Wodgina Mine (Wodgina pegmatite; Main tantalite dyke), Port Hedland Shire, Western Australia, Australia

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This mine was the world's major supplier of Tantalite during the twentieth century until its depletion by 1994.

It is located 109 kilometres south of Port Hedland and 7 kilometres west of the Great Northern Highway.

In the early part of the twentieth century, Tantalite was a rare commodity, and despite its remoteness, Wodgina supplied most of the world's Tantalite. In the early years of mining, the ore was carted by camel to the coast.

Tantalite was discovered at the location in 1901 by brothers Francis and William Michell, who subsequently mined 70 tonnes of the ore between 1905-1909. A company called Tantalite Ltd formed by Lady Deborah V Hackett-Moulden and N.S. Young then mined the site between 1925 to 1943, exporting tantalite ore concentrate mainly to the United States.

In 1943, the mine was taken over by the Australian Government as part of its wartime effort. Tantalite concentrate continued to be exported to the United States, and in addition during this period beryl was exported. In 1927, geologist E.S Simpson had identified large masses of cesium bearing white beryl at the northern end of the pegmatite. It is thought this was used as part of the Manhattan Project, which was researching the development of an atomic bomb.

After the war, Tantalite Ltd, continued to operate the mine, however, by 1953 it had run out of funds, and sold the mine to Northwest Tantalum Ltd. This company then found its new purchase to be uneconomic, and had reliquished the lease by 1957. Between 1957 to 1963 the mine was operated by prospector L.J. Wilson. In 1963 the mine was purchased by J.A. Johnson and Sons Pty Ltd, the by Avela in 1967, and Goldrim Mining in 1968.

Goldrim formed a partnership with Goldfield Corp(New York) and Chemalloy Minerals Ltd (Toronto). The investigations into the pegmatite by this last firm discovered the new species Wodginite. Mining occurred sporadically until Goldrim formed a new partnership with Pan West Tantalum Pty Ltd, who opened open pit mining at the site in 1989. By 1994 most of the pegmatite had been removed and mining ceased. The mine is currently (2012) active again by Atlas Iron.

The aplitic pegmatite is 670 metres long by 3 to 15 metres wide, and zoned: cleavelandite with tantalum minerals, spessartine, and minor quartz and muscovite; albite-quartz-muscovite with minor microcline; albite-quartz-microcline; isolated grey quartz masses core; sugary albite and Li mica; white cesium bearing beryl, lithium phosphate masses and lepidolite at the northern end only.

A limited number of species are in circulation from the mine, thought to have been collected before 1989, when large scale mining removed most of the pegmatite. Local collectors have been turned away from the mine in recent years.

The Mindat listing of emerald for this locality is incorrect. E.S Simpson reported a prospector finding a few small emerald crystals 3.2 kilometres northwest of the mine as alluvial float, but the source of these emeralds is unknown.

Mineral List

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

Albite 'Allanite' Anglesite 'Apatite' Autunite Beryl var: Emerald var: Vorobyevite 'Biotite' Bismuth Bismutite Bobierrite Calcite 'Chlorite Group'

Chrysocolla Clinobisvanite Columbite-(Mn) Corundum Epidote Euxenite-(Y) Fluorapatite Fluorite Gold Grossular Helvine Hematite Hemimorphite Hydrokenoelsmoreite

Hydrokenoelsmoreite var: Ferritungstite Ixiolite Lepidolite Lithiophilite 'Manganese Oxides' Microcline Microlite Group 'Monazite' Muscovite Nontronite Phlogopite 'Prochlorite' Pucherite Purpurite

Pyrrhotite Quartz var: Jasper Scheelite Schorl Sicklerite Smithsonite Spessartine 'Tantalite' Tantalite-(Mn) 'Tapiolite' Thorogummite 'Tourmaline var: Indicolite' Wodginite (TL)

56 entries listed. 42 valid minerals. 1 type locality (valid mineral).

Localities in this Region

Australia Western Australia Port Hedland Shire Wodgina Mine (Wodgina pegmatite) Stannum West

References