Authors / CoAuthors
Bastrakov, E. | de Caritat, P. | Walker, A. | McInnes, B.
Abstract
<div>The Heavy Mineral Map of Australia (HMMA) project1, part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program, determined the abundance and distribution of heavy minerals (HMs; specific gravity >2.9 g/cm3) in 1315 floodplain sediment samples obtained from Geoscience Australia’s National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) project2. Archived NGSA samples from floodplain landforms were sub-sampled with the 75-430 µm fraction subjected to dense media separation and automated mineralogy assay using a TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analysis (TIMA) instrument at Curtin University.</div><div><br></div><div>Interpretation of the massive number of mineral observations generated during the project (~150 million mineral observations; 166 unique mineral species) required the development of a novel workflow to allow end users to discover, visualise and interpret mineral co-occurrence and spatial relationships. Mineral Network Analysis (MNA) has been shown to be a dynamic and quantitative tool capable of revealing and visualizing complex patterns of abundance, diversity and distribution in large mineralogical data sets3. To facilitate the application of MNA for the interpretation of the HMMA dataset and efficient communication of the project results, we have developed a Mineral Network Analysis for Heavy Minerals (MNA4HM) web application utilising the ‘Shiny’ platform and R package. The MNA4HM application is used to reveal (1) the abundance and co-occurrences of heavy minerals, (2) their spatial distributions, and (3) their relations to first-order geological and geomorphological features. The latter include geological provinces, mineral deposits, topography and major river basins. Visualisation of the mineral network guides parsimonious yet meaningful mapping of minerals typomorphic of particular geological environments or mineral systems. The mineralogical dataset can be filtered or styled based on mineral attributes (e.g., simplified mineralogical classes) and properties (e.g., chemical composition).</div><div><br></div><div>In this talk we will demonstrate an optimised MNA4HM workflow (identification à mapping à interpretation) for exploration targeting selected critical minerals important for the transition to a lower carbon global economy. </div><div><br></div><div>The MNA4HM application is hosted at https://geoscienceaustralia.shinyapps.io/mna4hm and is available for use by the geological community and general public.</div> This Abstract was submitted and presented to the 2023 Goldschmidt Conference Lyon, France (https://conf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/2023/meetingapp.cgi)
Product Type
document
eCat Id
147752
Contact for the resource
Resource provider
Point of contact
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
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Keywords
- ( Project )
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- EFTF – Exploring for the Future
- ( Project )
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- EFTF
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- Geochemistry
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- Geochemical Mapping
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- Mineral exploration
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- Mineral network analysis
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- Mineralogy
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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- Exploration Geochemistry
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- Published_External
Publication Date
2023-09-19T22:08:06
Creation Date
2023-02-28T20:00:00
Security Constraints
Legal Constraints
Status
completed
Purpose
Inform international academic and mineral exploration community on the results of the Heavy Mineral Map of Australia project and its Mineral Network Analysis approach and tool
Maintenance Information
notPlanned
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
Goldschmidt Conference 8-14 July 2023 Lyon, France
Lineage
<div>Heavy Mineral Map of Australia (HMMA) project</div>
Parent Information
Extents
[-44.00, -9.00, 112.00, 154.00]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
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Associations
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