Mineral Evolution Database
Created and maintained by the Mineral Evolution Project in partnership with RRUFF and mindat.
Mineral locality data provided by mindat.org

Important Update News

The RRUFF Project is being updated to improve its interface and content. The beta version of the update is accessible to the public at RRUFF.net. New data is only being added to the beta site. Please note that it is in development, and some components are not functional. Existing RRUFF.info links will resolve to the new site after RRUFF.net is officially released.

We are grateful to NASA for the funding of this effort.


The Mineral Evolution database is currently under development.

The goal of this page is to present localities at which the mineral is found, and estimates of the oldest possible geologic age of the minerals at these localities.


Locality Name:
Bon Accord, Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Oldest recorded age at locality: 3640
Youngest recorded age at locality: 3040

mindat Locality ID: 21931
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-21931.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Bon Accord, Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africa": 4
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 4

Number of Child Localities: 4
Child Localities:
Bien Venue Deposit
Bon Accord Ni Deposit
M'hlati Prospect
Scotia Talc Deposit

Latitude: 25°3'26"S
Longitude: 30°54'22"E
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): -25.057222222222,30.906111111111

AThis mineral is Anthropogenic.
GThis mineral is directly dated.
BThis mineral is reported as having this age.
YThis mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
OThis mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
RThe age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
PThe age displayed for this mineral is the range of ages for this mineral at all of this locality's children.
This mineral's age has not yet been recorded.

This Mineral list contains entries from this locality, including sub-localities. Minerals in bold are reported by mindat.org as occurring directly at this locality, and do not occur at any children (sublocalities) of this locality.

Elements at this locality, including sub-localities: Al As Au B Bi C Ca Co Cr Cu Fe H K Mg Ni O Pb Pd Pt Ru S Sb Si Sn Te Zn 

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: 

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality: 
AmorphousAndalusiteCalciteChalcopyriteChloriteChloritoidClayCopperCorundumCovellite
DiasporeEpidoteHydrotalciteLudwigiteMicaMilleriteNickelineNoneOlivinePentlandite
PyritePyrophylliteQuartzRocksaltRutileSerpentineSphaleriteSpinelStibniteTalc
Tapiolite

44 IMA Minerals at location:
Andalusite  (*)Bonaccordite  (*)Breithauptite  (*)Bunsenite  (*)Cassiterite  (*)
Chalcocite  (*)Chalcopyrite  (*)Chloritoid  (*)Cochromite  (*)Covellite  (*)
Dolomite  (*)Galena  (*)Gaspéite  (*)Goethite  (*)Gold  (*)
Graphite  (*)Hematite  (*)Kotulskite  (*)Liebenbergite  (*)Magnetite  (*)
Millerite  (*)Muscovite  (*)Népouite  (*)Nimite  (*)Opal  (*)
Orcelite  (*)Gersdorffite-Pa3  (*)Pentlandite  (*)Pyrite  (*)Pyrophyllite  (*)
Pyrrhotite  (*)Quartz  (*)Reevesite  (*)Ruthenium  (*)Sobolevskite  (*)
Sperrylite  (*)Sphalerite  (*)Stibnite  (*)Talc  (*)Tredouxite  (*)
Trevorite  (*)Violarite  (*)Willemseite  (*)Zoisite  (*)
Mineral nameStructural GroupsIMA FormulaMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)# of Sublocalities containing mineralLOCALITY IDs, not mindat ids# of localities containing mineral
Andalusite  (*)AndalusiteAl2SiO53640304011066151310
Bonaccordite  (*)LudwigiteNi2Fe3+O2(BO3)3640304011066161
Breithauptite  (*)NickelineNiSb364030401106616175
Bunsenite  (*)RocksaltNiO3640304011066168
Cassiterite  (*)RutileSnO23640304011066155171
Chalcocite  (*)NoneCu2S3640304011066175707
Chalcopyrite  (*)ChalcopyriteCuFeS2364030402106615,10661727198
Chloritoid  (*)ChloritoidFe2+Al2O(SiO4)(OH)2364030401106615376
Cochromite  (*)SpinelCoCr2O43640304011066164
Covellite  (*)CovelliteCuS3640304011066174165
Dolomite  (*)NoneCaMg(CO3)23640304011066159895
Galena  (*)RocksaltPbS364030402106615,10661724243
Gaspéite  (*)CalciteNi(CO3)36403040110661622
Goethite  (*)DiasporeFeO(OH)3640304011066167437
Gold  (*)CopperAu36403040110661630554
Graphite  (*)NoneC3640304011066172812
Hematite  (*)CorundumFe2O336403040110661714640
Kotulskite  (*)NickelinePd(Te,Bi)2-x (x ≈ 0.4)364030401106616116
Liebenbergite  (*)OlivineNi2(SiO4)3640304011066164
Magnetite  (*)SpinelFe2+Fe3+2O436403040110661714899
Millerite  (*)MilleriteNiS3640304011066161066
Muscovite  (*)Mica ClayKAl2(Si3Al)O10(OH)236403040110661517380
Népouite  (*)Serpentine ClayNi3Si2O5(OH)436403040110661666
Nimite  (*)Chlorite Clay(Ni,Mg,Al)6(Si,Al)4O10(OH)836403040110661615
Opal  (*)AmorphousSiO2·nH2O3640304011066162994
Orcelite  (*)NoneNi5-xAs2 (x = 0.25)36403040110661636
Gersdorffite-Pa3  (*)PyriteNiAsS364030401106616767
Pentlandite  (*)Pentlandite(Ni,Fe)9S8364030402106616,1066171512
Pyrite  (*)PyriteFeS2364030403106615,106616,10661739462
Pyrophyllite  (*)Clay PyrophylliteAl2Si4O10(OH)2364030401106615771
Pyrrhotite  (*)NickelineFe7S8364030403106615,106616,1066179056
Quartz  (*)QuartzSiO2364030402106615,10661761156
Reevesite  (*)HydrotalciteNi6Fe3+2(CO3)(OH)16·4H2O36403040110661648
Ruthenium  (*)NoneRu36403040110661646
Sobolevskite  (*)NickelinePdBi36403040110661644
Sperrylite  (*)PyritePtAs2364030401106616337
Sphalerite  (*)SphaleriteZnS364030402106615,10661721482
Stibnite  (*)StibniteSb2S33640304011066163418
Talc  (*)Clay TalcMg3Si4O10(OH)2364030402106615,1066183337
Tredouxite  (*)TapioliteNiSb2O63640304011066161
Trevorite  (*)SpinelNiFe3+2O436403040110661617
Violarite  (*)SpinelFeNi2S4364030401106616380
Willemseite  (*)Clay TalcNi3Si4O10(OH)236403040110661615
Zoisite  (*)EpidoteCa2Al3[Si2O7][SiO4]O(OH)3640304011066171025



