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Winza, Mpwapwa District, Dodoma Region, Tanzaniai
Regional Level Types
WinzaMining Area
Mpwapwa DistrictDistrict
Dodoma RegionRegion
TanzaniaCountry

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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
7° 1' 21'' South , 36° 21' 35'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Köppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
189429
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:189429:8
GUID (UUID V4):
0
Name(s) in local language(s):
Winza


The Winza mining area is located 120 km SW from Dodoma, just at the bottom of Mang’alisa’s mountains. It can be reached by driving to the local town of “Mpwapwa” (pronounced “Papua”) and by a further 3 hours of driving (in the dry season) to the mining site, locally known as “Winza Mine”. It is a rather remote area, but when high-quality rubies were found here in late 2007, it soon became a booming mining settlement. In 2008, an estimated population of 5–6000 people had settled in temporary bamboo dwellings while digging the soil for gem rubies.

The Winza mining area belongs to the Paleoproterozoic Usagaran Belt, and the variety of rock types in the Winza area is enormous. High-grade metamorphic rocks, typical for high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphism (estimated a P-T of minimum 5 kb-600 °C), are found in the close vicinity of the mines, such as garnet-pyroxene amphibolites, eclogite rocks, and kyanite-garnet-biotite gneiss and schists. Isolated granites, migmatitic rocks, quartz-feldspar gneisses, and amphibolites occur as well. The corundum is found in association with amphibolites in pure corundum-garnet-pargasite rocks and very rarely in association with plagioclase-rich amphibolite. In localized zones, these metamorphosed rocks occasionally form dykes, suggesting their magmatic origin. The hard rock mining activities aim to follow these corundum-bearing amphibolites.

Similar to the Paranesti (Greece) ruby deposit.

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.


Mineral List

Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities

4 valid minerals.

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ 'Almandine-Pyrope Series'
ⓘ Corundum
Formula: Al2O3
ⓘ Corundum var. Ruby
Formula: Al2O3
ⓘ Corundum var. Sapphire
Formula: Al2O3
ⓘ 'Garnet Group'
Formula: X3Z2(SiO4)3
ⓘ Kyanite
Formula: Al2(SiO4)O
ⓘ 'Mica Group'
ⓘ Pargasite
Formula: NaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
ⓘ Titanite
Formula: CaTiO(SiO4)

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides
ⓘCorundum4.CB.05Al2O3
ⓘvar. Ruby4.CB.05Al2O3
ⓘvar. Sapphire4.CB.05Al2O3
Group 9 - Silicates
ⓘKyanite9.AF.15Al2(SiO4)O
ⓘTitanite9.AG.15CaTiO(SiO4)
ⓘPargasite9.DE.15NaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
Unclassified
ⓘ'Mica Group'-
ⓘ'Almandine-Pyrope Series'-
ⓘ'Garnet Group'-X3Z2(SiO4)3

List of minerals for each chemical element

HHydrogen
Hⓘ PargasiteNaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
OOxygen
Oⓘ CorundumAl2O3
Oⓘ KyaniteAl2(SiO4)O
Oⓘ PargasiteNaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
Oⓘ Corundum var. RubyAl2O3
Oⓘ Corundum var. SapphireAl2O3
Oⓘ TitaniteCaTiO(SiO4)
Oⓘ Almandine-Pyrope Series
Oⓘ Garnet GroupX3Z2(SiO4)3
NaSodium
Naⓘ PargasiteNaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
MgMagnesium
Mgⓘ PargasiteNaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
Mgⓘ Almandine-Pyrope Series
AlAluminium
Alⓘ CorundumAl2O3
Alⓘ KyaniteAl2(SiO4)O
Alⓘ PargasiteNaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
Alⓘ Corundum var. RubyAl2O3
Alⓘ Corundum var. SapphireAl2O3
Alⓘ Almandine-Pyrope Series
SiSilicon
Siⓘ KyaniteAl2(SiO4)O
Siⓘ PargasiteNaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
Siⓘ TitaniteCaTiO(SiO4)
Siⓘ Almandine-Pyrope Series
Siⓘ Garnet GroupX3Z2(SiO4)3
CaCalcium
Caⓘ PargasiteNaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2
Caⓘ TitaniteCaTiO(SiO4)
TiTitanium
Tiⓘ TitaniteCaTiO(SiO4)
FeIron
Feⓘ Almandine-Pyrope Series

Other Databases

Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winza
Wikidata ID:Q25349241

Localities in this Region

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

AfricaContinent
African Plate
Somali PlateTectonic Plate

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