Winza, Mpwapwa District, Dodoma Region, Tanzania (original) (raw)
Winza, Mpwapwa District, Dodoma Region, Tanzaniai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Winza | Mining Area |
| Mpwapwa District | District |
| Dodoma Region | Region |
| Tanzania | Country |
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
7° 1' 0'' South , 36° 21' 59'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Mindat Locality ID:
189429
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:189429:8
e3e4bac9-8af7-46b6-a26f-e19b8524f68e
Name(s) in local language(s):
Winza
The Winza mining area is located 120 km SW from Dodoma, just at the bottom of Mang’alisa’s mountains. It can be reached by driving to the local town of “Mpwapwa” (pronounced “Papua”) and by a further 3 hours of driving (in the dry season) to the mining site, locally known as “Winza Mine”. It is a rather remote area, but when high quality rubies were found here in late 2007, it soon became a booming mining settlement. In 2008, an estimated population of 5–6000 people had settled in temporary bamboo dwellings while digging the soil for gem rubies.
The Winza mining area belong to the Paleoproterozoic Usagaran Belt, and the variety of rock types in the Winza area is enormous. High-grade metamorphic rocks, typical for high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphism (estimated a P-T of minimum 5 kb-600 °C) are found in the close vicinity of the mines, such as garnet-pyroxene amphibolites, eclogite rocks, kyanite-garnet-biotite gneiss and schists. Isolated granites, migmatitic rocks, quartz-feldspar gneisses and amphibolites occur as well. The corundum is found in association with amphibolites in pure corundum-garnet-pargasite rocks, and very rarely in association with plagioclase-rich amphibolite. In localized zones, these metamorphosed rocks occasionally form dykes, suggesting their magmatic origin. The hard rock mining activities aim to follow these corundum bearing amphibolites.
Similar to the Paranesti (Greece) ruby deposit.
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Mineral List
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4 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ 'Almandine-Pyrope Series' |
|---|
| ⓘ CorundumFormula: Al2O3Habit: occur in a range of crystal shapes; prismatic-tabular-rhombohedral and dipyramidalColour: orange, pink, red, purple and blue. Often zoned. Description: Corumdum is found in eluvial sediments rarely exceeded a cm, the corundum found in the amphibolite dykes can be significantly larger, crystals approaching 10 cm has been found. The Winza corundum can occur in a range of crystal shapes; prismatic-tabular-rhombohedral and dipyramidal. In general, medium red and dark (orangy) red top-quality rubies are rhombohedral. Pinkish red and purplish red rubies, as well as pink, purple, and blue (often strongly color zoned) sapphires are, for the most part, dipyramidal Some of the rhombohedral crystals resemble spinel octahedral, but the angles between the crystal faces are different, and twin lines are common. |
| ⓘ Corundum var. RubyFormula: Al2O3 |
| ⓘ Corundum var. SapphireFormula: Al2O3 |
| ⓘ 'Garnet Group'Formula: X3Z2(SiO4)3 |
| ⓘ KyaniteFormula: Al2(SiO4)O |
| ⓘ 'Mica Group' |
| ⓘ PargasiteFormula: NaCa2(Mg4Al)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2 |
| ⓘ TitaniteFormula: CaTi(SiO4)O |
Gallery:
Other Databases
| Wikipedia: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winza |
|---|---|
| Wikidata ID: | Q25349241 |
Localities in this Region
- Dodoma Region
- Mpwapwa District
* Winza
* Cash money mine
- Mpwapwa District
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
Africa
- **East African Rift System (EARS)**Zone (Tectonic)
African Plate
- Congo Craton
- Tanzania CratonCraton
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