8 Ages assigned to this locality:

Excel IDMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)Age as listed in referenceDating MethodAge InterpretPrioritized?Sample SourceSample NumRun NumAge from other LocalityDated MineralMinerals explicitely stated as having this ageAge applies to these ElementsMinDat Locality IDDated Locality (Max Age)Location as listed in referenceReferenceReference DOIReference IDAge Notes
Hg-0002730433043      YesCinnabarHg3086Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africa Pearton (1986); Cairncross (2004); Toulkeridis et al. (2010)   
Kristen002027357035103540±30Sm/Ndcrustal age   Yes  3086Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South AfricaBon Accord Ni Deposit, Barbertonde Wit et al. (1987)10.1016/0899-5362(87)90007-8JAES6_681 
Kristen002028353033903460±70Pb/Pb    Yes  3086Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South AfricaBon Accord Ni Deposit, Barbertonde Wit et al. (1987)10.1016/0899-5362(87)90007-8JAES6_681 
Kristen002029363032303430±200Rb/Sr    Yes  3086Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South AfricaBon Accord Ni Deposit, Barbertonde Wit et al. (1987)10.1016/0899-5362(87)90007-8JAES6_681age obtained from mineral density separates of basaltic komatite
Kristen002030364030403340±300K-Ar whole rock  Yes  3086Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South AfricaBon Accord Ni Deposit, Barbertonde Wit et al. (1987)10.1016/0899-5362(87)90007-8JAES6_681 
Kristen00203134193230 40Ar/39Ar    Yes  3086Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South AfricaBon Accord Ni Deposit, Barbertonde Wit et al. (1987)10.1016/0899-5362(87)90007-8JAES6_681 
Kristen00203234903450  age of pervasive metamorphismhigh   Yes  3086Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South AfricaBon Accord Ni Deposit, Barbertonde Wit et al. (1987)10.1016/0899-5362(87)90007-8JAES6_681 
Mo-0004935003100 U-Pb    YesMolybdeniteMo3086Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africa Kakegawa and Ohmoto (1999); de Ronde et al. (1991; 1992); Armstrong et al. (1990)   


SampleSource LocalityReference URL
R140861Bon Accord, Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africahttps://rruff.info/R140861
R140860Bon Accord, Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africahttps://rruff.info/R140860
R061111Scotia Talc Deposit, Bon Accord, Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africahttps://rruff.info/R061111
R061112Scotia Talc Deposit, Bon Accord, Barberton, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga, South Africahttps://rruff.info/R061112


All locality data graciously provided by mindat.org

All age data...

Other copyright data...