Mineral distribution and provenance of heavy mineral sands (zircon, ilmenite, rutile) deposits from the NW Murray Basin, far western NSW, Australia

Abstract

There is significant economic interest in the Murray Basin of southeastern Australia as it is proving to be a major heavy mineral sands (HMS) province that will be one of Australia’s major source for production of rutile, zircon and ilmenite. The distribution and provenance of HMS resources in the Murray Basin is poorly understood because of its huge size, limited exploration and the complex depositional, structural and weathering mechanisms in their development. In this paper, we focus on the Copi North and Magic deposits some 130–180 km south of Broken Hill, NSW. The heavy mineral assemblages of the Copi North and Magic deposits are very similar, with the main economic minerals being ilmenite, leucoxene, pseudorutile, rutile and zircon. Intensive fracturing and brecciation are identified in many samples and are inferred to have been initially caused by multi-stage deformational processes associated with metamorphism and then further developed through alluvial and eolian transportation. Both deposits are classified as ‘medium sands, symmetrical, mesokurtic and moderately well-sorted’. The majority of economic minerals are of low to medium sphericity and subrounded, along with abundant polished eolian quartz grains. The Copi North deposit has coarser and more poorly sorted sediments with higher HMS grades and magnetics content than the Magic deposit, reflecting a higher energy depositional environment. The main source for the HMS for the Copi North and Magic deposits is largely ascribed to the Broken Hill Block. Previous studies have shown that the Broken Hill orebody underwent substantial sub-aerial weathering over hundreds of millions of years. In addition, the complex metamorphic events experienced by the Broken Hill Block were capable of forming the broad series of minerals identified within the Copi North and Magic deposits. The HMS were believed to have been transported through paleovalleys near the Mulculca Fault in a southeast direction representing a feeder system into the NW Murray Basin. Both deposits feature a relatively linear geometry (roughly parallel to the strike of the paleoshoreline), with high HMS grades, modest tonnages, and coarser sediments when compared to WIM-style offshore deposits. Compared to other strandline HMS deposits of the Murray Basin, they are smaller in size although have similar high grades of 3.7–6.9% THM and similar proportions of the HMS assemblage of ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile and zircon. Deposits of similar size and grade are likely to occur throughout the northern part of the Murray Basin.KEY POINTSBoth the Copi North and Magic deposits contain similar mineral assemblages with the provenance of the heavy minerals ascribed to the Broken Hill Block.A relatively high energy inshore environment is inferred for the Copi North deposit while a lower energy environment associated with either a foreshore or backshore environment is inferred for the Magic deposit.Deposits of similar mineralogy, grades and size are likely to occur elsewhere throughout the northern Murray Basin.