1969 Appraisal of AP 1925 Mt. Ziel Area

Abstract

An examination of official reports, geological maps and other data available on the Mount Ziel area indicates that the prospects of mineral discoveries of importance are low. This negative hypothesis is supported by the lack of any discoveries of interest in the area in the past, the lack of any discoveries of importance in similar rock types in adjacent areas i.e. up to 150-200 miles radius of Mount Ziel and the lack of interest being shown by major exploration groups in the area. With respect to this latter statement the BMR and the oil exploration groups have shown interest in the area south of Mount Ziel but this area, the Amadias Basin, is a. sedimentary basin much younger than, and geologically unrelated to, the Mount Ziel area. While no detailed geological information is available for the northern half of the Hermannsburg area - ref Sheet F53-13 Aust. 1:250,000 Topographic Series - it can be inferred from the geological maps of the southern half of this area and the report on prospects on the Mount Ziel Prospecting Authority by the NTA Mines Dept. that the area is entirely within the zone of Pre-Cambrian gneiss granite and schist. This is the central part of the Australian Pre-Cambrian Shield and the whole of the central part of the Shield has been disappointingly unproductive of minerals. By comparison the margins of the Shield have been most productive and have been recommended by a number of authorities as the areas of greatest potential for future discoveries. Some of the discoveries on the edge of the Pre-Cambrian Shield are Broken Hill, Mount Isa, McArthur River, West Australian Iron and the Kalgoorlie gold and nickel deposits. This fact again casts doubts on the potential of the area. Despite this rather discouraging outlook several factors still leave room for some guarded optimism. Firstly the area has not been thoroughly and systematically prospected, secondly several of the 'prospects' reported by you and examined by the NTA Mines Dept. showed traces of copper, and traces of copper have been found through-out the area, and thirdly deposits of economic importance have been found in similar rook types elsewhere in the world.

Accordingly it appears that continuation of present programme of limited low-budget prospecting is justified and should be continued. It should be stressed however that until some promising on-site indications of commercial mineralization are found no programme of intensive high-cost exploration appears to be justified. In the prospecting campaign an attempt should be made to traverse the area on some regular pattern. However with casual aborigine labour a somewhat random approach only, can be expected. Under these conditions it is suggested that the prospectors concentrate on minor drainage channels in areas of rock out crop and look for mineral indicators in the way of floaters. Such indicators include gossanous iron oxides, quartz, iron stained quartz, coursely crystalline rocks of any type, copper stained rocks etc. On discovery of such floaters an attempt should be made to trace the source area by following up the drainage channels and traversing the area adjacent to the drainage channels. Note: all gossan areas warrant close attention. From the available information copper appears to be the most favourable mineral prospect. However because of the nature of the rock and the reported presence of Pegmatites some of the less common minerals such as Beryl and semi precious stones should not be overlooked. The following comments are offered on the potential for discovery of various economic minerals in the area and their mode of occurrence:

1. Copper - Minor copper mineralization has already been observed and the area accordingly imist be considered to have some slight potential. By far the best indicator of copper mineralization in such an area would be gossanous outcrops. Such outcrops may or may not show signs of copper staining. On areas of low relief visual evidence of copper mineralization may only be found at depths of 3-4 feet or more. Accordingly any major area of goasan or quartz and gossan should be tested by pitting to a depth of 4-6 feet. Narrow widths of gossan or quartz and gossan, while of possible interest from an area potential point of view, are of little potential commercial interest and don't warrant a great deal of attention. Because of the isolation of the area only those bodies that are large enough to support an operation of 1,000 t/day or more or smaller bodies that are of very high grade i.e. plus l0 have any great potential.

2. Lead/Zinc/Silver - The potential for discovery of lead/zinc/silver orebodies in this area appears to be very low. Should they occur the best indicators are again gossans.

3. Nickel - The potential for discovery of nickel appears to be nil. Nickel, particularly as sulphide deposits, is restricted to areas of ultra basic rocks. There is no indication from the literature that such rocks exist in the area. The Gneiss and Granite are acid rocks.

4. Bauxite - Unlikely to occur and isolation prevents any deposit from being of economic interest.

5. Uranium - Uranium is not an impossible occurrence in such an area. Surface visual indicators are not readily reoogtiized and some radiation indicator would be required for field prospecting. It may pay to check some specimen material in a lab, when it is sent down.

6. Iron - Unlikely to occur in quantity and isolation makes iron ore in this area of little economic interest.

7. Phosphate - Minor phosphate deposits have been discovered in the sedimentary rooks in adjacent areas. Because of isolation these can be of little economic interest and because of this arid difficulties of identification they do not warrant attention.

8. Coal/Gas/Oil - Cannot occur in gneiss -granite-schist. Potential for gas and oil south of the area is good but all important areas are probably now held by major companies.

9. Gold - BMR Report 61 mentions that traces of gold have been 'reported' to have been found. There are no production records from the area. However after copper, gold is probably the beat potential prospect in the area though this potential must be considered very low. Lack of water makes panning difficult and the best chance of discovery is by visual inspection of quartz or gossan. Any gossan sent for assay for any metal should be checked for gold.

l0. Beryl - Beryl is commonly found in Peginatites and accordingly must be considered as a possible prospect in the area. All Pegmatite areas should be checked. Coarsely crystalline Beryl is fairly readily recognized. It normally has a hexagonal crystal form and can be picked out in hand specimens. Special indicating equipment employing a radio active source is available for Beryl detection and could be employed if any promising indications of Beryl were obtained, Note Beryl has been recovered commercially from Pegmatites in the Mount Isa and Broken Hill areas.

ll. Semi Precious Stones - Some of the semi precious stones commonly occur in pegmatites and a with Beryl warrant attention. Samples of ny well formed crystals or fragments of well coloured vitreous or translucent crystal material should be checked. Note Even well formed quartz crystals are of potential value.

12. Other - Some of the more expensive special application minerals e.g. abrasives, refractories etc. occur in pegmatite and if deposits were large enough these could be significant. Virtually no commercial production of such minerals has been undertaken in Australia to date.