RB 39/00026 Port Lincoln uranium prospects area. Geology and considerations for further subsurface exploration.
Published: 01 Jan 1955 Created: 04 Nov 2024 Revised: 04 Nov 2024

Because of the reports of six separate sources of radioactivity, all within a distance of 2½ miles of the town of Port Lincoln, further geologic investigations were undertaken, prior to the appraisal of the area as a possible source of uranium....

Because of the reports of six separate sources of radioactivity, all within a distance of 2½ miles of the town of Port Lincoln, further geologic investigations were undertaken, prior to the appraisal of the area as a possible source of uranium. The geology of the area comprising these six occurrences was mapped at scale of 4 inches equal to 1 mile, to determine the geologic relationships between these occurrences. The map area is made up of a complex highland belt of Archean crystalline metasediments, intruded by highly sodic or granitic solutions or gases of magmatic origin, under deep-seated conditions of temperature and pressure. The resulting rocks how the effects of differential sodic metasomatism, and range in composition from highly sodic augen gneisses, through sodic hornblende granites and gneisses, to relatively unaffected amphibolitic country rock. Structurally, all rock types are gneissic or schistose, strike roughly north, and dip steeply to the west. All appreciable uranium mineralisation is restricted to a relatively narrow zone of granitized metasediments, which can be traced intermittently in a north-south direction through the middle of the area and which are strongly fractured and deformed. Host rocks and mode occurrence of uranium mineralisation are remarkably similar, uraninite occurring as minute grains thinly disseminated throughout a granulated quartz-feldspar groundmass in the foliated sodic hornblende granite. These granulated areas provided channelways for uraniferous ore solutions and were apparently the main ore control. The six uranium prospects are identified as follows: Gibson Prospect No. 1 (Hospital), Gibson Prospect No. 2 (Hargistrom) Gibson Prospect No. 3 (Ainslee North and South), Lomax Prospect, Frazer Prospect, and Davey-Wollaston Prospect. Gibson Prospect No. 1 was previously tested by diamond drilling. Further subsurface exploration at the other prospects would apparently involve the possibility for additional low-grade reserves (2-3 lbs. U308/ton) of highly theoretical tonnages. Small initial programmes, comprising about 350 feet of diamond drilling and possibly auger drilling, are considered feasible and practicable at the Lomax and Ainslee South Prospects.

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About this record

Record No rb3900026
Topic Geoscientific Information
Type of Resource Document
Category Type
Document Type Departmental Publication - Geological Survey Geoscience Publication
Contributor
Sponsor
Tenement
Tenement Holder
Operator
Geological Province Gawler Craton
Mine Name
Stratigraphy
Commodity
Notes
Geographic Locality: Port Lincoln;Hd Lincoln, secn 124, secn 348, secn 180, secn 358;Hd Lincoln, secn 32, secn 33
Doc No: RB 39/00026

Geographic Locality: Port Lincoln;Hd Lincoln, secn 124, secn 348, secn 180, secn 358;Hd Lincoln, secn 32, secn 33 Doc No: RB 39/00026

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/rb3900026
Citation Woodmansee, W. 1955. RB 39/00026 Port Lincoln uranium prospects area. Geology and considerations for further subsurface exploration. Departmental Publication - Geological Survey Geoscience Publication. Government of South Australia.
https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/rb3900026

Technical information

Status
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Geographic Reference GDA2020 (EPSG:7844)
Geo bounding box {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[135.5,-35],[136,-35],[136,-34.5],[135.5,-34.5],[135.5,-35]]]}
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