Minerals Alert

February 2013

A monthly online newsletter with product news, data releases and projects relating to the minerals and energy exploration industry.

  1. Geo-Region of the month – Lachlan and Thomson Orogens, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania
  2. Kintyre 3D AEM inversion data package release
  3. Yilgarn Craton, Officer Basin and Musgrave Province data release
  4. Workshop on new seismic and MT datasets in the northern Yilgarn Craton region, Western Australia
  5. Update on geophysical data releases
  6. About Minerals Alert

1. Geo-Region of the Month – Lachlan and Thomson Orogens, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania

Each month Geoscience Australia will highlight a range of significant products released over the past 10 years which relate to key Australian mineral provinces and may be of interest to current explorers.

This month’s Geo-Region comprises the highly mineralised Lachlan Orogen in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania and the largely undercover and poorly understood Thomson Orogen in Queensland and northern New South Wales. The work was conducted as part of the Onshore Energy Security Program and National Geoscience Agreements with the Geological Survey of Queensland, and Geological Survey of New South Wales. Highlighted products, most available as free downloads, include:

  1. Geodynamic Synthesis of the Phanerozoic of Eastern  Australia and Implications for Metallogeny. This report presents the results of a geological, metallogenic and geodynamic synthesis of the Phanerozoic Tasman Orogen of Eastern Australia, including the Lachlan and Thomson Orogens.  Outputs include orogen-based geological summaries and time-space-event plots; an interpreted geodynamic and metallogenic synthesis of the Tasman Orogen, and mineral potential maps.
  2. Geodynamic Synthesis of the North Queensland Region and Implications for Metallogeny. This report presents the results of a geological, metallogenic and geodynamic synthesis of the north Queensland region, including the north-eastern part of the Thomson Orogen. It post-dates the Eastern Australia Synthesis and includes additional and new geological data.
  3. Seismic Reflection Surveys. Recent seismic surveys include:
    • The Thomson-Lachlan Deep Seismic Survey, northwest New South Wales, which investigated the northern Lachlan and southern Thomson orogens and the boundary between them.
    • The North Queensland Deep Seismic Surveys which investigated the Proterozoic Georgetown and Isa regions and the younger orogens to the east. The Georgetown-Charters Towers Deep Seismic Survey component includes the northeastern part of the Thomson Orogen.
    • The Central Victoria Deep Crustal Seismic Survey which investigated the western Lachlan Orogen and the neighbouring Delamerian Orogen.

    Results from these surveys include:

    4. Seismic survey details and data for these and other seismic surveys are also available.

  4. Thomson region geochemical survey: north western New South Wales. This report (undertaken as part of a collaborative project with CRC LEME) establishes the concentration ranges and distributions of over 60 geochemical properties measured in surface and near-surface regolith material from 99 catchment outlet sites in the southern part of the Thomson Craton. Geochemical maps and diagrams are presented for all elements, sample types and size fractions.
  5. Depth to basement of northwest Queensland Map. This map shows the depth of burial of basement geology beneath younger flat-lying cover material in the north-west Queensland region, including the north-western part of the Thomson Orogen.
  6. Basement Geology of Northern  Queensland map. This map details the pre-Mesozoic basement geology of the northern Queensland region including the northeastern part of the Thomson Orogen.
  7. Aeromagnetic and airborne gamma-ray surveys. Numerous onshore (250-400m line spacing) and offshore (800m line spacing) airborne surveys have been undertaken in the last decade in both the Lachlan and Thomson Orogens. These include:
    Murray Basin, NSW, 2005; Eromanga - Thomson, NSW, 2005; Flinders Island, Tasmania, 2007; North-East Tasmania, Tas, 2007; Cooper Basin West, Qld, 2007-08; Bass Strait, Tas, 2008; Cooper Basin East, Qld, 2008; Cooper Basin North, Qld, 2008; Southeast Lachlan, NSW, 2010; Galilee, Qld, 2011; Thomson East, Qld, 2011; Thomson Extension, Qld, 2011

    8. Survey data is available through the Geophysical Archive Data Delivery System (GADDS).

  8. Geochronological data. Significant new geochronological data is available for both the Lachlan and Thomson Orogens. These are available as both reports and within external publications, as follows:

