Coffin Bay Mine (BHP Lime Sands), Coffin Bay, District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, Australiai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Coffin Bay Mine (BHP Lime Sands) | Mine |
| Coffin Bay | Town |
| District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula | Local Government Area |
| South Australia | State |
| Australia | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
34° 40' 21'' South , 135° 31' 26'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
| Place | Population | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wangary | 289 (2013) | 14.1km |
| Wanilla | 258 (2018) | 24.1km |
| Tulka | 509 (2016) | 28.6km |
| North Shields | 446 (2014) | 31.3km |
| Port Lincoln | 13,044 (2017) | 32.6km |
An historic 'Lime Sand' mine, rich in CaCO3 for which the old railway to Port Lincoln was established in 1966 (removed in 2001).
Coffin Bay Mine large deposit of lime sand found to be suitable for use as blast furnace flux. The deposit comprised mobile dunes up to 60m high, formed by erosion of calcareous Bridgewater Formation dune system, which accumulated over large areas of southern Eyre Peninsula when broad areas of the continental shelf were exposed in Middle to Late Pleistocene time. The dunes consisted of a loose aggregate of broken shell fragments, well sorted, up to 200m thick in places. There is a thin crust of calcrete developed as a result of near surface solution and recrystallisation. Mobile dunes equivalent to the Holocene Semaphore Sand derived from blowouts in older dunes are encroaching in a NE direction over the older system in an area from Coffin Bay and Shoal Point to the south. The dunes are to 60m high, and have moved 10km inland along a 13km front. They are composed almost entirely of calcium carbonate grains. They are easy to mine, generally free of overburden and vegetation. The potential of deposits in the Coffin Bay area for use as blast furnace flux was recognised in 1959. It was subsequently drilled by SADME, with tenure granted to BHP in 1965. Operations commenced in 1966 after a 32km tramway was constructed to ship-loading facilities at Port Lincoln. Growth in coal exports led to replacement of this material by back loading Japanese limestone fines during the early 1970s, and since then production has been limited to relatively small amounts for local use at the Port Pirie smelter. Average grade was 51.2% CaO (91.4% CaCO3). SADME resource drilling in the 1960s over an area of >30km2, identified an average depth of sand of 22m. Potential for lime sand for the whole southernmost Eyre Peninsula was estimated at >350Mt. Production from 1966-2005 was ~3.16Mt.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsGallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
Australia
- Eucla BasinBasin
- South Australia
- Eyre PeninsulaPeninsula
- Gawler CratonCraton
Australian PlateTectonic Plate
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