Beach sand heavy-mineral deposits of eastern Australia  

Authors / CoAuthors

Gardner, D.E.

Abstract

Beach sand deposits along the Australian east coast (Gardner, 1951 a, b) have yielded a large part of the world supply of zircon and rutile since the year 1936. During 1953 the returns from the export of these minerals amounted to more than £2,000,000. In addition the black sands contain a small proportion of monazite, which is a source of cerium and of thorium, a fissionable element that may be used for the generation of atomic power. From a comparatively small beginning the mid-1930's the beach-sand industry grew rapidly during the war and early post-war years. Little was known of the distribution and reserves of the deposits; hence the Bureau of :Mineral Resources undertook a detailed investigation of the coastal area between Southport, Queensland, and Woody Head a little north of the mouth of the Clarence River, New South Wales. The primary object of the survey was to determine the reserves of monazite and therefore of thorium; the reserves of zircon, rutile, and ilmenite were also determined. In this report the source rocks of the sand and heavy minerals are considered in a brief outline of the physiography and general geology of the country between the coast and the main divide. The deposits are described and their origin and distribution discussed in connexion with late Pleistocene and recent changes, in sea level. The reserves and distribution of the heavy minerals arc broadly summarised, and more details of reserves and dimensions of deposits and overburden are given in descriptions of the individual areas.

Product Type

document

eCat Id

194

Contact for the resource

Keywords

• GA PublicationBulletin

• AU

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

• Earth Sciences

• Published_External

Publication Date

1955-01-01T00:00:00

Creation Date

Security Constraints

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

Classification - unclassified

Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

Access - license

Use - license

Status

Purpose

Maintenance Information

unknown

Topic Category

geoscientificInformation

Series Information

Bulletin 028

Lineage

Unknown

Parent Information

Extents

[-44.0, -10.0, 112.0, 155.0]

Reference System

Spatial Resolution

Service Information

Associations

Downloads and Links

Download the Bulletin (pdf)  

Source Information

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