Authors / CoAuthors
Czarnota, K. | Hoggard, M.J. | Richards, F.D. | Teh, M. | Huston, D.L. | Jaques, A.L. | Ghelichkhan, S.
Abstract
To meet the rising global demand for base metals – driven primarily by the transition to cleaner-energy sources – declining rates of discovery of new deposits need to be countered by advances in exploration undercover. Here, we report that 85% of the world’s sediment-hosted base metals, including all giant deposits (>10 Mt of metal), occur within 200 km of the edge of thick lithosphere, irrespective of the age of mineralisation. This implies long-term craton edge stability, forcing a reconsideration of basin dynamics and the sediment-hosted mineral system. We find that the thermochemical structure of thick lithosphere results in increased basin subsidence rates during rifting, coupled with low geothermal gradients, which ensure favourable metal solubility and precipitation. Sediments in such basins generally contain all necessary lithofacies of the mineral system. These considerations allow establishment of the first-ever national prospectus for sediment-hosted base metal discovery. Conservative estimates place the undiscovered resource of sediment-hosted base metals in Australia to be ~50–200 Mt of metal. Importantly, this work suggests that ~15% of Australia is prospective for giant sediment-hosted deposits; we suggest that exploration efforts should be focused in this area. <b>Citation:</b> Czarnota, K., Hoggard, M.J., Richards, F.D., Teh, M., Huston, D.L., Jaques, A.L. and Ghelichkhan, S., 2020. Minerals on the edge: sediment-hosted base metal endowment above steps in lithospheric thickness. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.
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document
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134991
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Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
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- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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- EARTH SCIENCES
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- EFTF
- ( Project )
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- Exploring For The Future
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- Lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary
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- base metal deposits
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- passive seismic
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- sediment-hosted deposits
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- mineral potential
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- mineral systems
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- mantle
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- xenoliths
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- Published_External
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2020-06-30T00:34:19
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This work build on research conducted as part of the Exploring for the Future program reported by Hoggard, M. J., K. Czarnota, F. D. Richards, A. L. Jaques and S. Ghelichkhan 2020, Global distribution of sediment-hosted metals controlled by craton edge stability, Nature Geoscience, pre-print doi:10.31223/osf.io/2kjvc.
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[-90.00, 90.00, -180.00, 180.00]
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