Vanadium distribution in the Shephards Discordant Zone, Windimurra Complex, Western Australia

Summary

This research examines the Shephards Discordant Zone in the Windimurra Complex, which is divided into lower (olivine-bearing; 150 m thick), middle (magnetite rich and olivine lacking; 250 to 300 m thick), and upper parts (magnetites absent; less than 50 m thick).

As vanadium is associated almost exclusively with magnetite and magnetites (rocks with >70% magnetite), the middle unit, which has a 2-metre-thick basal magnetite layer and thinner stratiform and lenticular magnetite bodies, is the unit of principal economic interest.

Keywords: vanadium, mineralogy, regolith, geochemistry, distribution