S | ⓘ Covellite | CuS |
S | ⓘ Digenite | Cu9S5 |
S | ⓘ Galena | PbS |
S | ⓘ Pyrite | FeS2 |
Cl | Chlorine | |
Cl | ⓘ Chlorargyrite | AgCl |
K | Potassium | |
K | ⓘ Muscovite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
K | ⓘ Muscovite var. Sericite | KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
Fe | Iron | |
Fe | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
Fe | ⓘ Goethite | α-Fe3+O(OH) |
Fe | ⓘ Hematite | Fe2O3 |
Fe | ⓘ Magnetite | Fe2+Fe23+O4 |
Fe | ⓘ Pyrite | FeS2 |
Cu | Copper | |
Cu | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
Cu | ⓘ Chalcocite | Cu2S |
Cu | ⓘ Covellite | CuS |
Cu | ⓘ Digenite | Cu9S5 |
Cu | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
Ag | Silver | |
Ag | ⓘ Chlorargyrite | AgCl |
Ag | ⓘ Iodargyrite | AgI |
I | Iodine | |
I | ⓘ Iodargyrite | AgI |
Au | Gold | |
Au | ⓘ Gold | Au |
Pb | Lead | |
Pb | ⓘ Galena | PbS |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
Australia
- Western Australia
- Bryah BasinBasin
- Warakurna Large Igneous ProvinceGeologic Province
- West Australian ElementCraton
- Yilgarn CratonCraton
Australian PlateTectonic Plate
This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to
visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders
for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.