March 2017

A monthly online newsletter with product news, data releases and project highlights relating to the minerals and energy exploration industries.

1. An integrative approach to investigating crustal architecture and cover thickness in the Southern Thomson region: modelling new geophysical data
2. Australian Mineral Exploration Review for 2015-16
3. New geochronology reports and data available
4. Australian Operating Mines Map 2016
5. Update on geophysical data release
6. About Minerals Alert

1. An integrative approach to investigating crustal architecture and cover thickness in the Southern Thomson region: modelling new geophysical data

This new report describes using thickness of cover mapping to produce more accurate 2D gravity models of basement geological components and the Lachlan-Thomson orogeny boundary in the Southern Thomson Project.
The record is available for free download from the Geoscience Australia website.

For further information, email clientservices@ga.gov.au or phone 1800 800 173.

2. Australian Mineral Exploration Review for 2015-16

The Australian Mineral Exploration Review provides an overview of results from Australia's mineral exploration during the 2015-16 financial year. The report highlights exploration expenditure and results announced by individual exploration and mining companies. It also contains a selection of drill hole results, graphs of exploration expenditure trends for specific commodities and reference maps and exploration results for each deposit.

The record is available for free download from the Geoscience Australia website.

For further information, email clientservices@ga.gov.au or phone 1800 800 173.

3. New geochronology reports and data available

Queensland Geological Record 2016/09 by Kositcin et al., reports new SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age results from 12 samples from the Thomson Orogen, Mossman Orogen and Cape York.  This work was conducted under a National Collaboration Framework Geochronology Project Agreement between Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ), in support of GSQ's mapping and mineral systems studies.

Geochronology data presented and discussed in this Record are also available for download via Geoscience Australia's Geochron Delivery system.

In addition to these newly-acquired data, a significant body of legacy U-Pb data from the Mt Isa region of Queensland has been migrated from the outdated and retired Ozchron database to Geochron Delivery.  Specifically, data from ~100 samples from the following publications is now available via Geochron Delivery:

Jackson, M.J., Southgate, P.N., Black, L.P., Blake, P.R. and Domagala, J., 2005. Overcoming Proterozoic quartzite sand-body miscorrelations: integrated sequence stratigraphy and SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the Surprise Creek Formation, Torpedo Creek and Warrina Park Quartzites, Mt Isa Inlier. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 52, p. 1-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08120090500039390

Neumann, N.L., Southgate, P., Gibson, G., and McIntyre, A., 2006. New SHRIMP geochronology for the Western Fold Belt of the Mount Isa Inlier: Developing a 1800-1650 Ma Event Framework. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 53, p. 1023-1039. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08120090600923287

Bierlein, F. P., Black, L.P., Hergt, J. and Mark, G., 2008. Evolution of Pre-1.8 Ga basement rocks in the western Mt Isa Inlier, northeastern Australia -Insights from SHRIMP U-Pb dating and in-situ Lu-Hf analysis of zircons. Precambrian Research, 163(1-2), p159-173.

Neumann, N.L., Gibson, G.M., Southgate, P.N., 2009. New SHRIMP age constraints on the timing and duration of magmatism and sedimentation in the Mary Kathleen Fold Belt, Mt Isa Inlier, Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 56(7), pp965-983. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08120090903005410

Neumann, N.L., Southgate, P.N., Gibson, G.M., 2009. Defining unconformities in Proterozoic sedimentary basins using detrital geochronology and basin analysis - An example from the Mount Isa Inlier, Australia. Precambrian Research 168(3-4), p149-166. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2008.09.012

Lambeck, A., 2011. Basin analysis and the geochemical signature of Paleoproterozoic sedimentary successions in northern Australia: Constraints on basin development in respect to mineralisation and paleoreconstruction models. unpublished PhD thesis, University of Adelaide.

For further information, email clientservices@ga.gov.au or phone 1800 800 173.

4. Australian Operating Mines Map 2016

The recently released Australian operating mines map shows operating mines, developing mines and selected mineral deposits in Australia. This map broadly illustrates the geographic distribution of the mines and deposits and the range of selected, largely grouped, commodities. This information is superimposed on a generalised surface geology map of Australia and an aeromagnetic image in grey scale.

The map is available for free download from the Geoscience Australia website.

For further information, email clientservices@ga.gov.au or phone 1800 800 173.

5. Update on geophysical data release

Geoscience Australia is managing the geophysical data acquisition programs in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory on behalf of the state/territory geological surveys

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

For further information, email clientservices@ga.gov.au or phone 1800 800 173.

6. About Minerals Alert

For more information, please email clientservices@ga.gov.au; or phone 1800 800 173.