Overview

Mine Type	Open Pit
Status	Care and Maintenance
Commodities	Silica Frac Sand
Mining Method	Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start	...
Snapshot	Production at the redeveloped Moberly Silica Mine began in September 2017 but was suspended in February 2020, with no publicly reported production data available for this period. The mine’s last production phase was in 2019, during which 200,000 tonnes of material were stockpiled. In the summer of 2021, the company initiated contract sales of 60,000 tonnes from the stockpile. No mining activities were conducted at the site in 2023.

Deposit type

• Sedimentary

Summary:

The material that is mined at Moberly is the Ordovician Mount Wilson Quartzite unit. Near Golden it reaches a maximum thickness of 480 metres at Horse Creek (less in the mine area) and Mount Moberly is the northern limit of the unit, where it is terminated by a thrust fault. The quartzite is typically grey to buff coloured massive orthoquartzite with some evidence of crudely laminated and cross laminated beds near the base.

Bedding generally strikes around 118° magnetic and is vertical to steeply NE dipping. The rock consists of an orthoquartzite which is variably de-cemented (ie by removal of the silica ‘cement’ binding the grains) so that most of the mining area consists of ‘altered’ friable or ‘sandy’ quartzite to various degrees. There appears to be no systematic variation or control of the de-cementing. The composition of the rock is +99% SiO2 as quartz, with the remainder being silicate clays and very rare other silicate minerals.

Petrological studies show that the sand grains within the rock vary between 0.841mm to 0.105mm in diameter (20 mesh (#) to 100 mesh (#) on the US scale).

The only potentially economic mineralization observed within the map area is quartzite. The quartzite found on the property is a sedimentary deposit known as the "Wonah Quartzite", probably of Ordovician age and is found as two distinct members. The first is a friable quartz sandstone which comes in contact with limestone to the southwest in the area of the sand pit in the pre-existing Kathy 1 claim (now included in the north-western portion of the Ralph mineral claim) with a maximum thickness of 700 feet and a minimum thickness observed of some 300 feet. It continues southeasterly along strike through the Ralph, Corner and at least a portion of the Sandy mineral claim and thus for a strike length of at least 10,500 feet. The remaining quartzite in this 1600 foot to 2000 foot thick zone is hard competent quartzite and is separated from another zone approximately 2800 feet thick of the same lithology by a 2000 foot thick band of limestone. The hard quartzite can be described as frosty white sedimentary quartzite with a clastic texture containing fine, well-rounded polished grains 1/8 - 1/4 m in diameter. Very competent bonding allows breaking to occur through the quartz grains. Minor iron staining occurs along some fracture planes and is interstitial to the quartz grains in some small sections. Chemical analysis has shown the quartzite to contain greater than 99.5% SiOZ in some of the areas sampled.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

Operational metrics

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Phone	Email	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................	...........	...........		Dec 23, 2024
.......................	.......................				Dec 23, 2024
.......................	.......................	...........	...........		Dec 23, 2024

Total Workforce	Year
......	2020