Woodlands variscite gold occurrence (Low Hill; Waldburg variscite deposit), Woodlands Station, Meekatharra Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Woodlands variscite gold occurrence (Low Hill; Waldburg variscite deposit)	Deposit
Woodlands Station	- not defined -
Meekatharra Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Unusual phosphate deposit containing visible particles of gold.
Located near Low Hill, about 9 km NW of Mt. Egerton, about 50 km NW of the Woodlands station.

Low Hill itself is 5 kilometres south of the variscite location, although provides little help in finding it within the jumble of hills in the area. Mt Egerton is visible from the road as clearly a higher mountain.

The deposit is difficult to locate. The Mount Augustus-Woodlands Road is a little used small gravel road which leads east-west between these locations. A two wheel track, directly north of Low Hill but unseen from the road, leads south from this road towards a ridge. Parking at the base of the ridge, its then about a two kilometre walk across to the southern side of the ridge.

A vague reference to a phosphate occurrence in the area was made in 1983 by mining exploration company Geopeko Pty Ltd. Specimen miners David Vaughan and Glen Archer were searching for alternative variscite locations to the Milgun Mine, which was under control of a rival firm. A search of the area detailed in the 1983 report located the variscite deposit, noted for its superior hardness, variegated appearance, and inclusions of gold particles. It was mined in 2006, before being covered in rubble and left.

The variscite occurrence is within the Mesoproterozoic Edmund Basin in the central part of the Capricorn Orogen. The phosphates occur in Kiangi Creek Formation siltstone and fine grained sandstone, of the Middle Edmund Group, intruded locally by 1465Ma old dolerite sills and folded. Interesting rocks occur around the phosphate deposit in the country rock.

The variscite occurs in an area 0.5 metres thick along a strike length of 1 kilometre, as several thin seams 10-50mm thick.

Within the deposit is a main discordant vein, being an intergrowth of variscite and crandallite. The crandallite is intermixed with alunite-jarosite and yellow, fine grained masses and veinlets of kaolinite. The variscite is often a dark olive green, in comparison to the lighter green of the Milgun variscite. The variscite can be webbed, be of massive blocks, balloon-like masses, nodular aggregates, breccias and finely fractured masses with crandallite.

The more minor stratabound seams contain pale-green variscite, sometimes with shreds of siltstone and sphericules of wardite along the edges of the seams. Or the seams contain porous bluish-green turquoise with small inclusions of apatite, and larger nodular intergrown masses of variscite, quartz and apatite. The last species is also found as thin discontinuous
layers in the wall-rock parallel to the thicker variscite-turquoise seams.

One unusual aspect of the deposit is the inclusion of gold particles and dendritic growths with the variscite in the main vein. The gold ranges from microscopic to barely visible at 2mm, and was only found in a small amount of the variscite.

After mining, the area of excavation was covered with rubble. However, this appears to contain material from both the main seam, and the minor stratabound seams. While not insitu, there was ample evidence of the rocks mentioned above (with maybe the exception of gold).

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References