Channel iron deposits, a major new district around the Caliwingina Creek, central Hamersley Ranges, Western Australia

Abstract

After six year intensive exploration for high-grade hematite deposits, the channel iron deposits (CIDs) were included as a specific iron ore target in the Hamersley Province iron ore exploration programme in 2000. The exploration model was simple and was based on the then current understanding of CID genesis. Fundamental to the model was an interpretation that CIDs could be entirely concealed in their channels after their final accumulation stage. Inversion to mesas and therefore exposure of the CID profile would only occur in areas where the modern drainages follow the ancient drainages, and have significantly incised their current bedrock. After a number of partially successful attempts, exploratory drilling in 2002 in the Caliwingina valley in the northern Hamersley Range identified significant CID mineralisation. Subsequent drilling programmes from 2003 onwards revealed the presence of a large CID system which stretches from the middle reaches of the Caliwingina Creek to deep under the sediments of the Fortescue Valley, a channel length of more than 30 km. Geological resource estimation suggests that Caliwingina is presently the third largest CID system of the Pilbara (after Yandicoogina and Bungaroo) and is of comparable size to the pre-mining Robe River system (1?6 Bt), with comparable Fe-grades to the Yandicoogina global resource grade (57?7%Fe). Large detrital iron and canga deposits overlie the Caliwingina CID, or interfinger with it, and although the economics of these are presently unfavourable, they could ultimately present a low-grade iron resource of slightly smaller size to the CID mineralisation at Caliwingina. Together with the recently discovered Serenity and Solomon deposits and other smaller occurrences, the Caliwingina deposit is part of a major new CID district in the central Hamersley Ranges, approximately halfway between Yandicoogina and Robe River. Although exploration in this new district is still underway, the preliminary indications are that this area will provide a total CID resource well over 3 billion tonnes and a detrital iron resource of similar size and is on a par with the major known CID systems in the Hamersley Province.

Discovery of the Solomon iron deposits, Hamersley Province, Western Australia

“…Solomon and the adjacent Serenity CID resources define a new regional CID province midway between the Robe and Marillana systems. The more recent announcement of a buried CID resource along Caliwingina Creek located in a valley to the north of Serenity falls broadly within the same system (Dalstra et al, 2009). The only other known major undercover CID is the Jimmawurrada/Bungaroo Creek palaeochannel which forms a major tributary to the Robe palaeochannel.…”

Morphology and Mineralogical Characteristics of Detrital Iron Deposit of North Odisha Iron Ore Craton, India

“…It is considered as the youngest iron ore group (1,3) comprising mainly of un-metamorphosed BIF of Precambrian age 2.47-2.32 Ga (1) that hosts the hematitic iron ore deposits throughout the belt. In some localities other than BIF there is occurrence of Detrital Iron Deposit (DID) belonging to the channel iron deposits (CID) (6,7) .…”

“…DID described under different nomenclature has been reported from the Hamersley province of Pilbara Craton, Western Australia (7)(8)(9) . In this region DID occurs in association with the dominant BIF hosted bedded iron deposits and channel iron deposits.…”

Depositional Conditions of Cretaceous Ironstones Deposit in the Chulym-Yenisey Basin (Western Siberia)

“…Continental ironstones [13][14][15][16] are comparatively rarer, but they are crucial for understanding the biogeochemical iron cycle in different periods of geological time [17,18]. These ironstones, known as channel iron deposits, occur in Oligocene sediments of Turgay and Aral regions of Kazakhstan [19][20][21] and in Miocene age paleochannel sediments in the Pilbara region of Western Australia [1,16,22,23]. Continental ironstones are predominantly of fluvial, alluvial, or lacustrine origin, including the entire spectrum from ferruginous mudstone to conglomerate [1,22,24].…”