Queensland Geological Record 2005/01
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QUEENSLAND GEOLOGICAL RECORD 2005/1 A review of mines and metalliferous mineralisation in the Mundubbera 1:250 000 Sheet area, Queensland J S Lam ISSN 1039-5547 QUEENSLAND GEOLOGICAL RECORD 2005/1 A REVIEW OF MINES AND METALLIFEROUS MINERALISATION IN THE MUNDUBBERA 1:250 000 SHEET AREA, QUEENSLAND J S Lam GEOMAP 2005 This report summarises metalliferous mineralisation in the Mundubbera 1:250 000 Sheet area and contributes to the South Connors-Auburn-Gogango (SCAG) Project of the Geological Survey of Queensland GEOMAP 2005 program. The program combines new and evolving technology with field investigations to update knowledge of the mineral resource potential of Queensland. The SCAG Project area covers part of the northern New England Fold Belt. The major structural provinces within the study area are the Auburn Subprovince/Auburn Arch (a Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous Andean style volcanic arc), Bowen Basin (Permian to Triassic extensional basin), Yarrol Province (Late Devonian to Early Permian fore-arc basin), Coastal and Philpott Subprovinces (Devonian to Carboniferous age accretionary wedge), Abercorn Trough (Triassic), Mulgildie and Surat Basins (Jurassic intracontinental basin), Carboniferous granites of the Auburn Subprovince, and Permo-Triassic granites in the Rawbelle Batholith. The principal mineral commodities in the Sheet area are gold and silver, iron, magnetite and limestone, and minor antimony, base metals, tungsten and molybdenum. Up to 1993, >30t gold (Cracow: 27t from epithermal quartz-calcite lode and Eidsvold: 3t from intrusive-related hydrothermal quartz-sulphide vein); 6t of wolfram concentrate from quartz-pegmatite lode; 250t of antimony (stibnite concentrate) from intrusive-related quartz-sulphide lode were mined in the Mundubbera 1:250 000 Sheet area. Company exploration has outlined resources of 2.4Mt with 10g/t gold (790 000ozs) at Cracow, with further high-grade gold mineralisation discovered in the vicinity of the existing identified resources; 1.15Mt with 1.5g/t gold (56 000ozs) at Yarrol; and 595 000t with 1.7g/t gold (32 500ozs) at Rosehall. The Hawkwood magnetite deposit has a resource of several tens of million of tonnes with 25–35% magnetite; the Kennedy Peak area has a resource of several hundred million tonnes of oolitic ironstone with grades up to 37.5% iron; and the Philpott Creek limestone has a resource of several hundred thousands tonnes. Underground mining of the Royal-Klondyke lode commenced at Cracow in 2004, with a projected production of 1 million ounces of gold over a 7 year mine life. Recent publications relevant to the SCAG Project are the South Connors-Auburn-Gogango Project: Progress Report on Investigation during 1997, Queensland Geological Record 1998/1; Mining and Production History of the Cracow Gold and Mineral Field from 1932 to 1976, Queensland Geological Record 1998/2; A Review of Company Exploration for Metalliferous Deposits in the Mundubbera 1:250 000 Sheet area, Queensland Geological Record 1998/4; and South Connors-Auburn-Gogango Project: Progress Report on Investigation during 1998, Queensland Geological Record 1999/7; A Review of Company Exploration for Metalliferous Mineralisation in the Mackay 1:250 000 Sheet area, Queensland Geological Record 2004/4; A Review of Mines and Metalliferous Mineralisation in the Mackay (Special), 1:250 000 Sheet Area (including the Bundarra Pluton Porphyry Copper Deposits), Queensland Geological Record 2004/5; Mineral occurrences and district analysis — Banana, Theodore and Scoria 1:100 000 Sheet areas, central Queensland, Queensland Geological Record 2004/2; Mineral occurrences — St Lawrence and Port Clinton 1:250 000 Sheet areas, central Queensland, Queensland Geological Record 2004/7. Forthcoming reports are the geology and tectonic history of SCAG Project area. ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Geological Survey of Queensland Natural Resource Sciences Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland, 80 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly Qld 4068 Telephone: (07) 3896 9506; International +61 7 3896 9506 Facsimile: (07) 3362 9343; International +61 7 3362 9343 Internet: www.nrm.qld.gov.au © The State of Queensland, Department of Natural Resources and Mines 2005 ISSN 1039-5547 ISBN 1 921062 08 8 QNRM05026 Graphics: L Blight, JS Lam Issued: May 2005 REFERENCE: LAM, J.S., 2005: A review of mines and metalliferous mineralisation in the Mundubbera 1:250 000 Sheet area, Queensland. Queensland Geological Record, 2005/1. i CONTENTS SUMMARY....................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 3 MINERAL OCCURRENCE DATA .................................................... 