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GSV TR2012/1 - Heavy Mineral Sands in the Murray Basin of Victoria

GSV TR2012/1 - Heavy Mineral Sands in the Murray Basin of Victoria
Category: Technical Records Product Code: MP-R-38288
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Executive Summary Heavy Mineral Sands (HMS) were first reported in the Murray Basin of Victoria in 1967 by a GSV geologist, Dr Philip Macumber. After some sporadic exploration in the 1970s, a concerted and broad-ranging campaign by CRA and other companies during the 1980s and 1990s established the Murray Basin as a major HMS province. Subsequent exploration and resource definition resulted in several viable operations targeting strandline deposits. As of end 2011, a total of 1.38 million tonnes of ore has been mined, with an aggregate production of about 564 000 tonnes rutile, 591 000 tonnes zircon and 223 000 tonnes ilmenite, all from strandline deposits. The total royalties paid to the Government of Victoria was over $25 million (York Cook, DPI, pers. comm.).

The source of HMS in the Murray Basin is probably the weathered and eroded Palaeozoic and older rocks surrounding the basin. The HMS deposits in the Murray Basin formed within the Loxton Sands during a Late Miocene-Pliocene regression. HMS accumulated in the near-shore environment of the Murray Basin sea, primarily as strandline deposits where HMS tend to concentrate in a near-shore, low-energy zone where HMS become stranded due to their greater density, and WIM-style off shore deposits which formed in deeper water. The genesis of WIM-style deposits is still poorly understood.

Strandline deposits are characterised by their relatively linear geometry and WIM-style deposits by their sheet-like geometry. Strandline deposits tend to be coarse grained (>100 μm grain size), while WIM-style deposits tend to be fine grained (<100 μm grain size). Strandline deposits tend to be relatively rich, with grades in the range of 5-20% HMS, but are relatively low tonnage, while WIM-style deposits tend to have lower grades, in the range of 2-5% HMS, but tonnages that are at least one order of magnitude greater than that of strandline deposits.


Download The downloadable version of this report is supplied in PDF format.

Bibliographic Reference OLSHINA, A. & VAN KANN, M., 2012. Heavy Mineral Sands in the Murray Basin of Victoria. Geological Survey of Victoria Technical Record 2012/1.