Download the geology and mineral resources of the neighbourhood of raub

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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DEPARTME NT
FE DE RATED
MALA Y
STATES
THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES
OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF RAUB,
PAHANG, FEDERATED MALAY STATES, WITH
.....
AN Ae COUNT OF
THE GEOLOGY OF THE RAUB AUSTRALIAN
GOLD MINE
By
J. A. RICHARDSON, A .R .C.S.,
B.SC., F .G.S.
Geologist, Geological Survey Department,
Federated Malay States.
A
C OL OURED GEOLOGICAL MAP (TOPOGRAPHICAL SHEET
S CALE
J.
A.
ONE
INCH
TO
A
MILE,
BY
E. S.
RICHARDSON, I S CONTAINED IN THE POCKET ATTACHED TO
T HE BACK COVER.
Price : THREE DOLLARS, Straits.
SINGAPORE:
M.N
555.95123
R
3 B/4)
WILLBOURN AND
PRINTERS, LTD.
1939
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DEPARTMENT
F E DE R ATED
MALA Y
STATE S
THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES
OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF RAUB,
PAHANG, FEDERATED MALAY STATES, WITH
AN ACCOUNT OF
THE GEOLOGY OF THE RAUB AUSTRALIAN
GOLD MINE
By
J. A. RICHARDSON,
A .R. C .S. , B .se . , F .G.S.
Geologist, Geological Survey Department ,
Feder ated Malay States.
A
COLOU RED
SCALE
] . A.
ONE
GEOLOGICAL MAP (TOPOG RAPHI CAL SHEET
I NCH
TO
A
MILE,
BY
E.
S.
3 B/4)
WILL BO URN
AND
R I CHARDSON , IS CONTAI NED I N T H E POCKET AT TACHED TO
THE BACK COVER.
CONTENTS
Page .
CHAPTER
Summary.
1
I.
3
INTRODUCTION
II. TOPOGRAPHY
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
STRATIGRAPHY OF THE AREA CONSIDERED IN
RELATION TO THAT OF THE MALAY PENINSULA
AS A WHOLE
THE CALCAREOUS FORMATION
Distribution of the Calcareous Formation
Petrology of the Argillaceous Facies . .
Petrology of the Calcareous Facies
Thickness of the Calcareous Formation.
Metamorphism of the Calcareous Formation
Metamorphism of the rocks flanking the Main Range
Granite
Distribution of the Amphibole Schist Series
Petrology of the Amphibole Schist Series
Petrology of the Schist
Petrology of the Hornfels
Petrogenesis of the Amphibole Schist Series
Metamorphism of the rocks flanking the Gunong
Benom Range Intrusion
9
10
10
11
11
12
12
12
14
14
15
16
16
18
THE ARENACEOUS FORMATION
Distribution of the Arenaceous Formation
Petrology of the Arenaceous Formation
The Irregular Distribution, and Inter-relationships,
of the several facies of the Arenaceous
Formation
Thickness of the Arenaceous Formation
Palaeontology of the Arenaceous Formation
Metamorphism of the Arenaceous Formation
Petrology of the Schist and Phyllite
Petrology of the Hornfels and Slate
22
22
23
24
24
25
THE PAHANG VOLCANIC SERIES
26
VII . SERPENTINE
Distribution of the Serpentine. .
Petrology of the Serpentine
Petrogenesis of the Serpentine
The Age of the Serpentine
Lateritization of the Serpentine
VIII.
6
GRANITE AND ALLIED ROCKS
THE MAIN RANGE GRANITE
Distribution of the Main Range Granite
Petrology of the Main Range Granite
Petrology of the Granite Porphyry associated with the
Main Range Granite
Petrology of the Dykes and Veins in the Main Range
Granite
19
19
20
26
26
27
32
33
33
33
33
33
34
36
36
VI
Page.
CHAPTER VlII.-contd.
Tourmalinization of the Main R a nge Granite
Mineralization of the Main Range Gra nite
Intrusive History of the Main R a nge Granite
Age of the Main Range Granite
Hybridization of the Main Range Granite
The Effects of the Assimilation of Sedimentary
Material on the Composition of the Granite
IX.
X.
XL
GRANITE AND ALLIED ROCKS---(continued).
THE BUKIT KA]AJ.'<G GRANITE PORPHYRY
Distribution of the Bukit Kajang Granite Porphyry.
