The deposit type is rare in this part of Queensland. It is a flat lying residual oxide deposit of a weathered gabbro intrusion that has had modifications from surface water flow and soil creep. The host rock comprises a combination of weathered material and alluvium. Ilmenite mineralisation occurs as liberated fine grains often concentrated by surface water into more slimes-rich material but the concentration may in part be related to an underlying primary concentration in the gabbro. The gabbro appears to have a primary mineralogical zonation associated with the arcuate margin of the intrusion. The ilmenite has been widely distributed throughout the mining lease with no obvious specific lateral concentrations.

The mineralisation is associated with the Goondicum Gabbro which Groen (1993) had mapped from the crater rim to the centre as comprising a ‘poikilitic marginal zone’ (hornblende gabbro), ‘lower zone laminated gabbro’, and ‘macrorhythmic zone’.

The relatively complex weathering history of the gabbro has produced two main host types for ilmenite mineralisation. The 'clay/sand' unit or ‘CS’ is believed to be an eluvial/colluvial deposit i.e. some in-situ material and some transported material possibly due to both gravity slip and alluvial processes. The second type is 'decomposed gabbro' or ‘DG’, implying a less weathered eluvial or in-situ deposit. A subset of the clay/sand unit is the 'colluvium' unit or ‘CL’, and this may have had a more water tra ........

The land is cleared of vegetation (trees and grass) using a bulldozer to prepare the area for mining. Approximately 20cm of topsoil is removed and stockpiled for later rehabilitation. A dry open pit mining method is proposed for ore mining using a combination of scrapers, and an excavator and truck model. The mineralisation is relatively easy digging for an excavator. Normal mining practice will be for the excavator to sit on top of the mineralisation being mined and load trucks in the pit below the excavator. This reduces the cycle time of the excavator to maximise excavation efficiency. Four 40 tonne 6WD trucks will be used to haul the mineralisation from the excavator to the ore stockpile at the feed preparation plant (FPP). The average haul distance for the ML will be 300metres and the maximum haul distance will be 2,000metres. The mining operation will also utilise scrapers on short haul, low vertical lift cycles to remove the mineralisation and deliver it to the FPP. The scrapers are more suitable for mining the thinner material which is outside the gullies. Two scrapers will be used mostly for mining in the shallow areas, while the excavator and trucks will concentrate in the gullies.

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