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Recognition of geochemical footprints of mineral systems in the regolith at regional to continental scales

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Created 20/01/2025

Updated 20/01/2025

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Understanding the character of Australia's extensive regolith cover is crucial to the continuing success of mineral exploration. We hypothesize that the regolith contains geochemical fingerprints of processes related to the development and preservation of mineral systems at a range of scales. We test this hypothesis by analysing the composition of surface sediments within greenfield regional (southern Thomson Orogen) and continental (Australia) study areas. In the southern Thomson Orogen area, the first principal component (PC1) derived in our study (Ca, Sr, Cu, Mg, Au, and Mo at one end; rare earth elements (REEs) and Th at the other) is very similar to the empirical vector successfully used by a local company exploring for Cu-Au mineralisation (enrichment in Sr, Ca and Au concomitant with depletion in REEs). Mapping the spatial distribution of PC1 in the region reveals several areas of elevated values and possible mineralisation potential. One of the strongest targets in the PC1 map is located between Brewarrina and Bourke in northern New South Wales. Here both historical and recent exploration drilling has intersected mineralisation with up to 1 % Cu, 0.1 g/t Au, and 717 ppm Zn, purportedly related to a volcanic arc setting. The analysis of a comparable geochemical dataset at the continental scale yields a similar PC1 (Ca, Sr, Mg, Cu, Au, and Mo at one end; REEs and Th at the other) to the regional study. Mapping PC1 at the continental scale shows patterns that (1) are compatible with the regional study, and (2) reveal several geological regions possibly with an enhanced potential for this style of Cu-Au mineralisation. These include well-endowed mineral provinces such as the Curnamona, southern Pilbara, and Capricorn regions, but also some greenfield regions such as the Albany-Fraser/western Eucla, western Murray, and Eromanga geological regions. We conclude that the geochemical composition of Australia's regolith may hold critical information pertaining to mineralisation within/beneath it.

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Title Recognition of geochemical footprints of mineral systems in the regolith at regional to continental scales
Language eng
Licence notspecified
Landing Page https://devweb.dga.links.com.au/data/dataset/c4f8ca5d-4845-44ba-bfd1-201cc084350c
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 22/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[139.9941411614418, -32.61097374888781], [149.83789116144177, -32.61097374888781], [149.83789116144177, -26.026484576899456], [139.9941411614418, -26.026484576899456], [139.9941411614418, -32.61097374888781]]]}
Data Portal data.gov.au

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This dataset was originally found on data.gov.au "Recognition of geochemical footprints of mineral systems in the regolith at regional to continental scales". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://devweb.dga.links.com.au/data/dataset/recognition-of-geochemical-footprints-of-mineral-systems-in-the-regolith-at-regional-to-contine

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