September 2018

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

1. SHRIMP celebrates 10 years
2. A new age for gold at Tennant Creek
3. Exploring for the Future Integration Workshop and Data Release
4. AusLAMP Victoria data release
5. Results released from cover depth benchmarking in the Coompana Province
6. Update on geophysical data release
7. Updated Search and enquiry pages for stratigraphic units
8. About Minerals Alert

1. SHRIMP celebrates 10 years

Geoscience Australia recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the commissioning of its in-house Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe (SHRIMP). Since 2008 this instrument has measured U-Pb ages from ~1500 samples across Australia, both onshore and offshore, with many of the samples analysed in collaborative projects with State and Territory geological surveys. All data are available on-line via Geoscience Australia's Geochron Delivery system

2. A new age for gold at Tennant Creek

New age measurements suggest the timing of some gold-bearing mineralisation at Tennant Creek is nearly 200 million years younger than previously thought. The new result widens the exploration 'search space' for gold into rock formations previously regarded as too young to host this style of mineralisation. Preliminary results and a discussion of implications were released last week via Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future website.

3. Exploring for the Future Integration Workshop and Data Release

Geoscience Australia in collaboration with the Northern Territory Geological Survey is hosting a showcase and integration workshop on 18 March 2019 at AGES, Alice Springs. This workshop will be focused on new datasets acquired over the Tennant Creek - Mount Isa region as part of the Exploring for the Future Program.

This workshop is an opportunity for explorers to become familiar with new datasets (including remotely sensed mineral maps, Proterozoic Pb isotopes, gravity grids and AusLAMP modelling), interact with the multidisciplinary team responsible for their collection/interpretation and learn how Geoscience Australia integrates these datasets using open source data analytics to gain insights into the subsurface geology of the Tennant Creek - Mount Isa area and assess its mineral potential.

Location: Alice Springs Convention Centre
Date: 18 March 2019
Time: 9am-4pm before the AGES Ice-breaker
Contact: ages@nt.gov.au to secure your place. Registration is limited to 45 places.

4. AusLAMP Victoria data release

Geoscience Australia in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Victoria has completed the first dataset of the #AusLAMP survey. Data were acquired at 100 sites from across Victoria. The #VIC dataset is now available from our website.

5. Results released from cover depth benchmarking in the Coompana Province

A Geoscience Australia Record 2018/22 titled: Pre-drilling geophysics in the Coompana Province of South Australia: Benchmarking magnetotelluric and active seismic cover thickness estimates against preliminary drilling result has been released, and is now available. The record details a study comparing cover thickness estimates obtained from magnetotelluric and reflection seismic data acquired prior to drilling, to preliminary results from the Coompana Drilling Program in the far southwest of South Australia. The Coompana Project aims to provide new precompetitive geological, geophysical and geochemical data in the under-explored Coompana Province in South Australia. The pre-drilling geophysics program was undertaken to assist the drilling process by reducing the uncertainty associated with intersecting the targeted stratigraphy.

The Coompana Project is a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of South Australia, co-funded by Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future Programme and the South Australian Government's PACE Copper Initiative.

6. 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.

7. Updated Search and enquiry pages for stratigraphic units

New-look search and enquiry forms for stratigraphic units have been launched on the Geoscience Australia website. The main stratigraphy information pages link remains the same, but URLs have changed for the searches and the forms, so you may need to refresh the stratigraphy page in your browser and update your bookmarks.

The new Stratigraphic Units Search URL is: https://asud.ga.gov.au/ and this will also provide links to the State search and reference search, and the reservation , reference suggestion and general feedback forms.

For further information, email stratnames@ga.gov.au

8. About Minerals Alert

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