Carr Boyd Rocks Ni mine, Menangina Station, Menzies Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Carr Boyd Rocks Ni mine	Mine
Menangina Station	- not defined -
Menzies Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Sulphidic deposit associated with mafic/ultramafic intrusions.

The Carr Boyd Rocks tenements are located 80 km north-north-east of Kalgoorlie and cover an area of 67 square kilometres. They include the historic Carr Boyd nickel mine, which was operated by WMC until 1977 and subsequently re-opened by Defiance Mining NL. WMC mined the `breccia pipes' within the intrusive complex in the 1970s. The location is known to host unusual secondary nickel species.

Specimens may have Goongarrie included on the label. This is a historic gold locality about 50 kilometres west of the mine. It may also refer to the Goongarrie National Park, the mine is located near its eastern border. There was a concern it could be confused with Lake Goongarrie, another locality on Mindat in the area. The listing has been changed to under Menangina Station, the sheep property the mine is located on.

Takovite is abundant on the dumps at the Glory Hole at the Carr Boyd Mine. It occurs as a weathering crust and joint fillings in gabbroic rock. The takovite is deposited on aluminous minerals, especially plagioclase, and to a lesser extent prehnite and chlorite, leaving minerals such as actinolite uncoated. Associated minerals are glaukosphaerite, paratacamite, gypsum, brochantite, malachite, azurite, epsomite, nickel-bearing magnesite, and chalconatronite.

The glaukosphaerite was also described as abundant in the Glory Hole mine and its dumps, associated with gypsum, on actinolite rock. The glaukosphaerite was found mixed with multi-hued green specimens of paratacamite, gypsum, and nickel-bearing varieties of magnesite, malachite, and clay. Studies of the specimens showed glaukosphaerite fibres with cores of malachite.

Nickelblödite was collected in 1975 from the bottom of the abandoned open pit. Before more could be collected, the pit collapsed into a stope. Only a few specimens were collected, one in the Government Chemical Laboratories (specimen number MDC 5657), a few fragments were sent to the British Museum and Smithsonian Institute. One specimen is known from the Durkin Shaft in Western Australia, and the species is found at only one other location worldwide.

Nickelblödite is the nickel analogue of blödite. It is found at the location coating and intergrown with morenosite, translucent, pale yellowish-green to pale green. At Carr Boyd it crystallises from saline solutions of hydrated sulphide of sodium and nickel, high in sodium bicarbonate, which is consistent with the specie's high Mg (Ni and Fe) ratio.

Georgeite was found on the dumps at the Glory Hole by P. Bridge in 1975. It was part of a large boulder of weathered tremolite. The following description is an indication of the mineral riches found at Carr Boyd in the 1970s. The boulder contained disseminated chalcopyrite, pyrite, marcasite, covellite, digenite, and trace mackinawite, bornite, and something called "blaubleibender covellite". In addition, fracture surfaces were coated with nickel-bearing magnesite, gypsum, malachite, chalconatronite, and georgeite.

Georgeite occurs as thin coatings in the oxidized zone with malachite and chalconatronite. It is light blue and formed by a reaction between malachite and groundwater rich in Na+ and Co 2/3-. It was described as coarsely crystalline but also amorphous, as soft and brittle coatings.

Bright yellow hydrohonessite was found on coarse gabbroic rock, with the species as a fine dusting in a fracture on gypsum, reevesite, pecoraite, and goethite.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References