    9. Geochronology reports

    • Bodorkos, S., Simpson, C. J., Thomas, O. D., Trigg, S. J., Blevin, P. L.,Campbell, L. M., Deyssing, L. J. and Fitzherbert, J. A., 2010. New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from the eastern Lachlan Orogen, New South  Wales, July 2008–June 2009. Geoscience Australia Record 2010/31, 100p.
    • Glen R. A., Saeed A., Hegarty R., Percival I. G., Bodorkos S. and Griffin W. L. 2010. Preliminary zircon data and tectonic framework for the Thomson Orogen, northwestern NSW. Geological Survey unpublished report Geological Survey of New South Wales (GS 2010/0379) (unpublished). http://digsopen.minerals.nsw.gov.au/ (Report number: GS2010/0379)
    • Bodorkos, S. and Simpson, C. J., 2008. Summary of results for the joint GSNSW–GA geochronology project: Eastern Lachlan Orogen July 2007–June 2008. Geological Survey of New South Wales Report GS2008/0505, 79pp. http://digsopen.minerals.nsw.gov.au/  (Report number: GS2008/0505)
    • Black, L.P., 2007. SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages obtained during 2006/07 for NSW Geological Survey projects. Geological Survey of New SouthWales, Report GS2007/298 (unpubl.).http://digsopen.minerals.nsw.gov.au/  (Report number: GS2007/298)
    • Black, L.P., 2006. SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages obtained during 2005/06 for NSWGeological Survey projects. Geological Survey of New South Wales, ReportGS2006/821 (unpubl.).http://digsopen.minerals.nsw.gov.au/  (Report number: GS2006/821)
    • Black, L.P., 2005. SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages obtained during 2004/05 for the NSWGeological Survey. Geological Survey of New South Wales, Report GS2005/745 (unpubl.).http://digsopen.minerals.nsw.gov.au/  (Report number: GS2005/745)

    Geochronology external publications

For further information, please email david.champion@ga.gov.au ; or phone +61 2 6249 9215.

2. Kintyre 3D AEM inversion data package release

A small subset of the regional Paterson airborne electromagnetics (AEM) Survey dataset around the Kintyre deposit inverted using the TechnoImaging LLC (TechnoImaging) EMVision® software 3D code is to be released 1 February 2013.

The data subset is a combination of 200m line spaced Tempest™ AEM data owned by Geoscience Australia and by Cameco Australia. It contains geological features such as Permian palaeovalleys, dipping reductants (Yandagooge Formation) and basement conductors in the Rudall Complex which are known through previous mapping.

The data package includes 3D EMVision® mesh and model files, GA-LEI sections and GA-LEI grids. Explanatory notes contained within the data package make comparisons between the 3D EMVision® data and the GA-LEI 1D inversion data.

The data package is available as a free download.

For further information on the survey please email marina.costelloe@ga.gov.au; or phone +61 2 6249 9347.

3. Yilgarn Craton, Officer Basin and Musgrave Province data release

The final seismic, gravity and magnetotelluric dataset from Geoscience Australia’s Onshore Energy Security Program has been processed and released.

The data were acquired in 2011 by Geoscience Australia in conjunction with the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) as part of the Western Australian Government’s Royalties for Regions Exploration Incentive Scheme. The 484 kilometres of data were obtained over the Yilgarn Craton, Officer Basin and Musgrave Province of Western Australia. This survey will provide precompetitive data for energy and mineral exploration, and for potential water resources. These data, combined with the 2001 Northern Yilgarn Survey, and the 2010 Capricorn and Youanmi Surveys result in a complete cross section of central Western Australia.

Overall, more than 6500 kilometres of deep crustal seismic data were acquired during the Onshore Energy Security Program, providing valuable structural information for the Australian crust from the near surface to the Moho, boundary between the Earth’s crust and the mantle. As well as providing precompetitive data, the surveys have helped to expand understanding of the complex structures and geology of the Australia continent.

The processed SEGY data, images and ancillary information are now available for free download.

Interpretation of the seismic and magnetotelluric models undertaken by GSWA and Geoscience Australia geoscientists will be presented at a public workshop in Perth in June 2013.

For further information on the survey please email tristan.kemp@ga.gov.au; or phone +61 2 6249 9029.

4. Workshop on new seismic and MT datasets in the northern Yilgarn Craton region, Western Australia

There will be a full day workshop on Wednesday, 27 February 2013 in Perth to present the results of new seismic reflection and magnetotelluric data collected for the 2010 Youanmi and 2011 Southern Carnarvon seismic surveys. These surveys extended across the northern Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia from the Southern Carnarvon Basin, across the Narryer and Youanmi terranes and into the Kalgoorlie Terrane of the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane. The survey and workshop are a joint venture involving Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of Western Australia.

To obtain details on the workshop, please email narelle.neumann@ga.gov.au; or phone +61 2 6249 9429.

Registrations are through the Geological Survey of Western Australia.

5. Update on geophysical data releases

Geoscience Australia is managing the data acquisition programs in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.

The current status of Geoscience Australia's geophysical survey data acquisition is available in a comprehensive table.

Minerals Alert Geophysical Surveys Table - survey boundary polygons in MapInfo TAB format.

To obtain further details on the survey acquisition, please email murray.richardson@ga.gov.au or phone +61 2 6249 9229.

6. About Minerals Alert

For more information, email leesa.carson@ga.gov.au; or phone +61 2 6249 9872.

To read past editions of Geoscience Australia's Minerals Alert, visit the Minerals Alert Newsletter Archive.

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Topic contact: minerals@ga.gov.au Last updated: January 30, 2013