Oberon

The Mudgee Stone Company that operates the Oberon White Granite Stone Quarry near Oberon in New South Wales is one of Australia's few producers of the mineral feldspar. Mudgee feldspar having consistent chemical properties which is low in iron that makes it particularly useful in the production of the following products:

ï Ceramics

ï Anti skid aggregates

ï Abrasive cleaning powders

ï The production of glass

ï Bathroom utensils such as basins and toilet bowls

ï Tiles

ï Fibreglass

ï Refactories

Feldspar is Found in Many Varieties

Orthoclase feldspar is found with fine grained mixtures of quartz and small amounts of kaolinite. It is a potassium aluminium silicate commonly referred to as 'potassium feldspar' or 'K-spar.' It is a commonplace mineral usually found in rocks such as syenite, granodiorite, granite and pegmatite. Alkalai feldspar is known as orthoclase feldspar, one of many feldspar minerals the others being; plagioclase, microcline and sanidine. Its colours can range from light pink, grey to white with a vitreous lustre. It is normally translucent but can also be opaque at times, especially in small amounts and it fractures at right angles.

Feldspar crystals appear in elongated hexagon or rectangle shapes. Plagioclase feldspar is normally either grey or white in its colouring, with what appears to be thin scratches on its surface. Orthoclase feldspar is more likely to be pink and found in rhyolites and granite.

The Oberon White Granite Stone Quarry is Family Owned

The Oberon White Granite Stone Quarry is a family owned business, W. J. Murdoch and Company Limited, that is also the owner of Mudgee Dolomite and Lime Pty Ltd and the Mudgee Stone Company. It operates two mineral plants at Mudgee in New South Wales and holds a 100 percent interest in the large feldspar, talc, dolomite and limestone deposits, all within 30 kilometres of their two processing plants at Mudgee in New South Wales.

These deposits are important to the mining, industrial and agricultural industries in many ways some of which help to reduce soil acidity and make up for magnesium deficiencies, others have uses in glass fibre insulation and others again in acting as fire suppressants in coal mining besides the wide usefulness of feldspar itself.

W.J. Murdoch Pty Ltd was founded by William Murdoch more than 50 years ago at Mt Knowles for the purpose of quarrying and processing dolomite for the industrial and agricultural markets. The company acquired Mudgee Dolomite and Lime Pty Ltd in the 1990's.

The 3.3 Million Tonnes of Feldspar Hosting Granite at Oberon is Regarded as Being Conservative

The 3.3 million tonnes of granite, that hosts feldspar near Oberon, covers an area of about four square kilometres and also hosts flake mica and silica. However, the recovery of mica is delayed owing to the high cost involved in building a specialised plant to process it. Demand for mica is also highly dependant on the building, automotive and paint industries and although demand for sheet mica is rather low there is a strong demand for high quality mica. Feldspa, however, is far easier to process and the demand has remained constant due to its wide range of uses.