Petrology of the Bukit K a jang Granite Porphyry
THE GALl AND DONG GRANITE PORPHYRY AND
QUARTZ PORPHYRY
Distribution of the Gali and Dong Granite Porphyry
and Quartz Porphyry
Petrology of the Gali Granite. Porphyry
Petrology of the Dong Quartz Porphyry
THE QUARTZ-MICA ROCK
Distribution of the Quartz-mica Roc k
Petrology of the Q u a rtz-mica Rock
Petrogenesis of the Quartz-mica Rock
THE GUNONG BEN OM INTRUSION ..
THE GUNONG BE -OM GRANITE
Petrology of the Sungei Keloi Granite
P etrology of the Granite exposed b etween Kampong
Tulang Padang and the Sungei Dong
Petrology of the Quartz Porphyry exposed in the
Sungei Sibirah and the Sungei Pulai
History of the Investigation of the H y brid Basic
Rocks of the Gunong B enom Intrusion
The Hybrid Basic Rocks of the Gunong Benom R a nge.
Distribution of the Hybrid B asic Rocks
Petrology of the Perknites
Petrology of the Hybrids formed by the Assimilation
of Perknite by Feldspar-rich Rock
a. H ybrids of the Alkali-series
b. H y brids of the Monzonite-series
c. Hybrids of the Calc-alkali -series
Petrology of the F low-banded Rocks
Petrology of the Minor Igneous Roc ks of the Gunoug
Benom Intru sion
Petrology of the rock s exposed in the P ublic ' ;V orks
D epartment Q uarries nea r Benta
Mineralogy of the H y brid Basic Rocks of t he Gunoug
Benom Intru sion
Composition and Petrogenesis of the Hybrid Basic
Rocks of the Gunong B enom Intrusion ..
Age a nd Intru sive History of the Gunong Benom
Granite and of the H ybrid Basic Rocks of the
Foothills
DOLERITE
Distribution of the Dole rite
Petrology of the Dolerite
Age of the Dolerite
37
37
38
38
38
42
44
44
44
45
45
45
47
47
47
47
48
49
50
50
51
51
51
52
53
53
54
54
55
55
55
57
58
61
63
74
75
75
75
75
Vll
Page.
CHAPTEK
XII .
XIII.
XIV.
SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS
F lood Plain Alluvium
Age of the Flood Plain Alluvium
Recent Rhyolite Tuff
Alluvial Fans
ASSEMBLAGES OF HEAVY MINERALS
Mineral Assemblages derived from Igneous Rocks
Mineral Assemblages derived from Sedimentary
Rocks
Mineral Assemblages derived from Metamorphic
Rocks
Main Characteristics of the petrital Mineral Assemblages
STRUCTURE
76
76
77
77
79
79
80
80
-81
81
81
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
INTRODUCTION
Minerals and Rocks of Economic Importance present
in the Raub Area. .
Old Land Conc~ssions of Ulu Pahang
The Smallness of the Areas given up to Mining and
Prospecting
Distribution of Gold in the Malayan Gold Belt
Production of Gold in Pahang. .
History of Lode Gold Mining
84
GENESIS OF THE GOLD. .
90
THE RAUB AUSTRALIAN GOLD MINING COMPANY, LIMITED
History of Mining at the Raub Australian Gold Mine.
The Eastern Lode Raub Syndicate
Production from the Raub Mine
Milling at the Raub Mine
Dredging at the Raub Mine
92
92
94
95
96
96
THE GEOLOGY OF THE RAUB AUSTRALIAN GOLD
MINE
SUMMARY OF THE GEOLOGY OF THE RAUB
AUSTRALIAN GOLD MINE . .
The Country at the Raub Australian Gold Mine
Igneous Rocks at the Raub Mine
STRUCTURE OF THE RAUB MINE
Compressional Folding
The Pitch of the Folds ..
Faulting . .
Compression Faults (Strike faults)
Tension Faults
Time Relationships of the Compression and Tension
faults
Oblique Faults
How the Lode-channels have been affected by Oblique
Faults
..
.. . ..
..
..
..
8485
85
86
88
88
97
\17
98
99
100
100
104
105
106
107
107
108
108
Vill
Page.
CHAPTER XVIII.-contd.
