SORRY HAD TO MOVE IT AS YOU COULDNT SEE THE OVERBURDEN ANY MORE .
The Morwell open cut also known as the Hazelwood mine was started to supply brown coal to Hazelwood Power station to make and supply electricity. In 1949 the SECV took over the mining of the brown coal at Morwell open cut to supply hazelwood power station.
To get to the coal first the overburden must be removed. the overbuden in morwell cut is made up of clay, gravel and top soil. The mean depth is 18m.
Clay is made up with layers of tetrachedral and octahedral sheets. These form the Kaolinite. The mineral structure for this is composed of a 2d layer of aluminate and silicone. There is also tetrahedraloctahe(TO) layers which are strucyured with a tight packing.
Kaolinite is the white mineral in the clay it belongs to the kaolin group of minerals.It has the chemical compostion of AI2Si205(OH)4 and it is layered with tetrahedral which is a sheet of silica(Si01) linked with oxygen atoms to a octahedra.
Kaolinite is usually white but can be red, blue, brown
Kaolinite is from the Mesozoic to the early Cenozoic period, which is approximately 252 to 66 million years ago. This period is divided into 3 geologic periods, the triassic, jurassic and the cretaceous.
QUESTIONS
1. What group does kaolinite come from?
2. What is kaolinite chemicil compostion?
3. What period s it from?
4 How many years ago did it form?
5 Looking at the overburden, what colours can you see? What does that tell you about the clay?
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