South Nicholson
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Exploring for the future presentation- The structure and stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region – implications for resource prospectivity; Insight from the EFTF geochronology and deep reflection seismic programs
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<p>This Record presents the results of 26 new zircon U-Pb isotopic analyses, conducted on Geoscience Australia’s Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe (SHRIMP2e), under the Commonwealth Government’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, a $100.5 million, four year, initiative to better understand the mineral, energy and groundwater potential across northern Australia. <p>These new data, determined on sedimentary and volcanic rocks, were collected from across the South Nicholson region, located in the north-eastern Northern Territory. The South Nicholson region is geographically located between two highly prospective geological provinces, the greater McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory and the Mount Isa Province in Queensland, regions noted for their hydrocarbon potential and world-class base-metal endowment. <p>The South Nicholson region has been sparsely investigated by modern geological investigations, and, as such, these new SHRIMP U-Pb data, in concert with other complementary EFTF geochronological, geochemical and geophysical datasets from the region (e.g. Anderson et al., 2019; Carr et al., 2019; Ley-Cooper and Brodie, 2019; Jarrett et al., 2019) will place important geological constraints on the geological evolution, the timing of deposition, sedimentary processes, basin architecture and evolution of the South Nicholson region and, arguably most significantly, provide new improved lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic correlations with the adjacent highly prospective Proterozoic Basins. <p>Such geological correlations are critical for reducing exploration risk, improve resource prospectivity and enabling targeted ‘greenfield’ resource exploration activities, a tangible key objective under the Exploring for the Future initiative.
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This web service provides access to satellite imagery products for the identification of potential groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in the South Nicholson - Georgina region.
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<p>Exploring for the Future (EFTF) is a four year $100.5 million initiative by the Australian Government that aims to boost northern Australia's attractiveness as a destination for investment in resource exploration. As part of this program, Geoscience Australia has been tasked with gathering new pre-competitive data and information concerning potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources concealed beneath the surface, on an unprecedented scale. To ensure the program has the greatest impact Geoscience Australia will use innovative techniques in greenfield areas where the resource potential is completely unknown at a semi-continental scale. <p>A major EFTF output is the acquisition of deep crustal seismic reflection data. The first tranche of this was completed in early August 2017 in the region between the southern McArthur Basin to the Mt Isa western succession, crossing the South Nicholson Basin and Murphy Province. Prior to this survey, the region contained no seismic data and minimal well data. <p>This new seismic data will support exploration activities by providing a better understanding of the basin and basement architecture and structural evolution of the region, and assist in identifying geological terrains with resource potential. The preliminary processed data was released at the Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar in March 2018 (Henson et al., 2018). This record presents the interpreted data alongside a geological summary of the region including the McArthur Basin, South Nicholson Basin and Mount Isa Orogen and provides a baseline for further studies in the region including the identification of a new sub-basin and presentation of current knowledge of the stratigraphy and geochemistry. <p>The new seismic reflection data acquired over the South Nicholson Basin as part of the Exploring for the Future program has outlined many areas of future opportunity. Geoscience Australia is currently pursuing an exciting program building upon previous work in the region, including extensive geochemical and geochronological studies aiming to build a greater understanding of the stratigraphy imaged by the seismic data. Further, our work in this region has already demonstrated the complicated and poorly understood nature of the stratigraphy and structural relationships within the region.
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The first phase of the Australian Government's Exploring for the Future (EFTF) was a multi-year (2016-2020) $100.5 million initiative to increase northern Australia's desirability as a destination for industry investment to stimulate ‘greenfield’ resource exploration. In order to support this fundamental objective of the EFTF program, Geoscience Australia conducted acquisition of a diverse range of new precompetitive datasets across northern Australia, focussing on regions of unrecognised mineral, energy and groundwater resource potential. The Barkly 2D Deep Crustal Reflection Seismic Survey (L212) was acquired in 2019 as a major objective of the EFTF program in partnership with, and co-funded by, the NT Government under the Resourcing the Territory initiative. The Barkly Seismic Survey extends from the newly discovered Carrara Sub-basin in the South Nicholson Basin region to the south-eastern margins of the Beetaloo Sub-basin (Fomin, T., et al. 2019). The Barkly Seismic Survey images interpreted Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic successions extending from the Carrara Sub-basin to the highly prospective Beetaloo Sub-basin of the McArthur Basin. These successions are concealed by a persistent cover of up to 600 m of Paleozoic Georgina Basin sediments. Interpretation of the Barkly Seismic Survey established three informal geological domains, each defined by structural elements and/or basin characteristics (Southby et al, 2021). This data set contains an exported set of XYZ points from interpreted horizons (Southby et al 2022,) on the Barkly Seismic Survey (L212) in both two way time (TWT ms on PreSTM_19ga lines) and depth (m) re-interpreted on depth indexed PreSDM_19GA lines. The coordinate reference system for this dataset is WGS 1984 Australian Centre for Remote Sensing Lambert. Seismic reference datum is 350 m. The seismic reference datum are described in the EBCDIC headers of the SEGY files for each of the survey lines. Fomin, T., Costelloe, R.D., Holzschuh, J. 2019. L212 Barkly 2D Seismic Survey. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/132890 Southby, C., Rollet, N., Carson, C., Carr, L., Henson, P., Fomin, T., Costelloe, R., Doublier, M., Close, D. 2021. The Exploring for the Future 2019 Barkly Reflection Seismic Survey: Key discoveries and implication for resources. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/145107 Southby, C., Carson, C.J., Fomin, T., Rollet, N., Henson, P.A., Carr, L.K., Doublier, M.P., Close, D. 2022. Exploring for the Future - The 2019 Barkly Reflection Seismic Survey (L212). RECORD: 2022/009. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2022.009
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This Record presents twelve new zircon U-Pb geochronological results from the South Nicholson region, conducted on Geoscience Australia’s Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe (SHRIMP), as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, an initiative to better understand the mineral, energy and groundwater potential of northern Australia. These data will facilitate greater understanding of the geological evolution of the South Nicholson region, a vast and underexplored region extending across north-eastern Northern Territory and far north-western Queensland. Samples were collected from across the South Nicholson region including MOUNT DRUMMOND, CALVERT HILLS, BRUNETTE DOWNS (NT), LAWN HILL and CAMOOWEAL (QLD) 250K mapsheets. Four samples are from outcrop and eight samples from six stratigraphic and exploration drillholes. Samples were collected from the Paleoproterozoic Murphy Province and from overlying successions of the Paleoproterozoic Benmara Group and the Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Group. Several samples from drillholes, have stratigraphic affinities that are uncertain and speculative.
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The South Nicholson region of northwest Queensland and the Northern Territory is the focus of a regional hydrocarbon prospectivity assessment being undertaken by the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, an Australian Government initiative dedicated to increasing investment in resource exploration in northern Australia. This data release provides data from new digital photography, X-ray Computerised Tomography (XCT) scanning, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) testing and laboratory ultrasonic testing for 14 samples from stratigraphic and exploration wells drilled into the South Nicholson Basin and Lawn Hill Platform in the South Nicholson region described in Jarrett et al (2020). These samples were analysed at CSIRO Geomechanics and Geophysics Laboratory in Perth during May and June 2020.
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The Exploring for the Future Program facilitated the acquisition of major geoscience datasets in northern Australia, where rocks are mostly under cover and the basin evolution, mineral, energy and groundwater resource potential are, in places, poorly constrained. In an effort to support sustainable, regional economic development and build stronger communities in these frontier areas, integration of new and legacy data within a consistent platform could enhance the recognition of cross-disciplinary synergies in sub-surface resource investigations. Here we present a case study in the South-Nicholson Basin, located in a poorly exposed area between the prospective Mt Isa Province and the McArthur Basin. Both regions host major base metal deposits, contain units prospective for energy resources, and hold significant groundwater resources in the overlying Georgina Basin. In this study, we interpret a subset of new regional-scale data, which include ~1 900 km of deep seismic reflection data and 60 000 line kilometres of AusAEM1 airborne electromagnetic survey, supplemented with legacy information. This interpretation refines a semi-continental geological framework, as input to national coverage databases and informs decision-making for exploration and groundwater resource management. This study provides a 3D chronostratigraphic cover model down to the Paleoproterozoic basement. We mapped the depth to the base of intervals corresponding to geological eras, as well as deeper pre-Neoproterozoic superbasin boundaries to refine the cover model. The depth estimates, based on the compilation, interpretation and integration of geological and geophysical datasets, inform the basement architecture controls on evolution of the basin, with several key outcomes: 1) expanded mapped size of the South Nicholson Basin, potentially, increasing prospectivity for hydrocarbons and basin-hosted mineralisation, 2) improved stratigraphic unit correlations across the region, 3) identification of major crustal structures, some of which are associated with mineralisation and springs, and 4) improved basin architecture definition, supporting future investigation of groundwater resources.
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NDI Carrara 1 is a deep stratigraphic drill hole completed in 2020 as part of the MinEx CRC National Drilling Initiative (NDI) in collaboration with Geoscience Australia and the Northern Territory Geological Survey. It is the first test of the Carrara Sub-basin, a newly discovered Proterozoic depocentre in the South Nicholson region, based on interpretation from new seismic surveys (L210 in 2017 and L212 in 2019) acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program. The drill hole intersected approximately 1120 m of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks unconformably overlain by 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin carbonates. Continuous cores recovered from 283 m to a total depth of 1751 m. Geoscience Australia conducted an extensive post-drilling analytical program that generated over 30 datasets which the interested reader can find under the EFTF webpage (under the "Data and publications" drop down menu) at https://www.eftf.ga.gov.au/south-nicholson-national-drilling-initiative This record links to the Exploring for the Future 'borehole completion report' for NDI Carrara 1 and access to all on-site downhole geophysical datasets.
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Exploring for the Future (EFTF) is an Australian Government program led by Geoscience Australia, in partnership with state and Northern Territory governments. The first phase of the EFTF program (2016-2020) aimed to drive industry investment in resource exploration in frontier regions of northern Australia by providing new precompetitive data and information about their energy, mineral and groundwater resource potential (Carr et al 2018). The South Nicholson Basin and immediate surrounding region is situated between Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Mount Isa Province and McArthur Basin. Both the Mount Isa Province and McArthur Basin are well studied. By contrast, the adjacent South Nicholson region is less studied, and contains rocks that are mostly undercover, for which the basin evolution and resource potential is not well understood. To address this gap, the L210 South Nicholson Deep Crustal Seismic Survey was collected in 2017 in the region between the southern McArthur Basin to the Mount Isa western succession, crossing the South Nicholson Basin and Murphy Province, providing a fundamental data link across these regions (L210 South Nicholson Deep Crustal Seismic Reflection Survey). The primary aim of the survey was to investigate areas with a low measured gravity response in the region to determine whether they represent thick basin sequences, as is the case for the nearby prospective Beetaloo Sub-basin. The interpretation of this survey led to the discovery of a new basin, the Carrara Sub-basin, coinciding with a gravity low in the south-eastern South Nicholson Basin Region. This data set contains an exported set of XYZ points from interpreted horizons (Carr et al 2019) on the South Nicholson Seismic Survey (L210) in both two way time (TWT ms on PreSTM_17ga lines) and depth (m) re-interpreted on depth indexed PreSDM_17GA lines. The coordinate reference system for this dataset is WGS 1984 Australian Centre for Remote Sensing Lambert. Seismic reference datum is 350 m. The seismic reference datum are described in the EBCDIC headers of the SEGY files for each of the survey lines. Carr, L.K., Southby, C., Henson, P., Costello, R., Anderson, J.R., Jarrett, A.J M., Carson, C.J., Gorton, J., Hutton, L.J., Troup, A., Williams, B., Khider, K., Bailey, A. & Fomin, T. 2019. Exploring for the Future: South Nicholson Basin geological summary and seismic interpretation. Record 2019/21, Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2019.021 Carr, L.K., Southby, C., Henson, P., Anderson, J.R., Costelloe, R., Jarrett, A.J.M., Carson, C.J., MacFarlane, S.K., Gorton, J., Hutton, L., Troup, A, Williams, B., Khider, K., Bailey, A.H.E., Fomin, T. 2020. South Nicholson Basin seismic interpretation. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/132029 L210 South Nicholson Deep Crustal Seismic Reflection Survey, NT and QLD, 2017. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/116881.