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West Gold Mine (West Block), Arltunga Gold Field, Central Desert Region, Northern Territory, Australiai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| West Gold Mine (West Block) | Mine |
| Arltunga Gold Field | Ore Field |
| Central Desert Region | Region |
| Northern Territory | Territory |
| Australia | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
23° 26' 34'' South , 134° 44' 44'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
One of the line of White Range leases. The White Range leases in general generated the largest tonnages, and gold produced historically at Arltunga, from twelve reefs, sub-parallel en enchelon, for 500 metres in length, the largest reef 10 metres wide. The leases are at the top of the White Range, and it appears some workings remain, however the modern White Range Gold Mine 1989-1991 is at the southern end of the line, and is likely to have obliterated some of what was there.
The workings reach a depth of 30 metres, on reefs dipping south. Many of the stopes are interconnected by short tunnels and drives. The near surface mining accessed supergene enriched mineralisation at White Range of gold, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and azurite.
The West Block has one of the largest reefs at White Range, but remained largely un-developed due to its very low gold grades, which averaged 1.86 g/t, while nearby North Block was 18.81 g/t Au, and Excelsior 13.03 g/t Au.
At West Block, the reef occupied a higher stratigraphic level, and therefore was much leached of its minerals by groundwater. The lease contained only one reef, striking for 244 metres, averaging 7.9 metres wide. The mine produced 101.77 ounces averaging 41 g/t Au, likely a localised rich patch, and/or handpicked ore, explaining away the discrepancy between the two g/t figures above.
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
Australia
- Arunta OrogenOrogen
- Aileron ProvinceGeologic Province
- Central Australian ElementCraton
- Western Australia
- Warakurna Large Igneous ProvinceGeologic Province
Australian PlateTectonic Plate
- Arunta BlockOrogenic Belt
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