Okorusu Mine (Okarusu Mine), Otjiwarongo District, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 20° 3' 0'' South , 16° 44' 42'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -20.05017,16.74513 |
| GeoHash: | G#: kk7vvjcrm |
| Köppen climate type: | BSh : Hot semi-arid (steppe) climate |
An open pit fluorite mine located 48 (40?) km north of Otjiwarango. Part of an alkaline igneous-carbonatite ring dike complex where fluorite has replaced pegmatitic carbonatite.
Mined since around 1920. Then closed in 1963 (Weninger, 1972). Since 1988 operated by Okorusu Fluorspar (Pty) Ltd. Sold in 1997 to Solvay SA.
The mine is famous for outstanding blue and green fluorite crystals, often with phantoms. The mine management allows a specimen miner (Peter Eysselein) to extract fluorite specimens to be sold on the international market (Brandstetter, 2011).
The Early-Cretaceous alkaline rocks/sövite complex intruded Late Precambrian Damara series (quartzites, marbles and biotite schists). The metasedimentary rocks have been fenitized in the vicinity of the intrusion. Fluorite also replaces host-rocks (marbles and biotite schists).
REE-bearing minerals occur in beforsitic carbonatite dikes and carbonate-fluorite-bearing metasomatites. There HREE content is significant.
Mineral List
25 valid minerals.
Regional Geology
This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.
Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org
| Ediacaran - Cryogenian 541 - 720 Ma ID: 3306663 | Age: Neoproterozoic (541 - 720 Ma) Lithology: Sedimentary and volcaniclastic Reference: Thiéblemont, D. (ed.). New edition of the 1:10,000,000 geological map of Africa. CGMW-BRGM. [190] |
| Neoproterozoic 541 - 1000 Ma ID: 3190685 | Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Neoproterozoic (541 - 1000 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Damara Supergroup Lithology: Sedimentary rocks Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154] |
Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
Okorusu Mine, Otjiwarongo District, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia