The fundamental geological framework of the concealed Paleoproterozoic East Tennant area of northern Australia is very poorly understood, despite its relatively thin veneer of Phanerozoic cover and its position along strike from significant Au–Cu–Bi mineralisation of the Tennant Creek mining district within the outcropping Warramunga Province. We present 18 new U–Pb dates, obtained via Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe (SHRIMP), constraining the geological evolution of predominantly Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary and igneous rocks intersected by 10 stratigraphic holes drilled in the East Tennant area. The oldest rocks identified in the East Tennant area are two metasedimentary units with maximum depositional ages of ca. 1970 Ma and ca. 1895 Ma respectively, plus ca. 1870 Ma metagranitic gneiss. These units, which are unknown in the nearby Murphy Province and outcropping Warramunga Province, underlie widespread metasedimentary rocks of the Alroy Formation, which yield maximum depositional ages of 1873–1864 Ma. While parts of this unit appear to be correlative with the ca. 1860 Ma Warramunga Formation of the Warramunga Province, our data suggest that the bulk of the Alroy Formation in the East Tennant area is slightly older, reflecting widespread sedimentation at ca. 1870 Ma. Throughout the East Tennant area, the Alroy Formation was intruded by voluminous 1854–1845 Ma granites, contemporaneous with similar felsic magmatism in the outcropping Warramunga Province (Tennant Creek Supersuite) and Murphy Province (Nicholson Granite Complex). In contrast with the outcropping Warramunga Province, supracrustal rocks equivalent to the 1845–1810 Ma Ooradidgee Group are rare in the East Tennant area. Detrital zircon data from younger sedimentary successions corroborate seismic evidence that at least some of the thick sedimentary sequences intersected along the southern margin of the recently defined Brunette Downs rift corridor are possible age equivalents of the ca. 1670–1600 Ma Isa Superbasin. Our new results strengthen ca. 1870–1860 Ma stratigraphic and ca. 1850 Ma tectono-magmatic affinities between the East Tennant area, the Murphy Province, and the mineralised Warramunga Province around Tennant Creek, with important implications for mineral prospectivity of the East Tennant area. Appeared in Precambrian Research Volume 383, December 2022.

Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential. This leads to a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. This includes supporting Australia’s transition to a low emissions economy, strong resources and agriculture sectors, and economic opportunities and social benefits for Australia’s regional and remote communities. The Exploring for the Future program, which commenced in 2016, is an eight year, $225m investment by the Australian Government. The deep stratigraphic drill hole, NDI Carrara 1 (~1751 m), was completed in December 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 depocentre newly discovered in the South Nicholson region based on interpretation from seismic surveys (L210 in 2017 and L212 in 2019) recently acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program. The drill hole intersected approximately 1100 m of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks uncomformably overlain by 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin carbonates. This contractor report (FIT - Schlumberger) presents hydrocarbon and aqueous fluid inclusion petrology and data (micro-thermometry, salinities etc.) on four hydrocarbon-bearing calcite veins sampled from NDI Carrara 1 between 762.56-763.60 m depth, (under contract to, and fully funded by, Geoscience Australia as part of the Exploring for the Future program).

The Exploring for the Future program Showcase 2023 was held on 15-17 August 2023. Day 1 - 15th August talks included: Resourcing net zero – Dr Andrew Heap Our Geoscience Journey – Dr Karol Czarnota You can access the recording of the talks from YouTube here: <a href="https://youtu.be/uWMZBg4IK3g">2023 Showcase Day 1</a>

NDI Carrara 1 is a deep stratigraphic drill hole (~1751m) 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 depocentre newly discovered in the South Nicholson region based on interpretation from seismic surveys (L210 in 2017 and L212 in 2019) recently acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program. The drill hole intersected approximately 1100 m of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks uncomformably overlain by 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin carbonates. This report presents petrology and clay speciation XRD conducted on of 6 selected volcaniclastic rocks taken from NDI Carrara 1 between ca. 1579 m and ca. 1653 m depth. Petrology and XRD was undertaken by Microanalysis Australia (under contract to Geoscience Australia as part of the Exploring for the Future program). Borehole completion report can be found at https://portal.ga.gov.au/bhcr/minerals/648482