5 LOCATION, ACCESS, AND CLIMATE ............................................... 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................ 7 REGIONAL GEOLOGY ............................................................ 7 PHILPOTT SUBPROVINCE ...................................................... 9 COASTAL SUBPROVINCE ..................................................... 12 YARROL PROVINCE .......................................................... 13 BOWEN BASIN/TAROOM TROUGH ............................................. 13 ABERCORN TROUGH ......................................................... 15 SURAT AND MULGILDIE BASINS .............................................. 15 LATE CRETACEOUS BASALT .................................................. 16 CAINOZOIC BASALT .......................................................... 16 CAINOZOIC DEEP WEATHERING PROFILES .....................................16 QUATERNARY ALLUVIUM AND COLLUVIUM ...................................17 AUBURN SUBPROVINCE ...................................................... 17 CARBONIFEROUS INTRUSIVES ................................................ 18 PERMIAN INTRUSIVES ........................................................ 19 PERMIAN TO TRIASSIC INTRUSIVES ...........................................19 TRIASSIC INTRUSIVES ........................................................ 21 MINERAL EXPLORATION ........................................................ 22 MINERALISATION ............................................................... 23 ANTIMONY .................................................................. 24 BARIUM ..................................................................... 31 BAUXITE .................................................................... 31 BISMUTH .................................................................... 32 CHROMIUM AND NICKEL ..................................................... 33 CLAY........................................................................ 33 COBALT ..................................................................... 34 COPPER, LEAD AND ZINC ..................................................... 34 GOLD ....................................................................... 43 ALLUVIAL GOLD .......................................................... 43 McKonkey Creek Provisional Goldfield .......................................44 LODE GOLD ............................................................... 48 Brovinia Provisional Goldfield............................................... 48 Cracow Goldfield ......................................................... 52 Dykehead Provisional Goldfield.............................................. 93 Eidsvold Goldfield ....................................................... 125 St John Creek Goldfield ................................................... 154 IRON ....................................................................... 166 LIMESTONE................................................................. 168 MAGNETITE ................................................................ 170 MANGANESE ............................................................... 172 PALLADIUM AND PLATINUM................................................. 172 PHOSPHATE ................................................................ 172 TIN.........................................................................172 TITANIUM .................................................................. 174 TUNGSTEN AND MOLYBDENUM.............................................. 174 CONCLUSION .................................................................. 179 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................... 180 APPENDIX 1. Index to mines and mineral occurrences .........................................197 FIGURE 1. Locality map of the Mundubbera 1:250 000 Sheet area and the South Connors-Auburn-Gogango Project area ............................................ 4 2. Major access roads of the Mundubbera region.......................................7 3a. Geological structural elements of the Mundubbera 1:250 000 Sheet area ..................8 ii 3b. Composite geology map of the Mundubbera 1:250 000 Sheet area......................10 4. Antimony lode occurrences in the Hungry Hill area .................................26 5. Main shaft of the Banshee stibnite mine ..........................................27 6. Banshee stibnite ore .......................................................... 28 7. Lady Mary quartz-stibnite lode with remnant host rock inclusions (creamy coloured) .......29 8. Location of selected significant copper occurrences .................................35 9. Eldorado andesite breccia with sub-rounded to subangular andesite and granodiorite clasts . 38 10. Predominantly