Orebody knowledge, landscape history and mineralisation of Martite – Goethite Ores in the Hamersley Province (WA)

The Challenge

The Hamersley Province is being mined at a rate of >850Mt of iron ore per year so understanding the mineralisation and its relationships with the weathered landscape of the Province to target new deposits and to better characterise orebodies is critical for the long-term sustainability of this iron ore province.

The Solution

This large, multidisciplinary research project by all West Australian iron ore producers and Bureau Veritas and, supported by Curtin University, UWA and the Geological Survey of WA will provide an integrated 4D understanding of the landscape evolution and weathering history of the Hamersley Province and its relationship to genesis and mineralisation of Martite-Goethite iron ore deposits.

The understanding of the mineralisation events will improve orebody knowledge and support enhanced decision making from exploration to mining.

Proposed Benefit to WA

Iron ore is a vital commodity for WA with $5b of royalties and 50,000 employees in 2018. The enhanced understanding of the Hamersley Province orebody knowledge will assist find new deposits as well as optimise mining resulting in greater profitability, sustained royalty and employment for WA.

Keywords: dating, genetic model, goethite, Hamersley, martite