The Tarcoola Goldfield is one of several districts included in the recently-proposed central Gawler gold province.

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The Tanami region is one of Australia?s premier Proterozoic gold provinces, having already produced ~150 t of gold, and still has high exploration potential. This region contains more than 60 gold occurrences including the Dead Bullock Soak, Groundrush and The Granites gold mines as well as several significant gold prospects (Coyote, Crusade and Kookaburra). The Callie deposit (>5 Moz Au total resource) located in the Dead Bullock Soak goldfield is currently the largest mine in this region. Previous studies of the mineral systems associated with the gold deposits in the Tanami region indicate that they formed over a range of depths and were hosted in both greenstone and sedimentary units. Fluid inclusion studies have shown that the ore-bearing fluids were generally of low to moderate salinity with varying amounts of CO2?N2?CH4. Trapping temperatures ranged from 220 to 430 ?C. In order to determine the extent of these gold mineral systems, we have investigated the chemistry of the fluids in regional quartz veins that outcrop in both the Tanami, Birrindudu and northern Arunta. 40Ar/39Ar dating of veins containing mica was also carried out to determine the timing of the veins with respect to the mineralisation in the Tanami region. Epithermal veins outcrop along the southern margin of the Wiso Basin, the northern Arunta, the western Tanami and in the Birrindudu region. Two populations of fluid inclusions were observed in the epithermal veins: a low salinity fluid (<1 wt. % NaCl eq), and a high salinity fluid (>18 wt. % NaCl eq). No gases were detected in either type of fluid inclusion and both homogenised over the range from 120 to 180 ?C. Regional E-W trending mesothermal quartz veins outcrop in the southern Tanami region and a distinctive zone of ENE trending quartz veins outcrop in the northern Arunta whereas both NW trending and ENE trending veins occur in the Birrindudu region. Two populations of fluid inclusions were also observed in these mesothermal quartz veins. The first contained low salinity fluids with CO2>CH4?(N2?graphite). These inclusions homogenised between 320 and 360 ?C. The second population contained high salinity fluids with no detectable gases and they homogenised between 120 and 230 ?C. 40Ar/39Ar dating of quartz veins containing mica showed a distinct difference in the age of the veins in the Tanami and northern Arunta. Mesothermal veins in the Tanami region had ages ranging from 1700 to 1741 Ma while quartz veins in the northern Arunta gave ages ranging from 1432 to 1518 Ma. This suggests that these vein sets formed from two separate fluid flow events.

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Package comprises a digital compilation of regional mapping of Bathurst (SI5508) 1:250 000 map by AGSO and NSW Department of Mineral Resources, under NGMA from 1991 to 1996.

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The paper discusses metallogenic endowment of cratons, terranes and districts

Locational and other information for the diamond deposits and kimberlites, lamproites, ultramafic lampropyhyres and garnet-peridotite facies alkali basalts is taken from published information, and unpublished information generously provided by Rio Tinto Ltd, De Beers Australia Exploration Ltd, Striker Resources NL and Kimberley Diamond Company NL, data from WADME Minedex website, the NTGS Modat database, and Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines.

The known and potential (undiscovered) mineral resources in Australia's near shore environment and its Exclusive Economic Zone are poorly known. The available information on offshore mineral resources comes from limited exploration by private companies and from reconnaissance surveys undertaken by Commonwealth and State geoscience agencies. Past and current exploration and mining activities have focussed on construction materials, heavy mineral sands, and high value placer deposits of gold and diamonds in shallow water nearshore environments. Currently there are two major offshore dredging operations, sand for construction purposes in Moreton Bay near Brisbane and limesand for cement manufacture south of Fremantle. Phosphate and manganese nodules (and potentially volcanogenic and carbonate-hosted massive sulphides), which occur typically in some deeper water environments, are likely to be of interest in the longer term. The discovery and eventual economic extraction of offshore mineral deposits pose significant technical, political and environmental challenges that require they be considered only as possible future mineral resources in the medium to long term. Scientific research as well as offshore exploration is needed to acquire data and build up geoscientific knowledge on known and new types of offshore mineral deposits, establish their distribution in Australia's offshore regions and evaluate their possible wealth and future use.

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