The Extent of the Vertical movement along oblique
post-mineralization faults . Its influence on
Mining Policy
llO
THE COMPRESSIONAL LODE-CHANNELS AT THE
RAUB MINE
The Eastern Lode-channel
The Western Lode-channel
111
112
113
THE ORE-BODIES AT THE RAUB MINE
The shape of the Ore-bodies in the Eastern Lodechannel
113
113
THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMPRESSIONAL LODECHAN ELS AT THE RAUB MINE
117
ORE-SHOOTS IN THE COMPRESSIONAL LODECHANNELS
120
THE TENSION FISSURE FIlLINGS AT RAUB
HOLE
121
XIX. MINERALIZATION AT THE RAUB AUSTRALIAN
GOLD MINE.
123
COMPOSITION OF THE ORE IN THE RAUB MINE.
123
PARAGENESIS OF THE GOLD AT THE RAUB MINE.
The Association of Gold "ith Quartz
The Association of Gold with Shale
The Association of Gold with Sulphides
The occurrence of Gold at the Contact of one type
of gangue with another
Paint Gold
Relationships of the Sulphide Minerals
Scheelite in the Raub Ore
The Sequence of Mineral Deposition in the Raub Ore.
126
127
127
127
SURFACE ORE AT THE RAUB MINE
129
XX. POSSIBILITIES AT THE RAUB AUSTRALIAN GOLD
MINE
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
127
127
127
128
128
130
OTHER LODE GOLD PROSPECTS
The Cheroh Gold Prospect
The Bukit Tersang Gold Prospect
132
132
133
ALLUVIAL GOLD MINI TG
History of Alluvial Gold Mining
The Tersang Gold Mining Syndicate
The Chun Chok Gold Mine
134
134
136
137
TIN MINING
History of Tin Mining
Production of Tin in Uiu Pahang
The Liang Concession
The Sempam Valley and Uiu Gapis Areas
The Gunong Gapis Area
The Sempam Valley Hydraulic Tin Mine
138
138
139
140
140
141
141
IX
Page.
CHAPTER
XXIV.
XXV.
XXV I.
X XVI£.
OTHER RESOURCES-METALLIFEROUS
Iron and Manganese
P latinum, Chromium and Nickel
Ilmenite
Tungsten
Cinnabar
10nazite
143
143
143
143
144
144
144
OTHER RESOURCES-NON-METALLIFE R OUS
Roadmetal
B uilding Stone and Ornamental Stone
Abrasives. .
Lime and Cement
Fuel
Wat er Supply
144
144
145
145
145
146
146
T H E FUTURE
The F utu,e
The Futu re
The Future
147
147
149
150
FOR MINING IN THE RAUB AREA.
for Lode Gold Mining
for Alluvia l Gold Mining
for Tin Mining
BIBLIOGRAPHY
151
INDEX
155
3
since the year 1889, and in these fifty years has produced
700,000 ounces of gold. The lodes occur in steeply dipping,
north-trending fissures located between bedding planes adjacent
to the axial planes of isoclinal folds in shale. Such lode-channels
originated from the fracturing ,of fissile shale along a well defined
zone at right angles to the above mentioned compressional
forces, and there is no reason to suppose that their extent
is limited to the three-mile-long zone which the Raub Australian
Gold Mining Company has explored.
Payable deposits of eluvial and alluvial tin ore are likely
to be found in the Main Range, the mining of which may uncover
lodes and disseminations of cassiterite in the granite.
CHAPTER 1.
INTRODUCTION.
This account deals with that part of the Raub and Lipis
Districts covered by the Federated Malay States Topographical
Survey Sheet 3 B/4, about three hundred square miles of country
enclosed between lines of latitude 3° 45' north and 4° 00' north,
and lines of longitude, 101 ° 45' east and 102° 00' east. Except
for thirteen square miles that belong to the Lipis District, the
whole of it lies in the Administrative District of Raub. The
position of the area is shown in the Index Map, figure 1.
The coloured geological map published with this memoir
comprises the work of two geologists, that of Mr. E. S. Willbourn in 1933 and 1934, and that of the writer, in 1937, 1938 and
1939.
The writer has had access to the unpublished field notes
written by Mr. Willbourn, summaries of which are contained in
the , Reports of the Federated Malay States Geological Survey
for the years 1933 and 1934, and to his draft geological map also.
These results have been incorporated in the present memoir,
amended to some extent in the light of new information obtained
by the writer. The writer wishes to express his gratitude to
Mr. Willbourn for the loan of these records, and also for his
invaluable assistance in writing the memoir.
