Commodities
PrimaryChromium
TertiaryPGE, Iron, Silica
Commodity typeM
Deposit
Deposit sizeM
Orebody formTABULAR/BLANKET
Ore controlThe Various Components Of The Bushveld Igneous Complex Have Been Emplaced In Successive Eruptions As Sheet-Like Masses Into The Pretoria Series Volcanics (Transvaal System), And In Some Cases Into One Another, Dipping Inward Toward The Center Giving A Cone-Like Structure To The Complex As A Whole.
Materials
Ore mineralsChromite, Magnetite
GangueAnorthosite, Chalcopyrite, Pentlandite, Pyrrhotite
Geology
Host rockPyroxenite
Associated rockMafic Intrusive Rock · Bushveld Igneous Complex (Including The Overlying Merensky Reef)
StructureInward-Dipping Cone-Like Structure; Folding And Faulting (Including Low-Angle Thrusting) Exists, But Are Of Minor Importance; Erosion, Peneplanation And Build-Up Of Younger Sediments Are Basic Criteria Regionally., The Area'S Upper, Middle And Lower Chrome Groups (Underlying The Merensky Reef) Are Extraordinarily Uniform As To Composition And Thickness. Faults And Folds, Locally, Are More Pronounced In This Area Than Usually Encountered Elsewhere In The Western Belt And Do Affect Mining And Ore Recoveries. Seam Undulations Are Also Common, Thus Presenting Localized (Albeit Moderate) Changes In The Dip.
Tectonic settingPlatform, Intracratonic, Anorogenic
AlterationSurface And Near-Surface Alteration Of Feldspathic Materials Only.
Economic & production
Development statusProducer
First production1947
Identification
Deposit ID10079232
MRDS IDW028403
RegionAF
Data scoreA
Coordinates-25.19666, 26.93478
References
SRC.REF: FERROUS AND NONFERROUS MINES AND WORKS IN SOUTH AFRICA; MINERALS BUREAU DIRECTORY NO. 3/79MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, FIFTH EDITION, HANDBOOK 7, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, DEPARTMENT OF MINES; 1976.CHROMITE MINES AND RESOURCES IN THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA; UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO FOR M.A.S., US BUREAU OF MINES; SIEMS, P., CRIST, E. M., AND SHEEHAN, L. E., JR.; 1976 .FERROUS AND NONFERROUS MINES AND WORKS IN SOUTH AFRICA; MINERALS BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF MINES, DIRECTORY NO. 3/79; 1979 .DEYOUNG AND OTHERS, 1984, INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC INVENTORY SUMMARY REPORT-- CHROMIUM: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 930-B, 41 P."THE CHROMITE DEPOSITS OF THE BUSHVELD IGNEOUS COMPLEX", DEPARTMENT OF MINES, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY; KUPFERBURGER, W. AND LOMBAARD, B. V.; 1937ISMIREPORTER'S ESTIMATES BASED ON INDUSTRY INDICATORS AND OFFICIAL (MINERALS BUREAU) COUNTRY TOTALS. ; REPORTERS ESTIMATES BASED ON INDUSTRY INDICATORS AND OFFICIAL (MINERALS BUREAU) DETAILED DATA ; REPORTER'S ESTIMATED BASED ON INDUSTRY INDICATORS AND OFFICIAL (MINERALS BUREAU) COUNTRY TOTALS