Monarch Cinnabar Mine, Gravelotte, Murchison Range, Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality, Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africai
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
23° 54' 10'' South , 30° 45' 50'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
KΓΆppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
| Place | Population | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Phalaborwa | 109,468 (2012) | 38.6km |
| Nkowakowa | 30,138 (2014) | 48.5km |
Mindat Locality ID:
16468
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:16468:4
GUID (UUID V4):
3596dffe-5080-4bd9-8866-ba5b43876ee6
The Monarch Cinnabar Mine is centrally located within the Murchison greenstone belt, east of the Monarch Antimony Mine. A line of hills and ridges formed by resistant quartz-carbonate rocks forms the central range of the greenstone belt and the Antimony Line. It is on one of these carbonate ridges, the Free State koppies, that the Monarch Cinnabar Mine is situated. The presence of mercury (cinnabar) in the area was recorded as early as 1892 by Sawyer who indicated the occurrence north of Witkop. However, in 1936 H.A. Harington, while prospecting for gold in the Free State koppies, discovered the main cinnabar deposit on the hill which now bears his name. Two ore bodies were discovered, the main Harington Kop deposit and the Monarch Kop lodes.
Mining of the Harington Kop ore body commenced at the beginning of 1940 and involved the excavation of ore exposed at surface. Ore was extracted down to 2 level via an adit while a shaft was sunk to 6 level (180m below surface) to gain access to the deeper ore. By the end of the six year life of the mine, approximately 150 000 tonnes of ore were mined from which 4 200 flasks (150 tons) of metallic mercury were recovered. The mine closed in September 1946 when the main ore body had virtually been exhausted.
(Source: Cairncross and Dixon (1995)
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsMineral List
Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities5 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
| β Cinnabar Formula: HgS Localities: Monarch Kop lode, Monarch Cinnabar mine, Gravelotte, Murchison Range, Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality, Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa Harrington Kop lode, Monarch Cinnabar mine, Gravelotte, Murchison Range, Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality, Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa Monarch Cinnabar Mine, Gravelotte, Murchison Range, Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality, Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa |
| β Eglestonite Formula: [Hg2]2+3OCl3(OH) Description: Occurs as a yellow powder associated with mercury and cinnabar |
| β Hypercinnabar Formula: HgS |
| β Mercury Formula: Hg Localities: |
| β Metacinnabar Formula: HgS |
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 1 - Elements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| β | Mercury | 1.AD.05 | Hg |
| Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
| β | Metacinnabar | 2.CB.05a | HgS |
| β | Cinnabar | 2.CD.15a | HgS |
| β | Hypercinnabar | 2.CD.15b | HgS |
| Group 3 - Halides | |||
| β | Eglestonite | 3.DD.05 | [Hg2]2+3OCl3(OH) |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | β Eglestonite | [Hg2]32+OCl3(OH) |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | β Eglestonite | [Hg2]32+OCl3(OH) |
| S | Sulfur | |
| S | β Cinnabar | HgS |
| S | β Hypercinnabar | HgS |
| S | β Metacinnabar | HgS |
| Cl | Chlorine | |
| Cl | β Eglestonite | [Hg2]32+OCl3(OH) |
| Hg | Mercury | |
| Hg | β Cinnabar | HgS |
| Hg | β Eglestonite | [Hg2]32+OCl3(OH) |
| Hg | β Hypercinnabar | HgS |
| Hg | β Mercury | Hg |
| Hg | β Metacinnabar | HgS |
Localities in this Region
- Limpopo
- Mopani District Municipality
- Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality
- Murchison Range
- Gravelotte
- Monarch Cinnabar mine
- Gravelotte
- Murchison Range
- Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality
- Mopani District Municipality
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
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References