During 1937, 1938 and 1939, an investigation of the detailed
geology of a much larger portion of Ulu Pahang has also been
4
in progress outside the area at present under consideration, and
this has helped to solve some of the problems of Raub geology,
notably the structure of the outcrop of the amphibole schistserIes.
Some important conclusions have been made possible as a
result of the large number of chemical analyses undertaken by
the chemists of the Federated Malay States Geological Survey
quoted in this pUblication. The majority were done, by
Mr. G. M. Harral. Some were undertaken by Mr. W . A. Tooke,
and Mr. ' J. C. Shenton, who retired in September, 1938, was
responsible for others. Valued help was given by the Mineral
Resources Department of the Imperial Institute, London, in
estimating minute quantities of gold in various igneous rocks of
the district. Dr. H. F. Harwood of the Imperial College of
Science and Technology, London, carried out one analysis, also.
Acknowledgments are due to a number of Malay rockcollectors and to one Chinese, members of the Federated Malay
States Geological Survey Department, for giving competent
assistance on many jungle expeditions, and for making some short
journeys unaccompanied by geologists to obtain preliminary
information. Those called upon to help most have been Che
Mayah bin Latib, Che Uda Mat Win bin Manas, Che Yeop bin
Uda Rasit and Che Kassim bin Majid.
Acknowledgments and thanks are also due to the management and members of the undtrground Staff at the Raub
Australian .Gold Mine for facilitating the geological investigation
carried out on the property.
The topographical details of the geological map had all been
published previously by the Surveyor General, Federated Malay
States and Straits Settlements, as topographical sheet 3 B /4.
When the pioneer work of Mr. J. B. Scrivenor was published in
1911 as "The Geology and Mining Industries of Ulu Pahang,
with a coloured geological sketch map, scale 8 miles to an inch ".,
no topographical sheets were available, and so the recording and
collecting of geological facts then was more difficult than now.
The investigation now being described had Mr. Scrivenor's
geological map to start from , and had also the topographical
map with its double benefit of providing an accurate basis on
which the geology could be plotted, and of indicating where
5
traverses would be likely to afford information. In this
connection, Mr. Scrivenor's own words may be quoted from
the introduction to this 1911 publication:
[3, p. viii] " . . . . . . although the jungle certainly is a great hindrance, covering up
" much that we would like to see, the network of streams alone affords abundant
" material for examination: it would , in fact, be absurd for me to claim that I
" have exhausted it in the three years or more devoted to the work.
" On the other hand, what might rightly be advanced as a serious drawback
" to geological mapping in Ulu Pahang is the absence of topographical maps, similar
" to those which made possible the fine work carried out in the Netherlands Indies.
" Over most of the country I had to make my own rough topographical ma~s as I
" went along.
" Many of the rock exposures in the rivers are very good, but it is not pre" tended that this is the case everywhere, or that gathering geological information in
" jungle is not an arduous proceeding. The method of work employed was to obtain
" as many traverses as possible across the strike of the rocks, and to fill in as much
" detail between the traverses as was consistent with the necessary expenditure of
" time and money and the probable value of the results to be expected. The scale
" of the map eight miles to an inch, made it impossible to plot all the detailed
" information obtained.
" The map cannot be called more than a sketch-map, and compared with
" maps produced by the staffs of geological surveys in other countries, it is doubtless
" a rough sketch-map. The main object, however, has, I think, been attained" namely, a clear idea of the broad outlines of the structure of Ulu Pahang.
"Geologists will realise how near a map prepared under such conditions
" can be expected to approach to accuracy, but it is advisable for the author of
" it to point out, for others, its shortcomings, and how, if time permitted, it
" could be improved."
The coloured geological map now published on the scale of
one inch to a mile is more accurate than Mr. Scrivenor's, but it
still has its short-comings, for although good exposures occur in
many rivers, they are generally too small and too infrequent to
permit of an accurate solution of the geological structure. The
dearth of critical exposures showing the contacts of the various
rock-formations in this area is in striking contrast to conditions
which obtain in the Kinta, Batang Padang and Kuala Lumpur
tinfields where continuous observation spread over many years
has enabled abundant data to have been obtained from the
opencast mines. However, very great assistance has been
obtained from the many miles of underground workings in the
Raub Australian Gold Mine, where several 'months of detailed
work have provided a wealth of information regarding the geological structure of the area.
A dense cover of jungle, of the products of deep weathering
of the rocks in the hills, and of superficial deposits in the plains
obscures most of the geology, and renders difficult the detailed