As part of Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future program, the East Tennant region, which is centred on the Barkly Roadhouse in the Northern Territory, was identified as having favourable geological and geophysical indicators of mineral systems potential. Potentially prospective stratigraphy in the East Tennant region is completely concealed beneath Mesoproterozoic to Quaternary cover sequences. Prior to 2020 basement rocks in the East Tennant region were only known from a handful of legacy boreholes, supported by geophysical interpretation. In order to test geophysical interpretations and obtain additional samples of basement rocks for detailed analysis, a stratigraphic drilling campaign was undertaken in the East Tennant region as part of the MinEx CRC’s National Drilling Initiative. Ten stratigraphic boreholes were drilled through the cover sequences and into basement for a total of nearly 4000 m, including over 1500 m of diamond cored basement rocks to be used for scientific purposes. Inorganic geochemical samples from East Tennant National Drilling Initiative boreholes were taken to characterise cover and basement rocks intersected during drilling. Two sampling approaches were implemented based on the rocks intersected: 1) Borehole NDIBK04 contained localised sulphide mineralisation and elevated concentrations of several economically-significant elements in portable X-ray fluorescence data. In order to understand the geochemical variability and distribution of elements important for mineral system characterisation, the entire basement interval was sampled at nominal one metre intervals. This spacing was reduced to between 0.5 and 0.25 m from 237 m to 263 m to better understand a more intense zone of mineralisation, and 2) Samples from boreholes NDIBK01, NDIBK02, NDIBK03, NDIBK05, NDIBK06, NDIBK07, NDIBK08, NDIBK09 and NDIBK10 were selected to capture lithological and geochemical variability to establish bulk rock geochemical compositions for further interpretation. Attempts were made to sample representative, lithologically consistent intervals. A total of 402 samples were selected for analysis. Sample preparation was completed at Geoscience Australia and Bureau Veritas, with all analyses performed by Bureau Veritas in Perth. All samples were submitted for X-ray fluorescence (XRF), laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), FeO determination, and loss on ignition (LOI). Samples from borehole NDIBK04 also underwent total combustion C and S, and Pb collection fire assay by ICP-MS for determination of Au, Pt and Pd concentrations. This data release presents inorganic geochemistry data acquired on rock samples from the ten East Tennant National Drilling Initiative boreholes.

<div>The Exploring for the Future program, led by Geoscience Australia, was a $225 million Australian Government investment over 8 years, focused on revealing Australia’s mineral, energy, and groundwater potential by characterising geology.&nbsp;&nbsp;This report provides an overview of activities, results, achievements and impacts from the Exploring for the Future program, with a particular focus on the last four years (2020-2024). &nbsp;</div>

NDI Carrara 1 is a deep stratigraphic drill hole (~1751m) 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 depocentre newly discovered in the South Nicholson region based on interpretation from seismic surveys (L210 in 2017 and L212 in 2019) recently acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program. The drill hole intersected approximately 1100 m of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks uncomformably overlain by 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin carbonates. This report presents the petrology conducted on 50 selected thin sections of NDI Carrara 1 undertaken by Microanalysis Australia (under contract to Geoscience Australia as part of the Exploring for the Future program).

<div>New SHRIMP U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology on Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic siliciclastic rocks from the South Nicholson region, in concert with recently acquired complementary regional geophysical datasets, has enabled comprehensive revision of the regional Proterozoic tectono-stratigraphy. The identification of analogous detrital zircon spectra between units deposited in half-graben hanging walls of major ENE-WSW trending extensional faults, the Benmara, Bauhinia, and Maloney-Mitchiebo faults, offers compelling evidence for regional tectono-stratigraphic correlation. Units sampled from the hanging walls of these faults are characterised by immature proximal lithofacies and host a small yet persistent population of <em>ca</em> 1640–1650 Ma aged zircon and lack Mesoproterozoic detritus, consistent with deposition coincident with extension during the River Extension event at <em>ca</em> 1640 Ma, an event previously identified from the Lawn Hill Platform in western Queensland. This finding suggests the hanging wall sequences are chrono-stratigraphically equivalent to the highly prospective sedimentary rocks of the Isa Superbasin, host to world-class sediment-hosted base metal deposits across western Queensland and north-eastern Northern Territory. Subsequent inversion of the extensional faults, resulted in development of south-verging thrusts, and exhumation of late Paleoproterozoic hanging wall siliciclastic rocks through overlying Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Group rocks as fault propagated roll-over anticlines. These geochronology data and interpretations necessitate revision of the stratigraphy and the renaming of a number of stratigraphic units in the South Nicholson region. Accordingly, the distribution of the highly prospective late Paleoproterozoic units of the McArthur Basin, Lawn Hill Platform and Mount Isa Province is greatly expanded across the South Nicholson region. These findings imply that the previously underexplored South Nicholson region is a highly prospective greenfield for energy and mineral resources.</div> <b>Citation:</b> C. J. Carson, N. Kositcin, J. R. Anderson & P. A. Henson (2023) A revised Proterozoic tectono-stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region, Northern Territory, Australia—insights from SHRIMP U–Pb detrital zircon geochronology, <i>Australian Journal of Earth Sciences,</i> DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2023.2264355

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 depocentre newly discovered in the South Nicholson region based on interpretation from seismic surveys (L210 in 2017 and L212 in 2019) recently acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program. The drill hole intersected approximately 1100 m of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks uncomformably overlain by 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin carbonates. A comprehensive geochemical program designed to provide information about the region’s resource potential was carried out on samples collected at up to 4 meter intervals. This report presents data from magnetic susceptibility analyses undertaken by Geoscience Australia on selected rock samples to establish their ability to be magnetised in an applied external magnetic field.

Australia remains underexplored or unexplored, boasting discovery potential in the mineral, groundwater, and energy resources hidden beneath the surface. These “greenfield” areas are key to Australia’s future prosperity and sustainability. Led by Geoscience Australia, Australia’s national government geoscience organisation, the Exploring for the Future program was a groundbreaking mission to map Australia’s mineral, energy, and groundwater systems in unparalleled scale and detail. The program has advanced our understanding of Australia’s untapped potential. Over the course of 8 years, the Exploring for the Future program provided a significant expansion of public, precompetitive geoscience data and information, equipping decision-makers with the knowledge and tools to tackle urgent challenges related to Australia’s resource prosperity, energy security, and groundwater supply.