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Golden Grove - Scuddles, Gossan Hill |
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Western Australia, WA, Australia |
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Zn Cu Au Ag Pb
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Super Porphyry Cu and Au
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IOCG Deposits - 70 papers
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All papers now Open Access.
Available as Full Text for direct download or on request. |
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Scuddles and Gossan Hill are two Archaean volcanic hosted massive sulphide Zn-Cu-Pb-Ag-Au deposits, located at Golden Grove, some 225 km east of Geraldton and 370 km NNE of Perth in Western Australia (#Location: Scuddles - 28° 44' 41"S,116° 56' 37"E; Gossan Hill - 28° 45' 54"S, 116° 57' 35"E).
The two Golden Grove deposits are hosted within the Yalgoo greenstone belt of the Murchison Province, which is in turn part of the Archaean Yilgarn Craton. The Yalgoo greenstone belt is characterised by heterogeneous deformation, with narrow zones of high strain, separating weakly deformed domains. The deposit occurs within a 1000 to 3000 m thick sequence dominated by felsic and intermediate volcaniclastic sediments, lavas and associated autoclastic breccias. Many later dolerite and gabbro dykes infilled extensional fractures.
Scuddles was discovered in 1979. It is over 600 m long and up to 50 m thick, occurring as two steeply west dipping lenses of massive sulphides. The massive sulphides occur as three types, namely massive (>50%) sphalerite at the top, massive pyrite (<50% sphalerite, <5% chalcopyrite) and copper rich massive sulphides (>5% chalcopyrite). In the immediate footwall of the massive sulphides is a zone of stockwork pyrite-chalcopyrite associated with silicification and chloritic alteration. The orebody is also accompanied by a halo of sericite, quartz, chlorite and carbonates. The sulphides have been dated at 2730±20 Ma.
The pre-mining resource totalled 10.5 Mt @ 11.7% Zn, 0.8% Pb, 1.2% Cu, 89 g/t Ag, 1.1 g/t Au. In 1998, total reserves + resources of mineable or potentially mineable ore/mineralisation in different grade classifications was estimated to be near 25 Mt.
Gossan Hill, discovered in 1971, is another significant massive sulphide base metal deposit, located some 4 km along strike to the south-east of Scuddles. This deposit comprises two separate ore zones, a lower Cu-rich ore zone and an upper Zn-rich ore zone, which occur in the middle and upper parts of the Golden Grove Formation respectively. These are connected vertically by stockwork mineralisation. Pre-massive sulphide massive magnetite is found in the upper copper rich ore zone, between the Cu and Zn ores.
The upper Zn-rich zone occurs as massive stratabound sulphides within bedded sandstone-siltstone and pebble breccia and comprises massive sphalerite, massive pyrite and enveloping sulphide veins that reach a maximum to the north and occur above, below and within the massive sulphides.
Below the Zn-rich zone, fine grained massive to disseminated magnetite in a matrix of ankerite-siderite-chlorite and talc, hosted by tuffaceous sandstone, is present as two semi-conformable sheets which reach a maximum of 40 m in thickness.
The lower Cu rich zone comprises two massive to semi-massive pyrite lenses within the basal 40 m of the same unit as the massive magnetite, but is not as extensive or as thick, reaching a maximum of 25 m below the maximum thickness of massive magnetite. The two zones have a gradational, discordant contact. The Cu rich interval is due to the concentration of sulphide stringers within the massive pyrite volume. These stingers also cut the magnetite zone. The massive pyrite post dates both the host sediments and the massive magnetite.
