KAT Exploration Inc (KATX)

[ShortonCash]

Olympic Dam, South Australia: 8,330 million tonnes of ore at 0.8 % Cu, 280 ppm U3O8, 0.76g/t Au and 3.95 g/t Ag + 151 Mt at 1.0 g/t Au

The article list a number of mines with various combination of mineral deposit.... many possible combinations all with some REE some with minable quanities....but its the combination over 8,000 million tonnes needs to be brought it to the percentage calculations......way to much focus on REE materials... I actual find myself in agreement with Gump on this issue....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_oxide_copper_gold_ore_deposits

Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG) are important and highly valuable concentrations of copper, gold and uranium ores hosted within iron oxide dominant gangue assemblages which share a common genetic origin.

These ore bodies range from around 10 million tonnes of contained ore, to 4,000 million tonnes or more, and have a grade of between 0.2% to 5% copper, with gold contents ranging from 0.1 to 3+ grams per tonne (parts per million). These ore bodies tend to express as cone-like, blanket-like breccia sheets within granitic margins, ore as long ribbon-like breccia or massive iron oxide deposits within faults or shears.

The tremendous size, relatively simple metallurgy and relatively high grade of IOCG deposits can produce extremely profitable mines.Iron oxide copper-gold deposits are also often associated with other valuable trace elements such as uranium, bismuth and rare earth metals, although these accessories are typically subordinate to copper and gold in economic terms.Famous examples include the Olympic Dam

IOCG mineralisation may accumulate within metasomatised wall rocks, within brecciated maar or caldera structures, faults or shears, or the aureole of an intrusive event (possibly as a skarn) and is typically accompanied by a substantial enrichment in iron oxide minerals (hematite, magnetite). IOCG deposits tend to accumulate within iron-rich rocks such as banded iron formations, iron schists, etcetera, although iron enrichment of siliciclastic rocks by metasomatism is also recognised within some areas


Chalcopyrite-rich ore specimen from Olympic Dam
Chalcopyrite in hematised breccia from Prominent HillOre minerals in IOCG deposits are typically copper-iron sulfide chalcopyrite and gangue pyrite, forming 10-15% of the rock mass.Supergene profiles can be developed above weathered examples of IOCG deposits, as exemplified by the Sossego deposit, Para State, Brazil, where typical oxidised copper minerals are present, e.g.; malachite, cuprite, native copper and minor amounts of digenite and chalcocit

Gangue minerals are typically some form of iron oxide mineral, classically hematite, but also magnetite within some other examples such as Ernest Henry and some Argentinian examples. This is typically associated with gangue sulfides of pyriteWhere present, rare earth metals tend to associate with phosphate minerals.

When iron oxide species trend towards magnetite or crystalline massive hematite, IOCG deposits may be economic based on their iron oxide contents alone. Several examples of IOCG deposits (Wilcherry Hill, Cairn Hill, Kiruna) are iron ore deposits.

More qualitatively, the 'edges' of a gravity body are considered more prospective as this theoretically represents the mineralised margins of an intrusive body.