Minerals Alert June 2018

June 2018

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

  1. AGCC Big Issues & Ideas in Geoscience Day
  2. Update on geophysical data release
  3. AusAEM Tranche 1 Data Release at AMEC 2018
  4. Coompana Drilling Project: release of active seismic data for pre-drilling cover thickness estimation
  5. New geochronology reports and isotopic data available
  6. GA SHRIMP instrument: 10 years old and going strong
  7. New Pre-Cenozoic Solid Geology Map of NSW, Victoria and South Australia
  8. Northern Australia Geochemical Survey Data release 1 ¿ Total (fine fraction) and MMI¿ element contents
  9. About Minerals Alert

1. AGCC Big Issues & Ideas in Geoscience Day

Head shot of Richard Blewett

The inaugural Australian Geoscience Council Convention, AGCC 2018, will be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday 14 to Thursday 18 October, 2018. Tuesday 16 October 2018 is set aside in the program for consideration of four Big Issues identified for this Convention. The convener for the development of the northern and regional Australia Big Ideas Summit is Dr Richard Blewett. Richard is the General Manager of the Minerals Systems Branch at Geoscience Australia.
Go to www.agcc.org.au to find  information about themes, registration and abstract deadlines.

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

2. 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.

3. AusAEM Tranche 1 Data Release at AMEC 2018

Minister Canavan will be releasing the first tranche of the AusAEM data release as part of the Exploring for the Future program at the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) Convention 2018. Geoscience Australia is a sponsor of the AMEC conference which will be held 13-14 June in Perth, Western Australia

The AEM data released are from a survey that has been conducted under the Exploring for the Future (EftF) Program in 2017 in the Northern Territory. The new data provide explorers with insights into areas of thick cover and areas with potential targets for further investigation. The survey traverses were flown in a nominal north-south direction spaced 20 kilometres apart with the survey aircraft flying at a nominal 120 metres above ground level. Further details on this data release from the Exploring for the Future program can be found at www.ga.gov.au/eftf.

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

4. Coompana Drilling Project: release of active seismic data for pre-drilling cover thickness estimation

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. The Coompana Project aims to provide new precompetitive geological, geophysical and geochemical data in the underexplored Coompana Province in South Australia.

A pre-drilling geophysics program utilising active seismic and magnetotellurics (MT) was undertaken to assist the drilling process by allowing estimates of cover thickness and thereby reducing the uncertainty associated with intersecting the targeted stratigraphy.

Refraction, reflection and surface wave seismic data were acquired at eight proposed stratigraphic drill sites. A report documenting the application of active seismic methods for estimating cover thicknesses in the Coompana Province of south western South Australia has been released on the GA website. The report is also a useful reference for future near surface seismic investigations over Nullarbor Limestone

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

5. New geochronology reports and isotopic data available

Results from each of these Records were acquired using the Geoscience Australia SHRIMP instrument as part of the ongoing geochronology collaboration between Geoscience Australia and the Northern Territory Geological Survey. Geochronology data presented in these Records are also available for download via Geoscience Australia's Geochron Delivery system.

  • A new paper by Waltenberg, Bodorkos, Armstrong and Fu has been published online by Australian Journal of Earth Sciences (AJES) DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2018.1463928. This paper uses the oxygen and hafnium isotopic signatures of zircon from magmatic rocks of the northern Lachlan and southern Thomson orogens of eastern Australia to "map" the middle- to lower-crust. The paper will form part of an upcoming Special Issue of AJES focussing on the southern Thomson Orogen, and is a product of a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia, the Geological Survey of New South Wales and the Geological Survey of Queensland.

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

6. GA SHRIMP instrument: 10 years old and going strong

1st April 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the official opening of the GA SHRIMP laboratory. Over the past 10 years the GA SHRIMP instrument has provided high-quality U-Pb ages from >1200 samples across Australia, with results being made publicly available in ~130 peer-reviewed publications and via the online Geochron Delivery system. Impacts have included very significant changes to understanding of Australian geology, and the controls on mineralisation in both near-surface and buried parts of the continent, with attendant mineral exploration implications. The GA SHRIMP is contributing new data in northern Australia as part of the current Exploring for the Future program, and is expected to continue to play a key role over the coming decade by analysing samples from undercover regions of Australia as part of the newly-announced MinEx CRC.

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

7. New Pre-Cenozoic Solid Geology Map of NSW, Victoria and South Australia

~1:1M scale maps of interpreted pre-Cenozoic solid geology over New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia are available here. These maps were constructed using outcrop geology, magnetics, gravity and drill hole information to reveal the geology beneath the Murray Basin. This work is a continuation of an ongoing national scale program to uncover subsurface geology to support resource discovery and develop a better understanding of the geology of Australia.

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

8. Northern Australia Geochemical Survey Data release 1 ¿ Total (fine fraction) and MMI¿ element contents

The first release of data from the Northern Australia Geochemical Survey between Tennant Creek and Mt Isa are available for download here.

Geoscience Australia, as part of the Federal Government¿s Exploring for the Future program, undertook an extensive soil sampling survey in collaboration with the Northern Territory Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Queensland. Catchment outlet sediment samples were collected at 776 sites (including duplicates) and analysed for their elemental composition. The data reveal areas with future potential for base metals including copper and are also useful for agriculture and environmental purposes.

This data release includes (1) information on the sampling sites, (2) bulk sample properties (Munsell colours, pH, electrical conductivity), (3) results of the total chemical analyses of the fine (<75 mm) fraction of the samples (XRF, ICP-MS) and (4) results of the partial leach analyses of the Mobile Metal Ion¿ (MMI¿) extractions (0¿2 mm fraction, ICP-MS). Included is also a set of digital images of geochemical maps based on this dataset. This dataset is the first of a series of staged data releases from the Northern Australia Geochemical Survey. Relevant data, information and images are available through the GA website.

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

9. About Minerals Alert

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