Gabanintha vanadium prospects, Gabanintha, Meekatharra Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Gabanintha vanadium prospects	Group of Prospects
Gabanintha	- not defined -
Meekatharra Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Located 48 km south east of Meekatharra.
Latitude: -26.94234
Longitude: 118.6317
Coordinates: 661989mE, 7018904mN.
References: Minedex Database 2006.

Two companies own tenements (2013) next to each other and are searching for vanadium. One has released geology information (the northern tenement), while the other hasn't. Vanadium is a soft silvery grey mineral used in metal alloys with iron to strengthen steel.

Vanadium in the area is contained in a metamorphosed Archaean layered medium to coarse grained anorthosite gabbroic intrusive, which has intruded mafic and ultramafic rocks, forming a close contact with the volcaniclastic Windanning Intrusion. The 60 degree westerly dipping intrusive contains two vanadiferous titano-magnetite units which outcrop as low ironstone ridges, which appear rather unimpressive to the un-trained eye.

The gabbro contains cumulate plagioclase crystals with interstitial actinolite. The intrusive is extensively faulted causing the fragmentation of the magnetite zone into several distinct areas containing isolated lenses.

With the Gabanintha area, vanadium enrichment has accompanied the formation of hematite and magnetite, occurs in zones of weathering, and may remain in the mineral structure as a substitution of iron and titanium ions. The oxidised depth is 25 to 50 metres.

Vanadium comprises massive to disseminated bands of titaniferous magnetite and ilmenite hosted by differentiated gabbro belonging to the Gabanintha Formation. There is a basal high grade band and an upper lower grade disseminated band, the bands 5 to 30 metres thick, with the same orientation as the gabbro host. It contains up to 15% magnetite, up to 65% hematite, 15% ilmenite and 10% kaolinite. The footwall contacts of the magnetite bands is sharp against the gabbro, while a zone of disseminated magnetite accompanies the hanging wall contact. Ilmenite has formed irregular inclusions within martite grains. The footwall is talc-carbonate ultramafic. Mineralisation in some areas is offset by dolerites and granites, and a series of east south-east trending faults.

The inner zone contains disseminated mineralisation partially oxidised, and contains octahedral magnetite in saprolitic clays and altered ultramafic rocks with stringer and massive mineralisation containing 0.28% to 0.70% vanadium over widths up to 95 metres. Higher grade thinner lenses from the inner zone show up to 1.21% vanadium. The outer zone is lower grade and up to 75 metres thick.


The tenements are approximately 5 kilometres south-west of the Gabanintha gold mines, and the two have been entered separately on Mindat.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality