Latitude: 23°59'S
Longitude: 31°4'E
A copper-(U-)(Zr-)apatite-vermiculite mine located near Phalaborwa in the NE Transvaal. Apatite production occurred 1932-1934. Vermiculite production began 1946. Copper mining commenced 1965 and was fully operational by 1967.
Ore is in the Palabora carbonatite complex. The largest open pit mine in South Africa. Owned by Palabora Mining Company, Ltd.; RTZ (Manager).
The Phalaborwa Complex covers an area of 1950 hectares and it consists mainly of a phlogopite- and apatite rich pyroxenite. This pyroxenite is intruded successively by a series of more differentiated rocks - foskorite (phoscorite), and olivine- magnetite- apatite- phlogophite rock and finally a central intrustion of sövite (transgressive carbonatite). The sövite intrusion shows an intimate relationship with foskorite. The sövite (50 hectares at the surface) is composed of calcite and magnetite with minor amounts of dolomite, apatite, chalcopyrite, bornite and various silicates. Furthermore uraninite-thorianite and baddeleyite are important accessory minerals. The sövite is being mined by large scale opencast methods mainly for copper with uranium, zirconium and minute amounts of platinum as by-products. The foskorite is mined for the extraction of phosphate. The resources of apatite from the foskorite and the pyroxenite are enormous.
Mineral List
69 entries listed. 60 valid minerals.
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References
- Herbert, I. C. (1967): Palabora. Mining Magazine 116, 4-5, 7, 9-11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25.
- Mining Annual Review (1985): 411.
- Gliddon, J.P and Braithwaite, R.S.W. (1991): Zeolites and Associated Minerals from the Palabora Mine Transvaal. Mineral. Rec. 22 (4), 255-262.
- Karchevskii, P. I. (2000): Minerals of Sr and REE in carbonatites from Loolekop deposit (Palabora, RSA). Zapiski Vserossiiskogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva 129, 99-109.
- Groves, D. I. & Vielreicher, N. M. (2001): The Phalabowra (Palabora) carbonatite-hosted magnetite-copper sulfide deposit, South Africa: an end-member of the iron-oxide copper-gold-rare earth element deposit group? Mineralium Deposita 36, 189-194.
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