Published reserves and resources at June 30 2013 (MMG, 2014) were:
Primary Copper
Measured resource - 5.9 Mt @ 0.4% Zn, 2.8% Cu, 0.0% Pb, 17 g/t Ag, 0.5 g/t Au;
Indicated resource - 3.2 Mt @ 1.6% Zn, 2.7% Cu, 0.2% Pb, 29 g/t Ag, 1.4 g/t Au;
Inferred resource - 9.8 Mt @ 0.3% Zn, 3.1% Cu, 0.0% Pb, 24 g/t Ag, 0.3 g/t Au;
Total resource - 19 Mt @ 0.6% Zn, 2.9% Cu, 0.1% Pb, 23 g/t Ag, 0.5 g/t Au;
including Total proved+probable reserve - 4.6 Mt @ 0.8% Zn, 2.4% Cu, 0.1% Pb, 18 g/t Ag, 0.8 g/t Au;
Oxide Copper
Measured resource - 0.8 Mt @ 2.4% Cu;
Indicated resource - 1.8 Mt @ 2.3% Cu;
Total resource - 2.6 Mt @ 2.3% Cu;
including Total proved+probable reserve - 2.4 Mt @ 2.6% Cu;
Zinc
Measured resource - 1.0 Mt @ 13% Zn, 0.4% Cu, 1.2% Pb, 83 g/t Ag, 1.2 g/t Au;
Indicated resource - 1.4 Mt @ 14% Zn, 0.3% Cu, 1.6% Pb, 120 g/t Ag, 2.0 g/t Au;
Inferred resource - 4.8 Mt @ 12% Zn, 0.4% Cu, 0.7% Pb, 50 g/t Ag, 0.6 g/t Au;
Total resource - 7.2 Mt @ 13% Zn, 0.4% Cu, 0.9% Pb, 68 g/t Ag, 1.0 g/t Au;
including Total proved+probable reserve - 1.6 Mt @ 10.7% Zn, 0.7% Cu, 1.3% Pb, 100 g/t Ag, 1.9 g/t Au;
Oxide Gold
Indicated resource 0.8 Mt @ 120 g/t Ag, 2.9 g/t Au;
Inferred resource 0.4 Mt @ 73 g/t Ag, 1.8 g/t Au;
Total resource 1.1 Mt @ 105 g/t Ag, 2.6 g/t Au;
For detail consult the reference(s) listed below.
The most recent source geological information used to prepare this decription was dated: 1998.
This description is a summary from published sources, the chief of which are listed below.
© Copyright Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, storage or dissemination prohibited.
Scuddles Gossan Hill
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Ashley P M, Dudley R J, Lesh R H, Marr J M, Ryall A W 1988 - The Scuddles Cu-Zn prospect, an Archaean volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit, Golden Grove district, Western Australia: in Econ. Geol. v83 pp 918-951
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Barley M E 1995 - Archaean volcanic-hosted base metal sulphide mineralisation in Western Australia: in Australian Institute of Geoscientists Bull 16 pp 41-50
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Bishop J R, Lewis R J G 1992 - Geophysical signatures of Australian volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits: in Econ. Geol. v87 pp 913-930
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Frater K M 1983 - Geology of the Golden Grove prospect, Western Australia: a vocanogenic massive sulfide-magnetite deposit: in Econ. Geol. v78 pp 875-919
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Large R R 1992 - Australian volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits: features, styles, and genetic models: in Econ. Geol. v87 pp 471-510
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Mill J H A, Clifford B A, Dudley R J, Ruxton P A 1990 - Scuddles zinc-copper deposit at Golden Grove: in Hughes FE (Ed.), 1990 Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia & Papua New Guinea The AusIMM, Melbourne Mono 14, v1 pp 583-590
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Salama, W., Anand, R., Morey, A. and Williams, L., 2019 - Supergene gold in silcrete as a vector to the Scuddles volcanic massive sulfides, Western Australia: in Mineralium Deposita v.54, pp. 1207-1228.
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Sharpe R and Gemmell J B 2000 - Sulfur isotope characteristics of the Archean Cu-Zn Gossan Hill VHMS deposit, Western Australia: in Mineralium Deposita v35 pp 533-550
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Sharpe R, Gemmell J B 2001 - Alteration characteristics of the Archean Golden Grove Formation at the Gossan Hill Deposit, Western Australia: in Econ. Geol. v96 pp 1239-1262
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Sharpe R, Gemmell J B 2002 - The Archean Cu-Zn Magnetite-rich Gossan Hill volcanic-hosted massive Sulfide deposit, Western Australia: genesis of a multistage hydrothermal system: in Econ. Geol. v97 pp 517-539
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Whitford D J, Ashley P M 1992 - The Scuddles volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposit, Western Australia: geochemistry of the host rocks and evaluation of lithogeochemistry for exploration: in Econ. Geol. v87 pp 873-888
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Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd (PorterGeo) provides access to this database at no charge. It is largely based on scientific papers and reports in the public domain, and was current when the sources consulted were published. While PorterGeo endeavour to ensure the information was accurate at the time of compilation and subsequent updating, PorterGeo, its employees and servants: i). do not warrant, or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use of the information contained herein as to its correctness, accuracy, currency, or otherwise; and ii). expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or conclusions contained herein.
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