Tallering Peak, Mullewa Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Tallering Peak	Peak
Mullewa Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Located approximately 45 kilometres north of Mullewa, the peak is the dominant feature of the area. It is made up of vertical beds of banded iron formations, amongst which is a series of hematite jaspilites passing into lenses of rich iron ore, in the form of dense finely granular hematite. Early reports from testing showed metallic content in some samples at over 65%. It was estimated millions of tonnes contained 55-65% metallic content. A hill 2 kilometres away called Murra Murra was also noted to contain rich deposits of iron ore.

The deposit was first examined by H.Y.L. Brown in 1871, and his findings were confirmed by A. Gibb-Maitland in 1923. He found the beds to be nearly vertical, highly contorted, and in some places brecciated. Gibb-Maitland went onto describe hematite as the principal ore, with magnetite in several places, and minor limonite. The gangue was described as quartz, with some undetermined silicates but resembling hypersthene.

Mount Gibson Iron started mining the site in 2004, sending ore by rail from Mullewa to the port of Geraldton. In 2012 it announced a plan to close the mine, due to increased costs, and lower than expected iron content. Modern drilling had only been able to access the lower slopes of the peak, and the upper levels of the mine contained a lower grade iron than expected.

At T6 Pit, botryoidal masses of an iridescent mixture of hematite and goethite was found during mining operations. It is known as turgite, but is not a recognised species.

2015 - Mining has ceased. The location is well fenced off from the road and access is not possible.

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References