Wharton Hill. Annual reports and final report to licence expiry/full surrender, for the period 14/4/2016 to 13/4/2020.
Published: 05 Jun 1920 Created: 12 Nov 2024 Revised: 12 Nov 2024

An area covering the western end of the historic Anabama copper prospect in the Benda Range, south-west of Manna Hill, has been explored for possible buried economic, epithermal/hydrothermal structurally controlled copper-gold mineralisation that...

An area covering the western end of the historic Anabama copper prospect in the Benda Range, south-west of Manna Hill, has been explored for possible buried economic, epithermal/hydrothermal structurally controlled copper-gold mineralisation that may have formed in Adelaidean metasediments and volcanic rocks. Licensee Malaco Leichhardt Pty Ltd currently owns and operates the Mount Watson copper mine and the Mount Cuthbert solvent extraction - electrowinning ore processing plant in the Cloncurry region of north-western Queensland. During the initial licence year, work consisted of reviewing past exploration records, performing legacy data validation checks (including undertaking data entry of past surface geochemical sampling into the company's database, that was found to have not yet been entered by DSD into SARIG), and compiling information about the geological setting and host rocks of the Wadnaminga Goldfield which is located 12 km along strike to the north-east. The mineralisation potential of ferruginised quartz veins and of inferred magnetite-rich strata was noted for field visit follow-up. During licence Year 2, no work was done. During licence Year 3, a field geological reconnaissance was made during May 2018, when the south-western section of the Benda Range was traversed, mapped and surface sampled. Selected samples were collected of magnetite rich outcrops, and of quartz veins that have formed parallel to bedding or which infill tension gashes within fine grained sedimentary units. Some prominent quartz veining identified from aerial photography was inspected. This was seen to be associated with a more resistant diamictite unit that forms the main ridge of the range. It appeared that this competent unit had been prone to fracturing, whereas the finer sedimentary beds of siltstone and shale underwent ductile deformation, leading in the latter to only minor veining associated with bedding plane slip. 4 x 5 kg minus 2 mm BLEG samples of stream sediment gravel detritus were collected from the northern plain adjacent to the Benda Range, to test them for gold mineralisation draining from the range. The gold values returned ranged from 1.56 ppm Au to below detection limit. In addition, 10 magnetite bearing siltstone and quartz vein outcrop rock chip samples were taken for XRF laboratory assaying. No deemed significant results were obtained (the maximum iron value was 42.1% Fe). During licence Year 4, no further work was done. At the end of the year it was decided to allow tenure to lapse.

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About this record

Record No mesac29215
Topic Geoscientific Information
Type of Resource Document
Category Type
Document Type Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
Contributor
Sponsor
Tenement EL 5771
Tenement Holder Malaco Leichhardt Pty Ltd
Operator
Geological Province
Mine Name
Stratigraphy
Commodity iron
Notes
Geographic Locality: Wharton Hill;Benda Range;Netley Gap Station
Doc No: Env 13004

Geographic Locality: Wharton Hill;Benda Range;Netley Gap Station Doc No: Env 13004

Language English
Metadata Standard ISO 19115-3

Citations

Use constraints License
License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Persistent identifier https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac29215
Citation Graetz, N.;Godsmark, B.;Cole, L. 1920. Wharton Hill. Annual reports and final report to licence expiry/full surrender, for the period 14/4/2016 to 13/4/2020. Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac29215

Technical information

Status
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Geographic Reference GDA2020 (EPSG:7844)
Geo bounding box {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[139.5,-33],[140.5,-33],[140.5,-32.5],[139.5,-32.5],[139.5,-33]]]}
Purpose

                    
                    

                    
                  
Lineage