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Golden Osprey Mine, Thulamela Local Municipality, Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Golden Osprey Mine | Mine |
| Thulamela Local Municipality | Municipality |
| Vhembe District Municipality | Municipality |
| Limpopo | Province |
| South Africa | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
23° 1' 1'' South , 30° 43' 36'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Area:
18 km2
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Other/historical names associated with this locality:
Madonsi Mine; New Union Mine; Northfields Gold Mine
This gold deposit is situated in the rehydrated granulite zone of the Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Limpopo Belt. The gold mineralization occurs in ductile shear zones in metamorphosed banded iron formation. These lithologies form part of the Giyani Formation in the Sutherland greenstone belt (Gan and van Reenen, 1995).
At Osprey (formerly New Union mine) gold mineralization occurs in two, subparallel northward dipping shear zones, which are 800 m apart, and oriented subparallel to the regional fabric (PRETORIUS et al., 1988). In the western shear zone, Au is associated with syntectonic quartz veins in
garnetiferous amphibolite. In the eastern shear zone, it occurs in sheared banded iron formation. The ore bodies average 2 m wide and plunge at 60 degrees to the east. Assemblages in metapelite of garnet + orthoamphibole
+ biotite + plagioclase + quartz are characterized by intergrowths of kyanite + gedrite pseudomorphing cordierite which demonstrates that these rocks experienced the rehydration phase which established the retrograde orthoamphibole isograd and associated southern rehydrated granulite
zone of the Limpopo belt. The very important conclusion that can be drawn from this deposit is that the gold mineralization is associated with rehydration at amphibbolite facies conditions (van Reenen at al., 1994).
Mining commenced in 1935 and by 1986 an estimated 2.5 tons of gold was recovered. The name change to Golden Osprey occurred in 1987 and a further 550 kg of gold was produced until 1991. In 1993, the name changed again to Northfields gold mine and since then has produced an average of 20 kg annually from surface material, up until the mid-1990s (Ward and Wilson, 1998).
History of mine name: Madonsi mine 1960-1968, New Union mine 1935, 1982-1986, Golden Osprey mine 1987. The Manville section of the mine under new management for a short period named it Northfields Gold mine 1993 (SAHRIS case no. 2262)
At Osprey (formerly New Union mine) gold mineralization occurs in two, subparallel northward dipping shear zones, which are 800 m apart, and oriented subparallel to the regional fabric (PRETORIUS et al., 1988). In the western shear zone, Au is associated with syntectonic quartz veins in
garnetiferous amphibolite. In the eastern shear zone, it occurs in sheared banded iron formation. The ore bodies average 2 m wide and plunge at 60 degrees to the east. Assemblages in metapelite of garnet + orthoamphibole
+ biotite + plagioclase + quartz are characterized by intergrowths of kyanite + gedrite pseudomorphing cordierite which demonstrates that these rocks experienced the rehydration phase which established the retrograde orthoamphibole isograd and associated southern rehydrated granulite
zone of the Limpopo belt. The very important conclusion that can be drawn from this deposit is that the gold mineralization is associated with rehydration at amphibbolite facies conditions (van Reenen at al., 1994).
Mining commenced in 1935 and by 1986 an estimated 2.5 tons of gold was recovered. The name change to Golden Osprey occurred in 1987 and a further 550 kg of gold was produced until 1991. In 1993, the name changed again to Northfields gold mine and since then has produced an average of 20 kg annually from surface material, up until the mid-1990s (Ward and Wilson, 1998).
History of mine name: Madonsi mine 1960-1968, New Union mine 1935, 1982-1986, Golden Osprey mine 1987. The Manville section of the mine under new management for a short period named it Northfields Gold mine 1993 (SAHRIS case no. 2262)
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
2 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Native Gold Formula: Au |
| ⓘ Quartz Formula: SiO2 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 1 - Elements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Native Gold | 1.AA.05 | Au |
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
| ⓘ | Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| O | Oxygen | |
|---|---|---|
| O | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| Au | Gold | |
| Au | ⓘ Native Gold | Au |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
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References
www.geoscience.org.za (n.d.) http://www.geoscience.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=162&Itemid=182
Golden Osprey Mine, Thulamela Local Municipality, Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa