This web service delivers datasets produced by the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI), a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA), the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Data in this service includes geochemical analyses of over 7000 samples collected from or near mineral deposits from 60 countries, and mineral prospectivity models for clastic-dominated (Zn, Pb) and Mississippi Valley-type (Zn-Pb) deposits across Canada, the United States, and Australia.

<div>High purity quartz (HPQ) is the only naturally occurring and economically viable source for the production of silicon. Silicon is a critical mineral, and a key component in modern technologies such as semiconductors and photovoltaic cells. Critical minerals support the move towards a greater reliance on electrification, renewable energy sources and economic security. The global transition to net zero carbon emissions means there is a growing need for new discoveries of HPQ to supply the silicon production chain. High purity quartz deposits are identified in a multitude of geological settings, including pegmatites, hydrothermal veins, sedimentary accumulations and quartzite; however, deposits of sufficient volume and quality are rare. Quartz is abundant throughout Australia, but the exploration and discovery of HPQ occurrences is notably under-reported, making assessment of the HPQ potential in Australia extremely difficult. This paper presents a much-needed summary of the state of the HPQ industry, exploration and deposit styles in Australia. <b>Citation:</b> Jennings, A., Senior, A., Guerin, K., Main, P., & Walsh, J. (2024). A review of high-purity quartz for silicon production in Australia. <i>Australian Journal of Earth Sciences</i>, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2024.2362296

The stabilities of uranyl-carbonate and uranyl-hydroxide aqueous complexes were experimentally determined at temperatures ranging from 25 to 125 °C using in situ UV–vis and Raman spectroscopic techniques. Combined with earlier determinations of the stability of chloride, sulfate, and hydroxide complexes at temperatures up to 250 °C, these data permit to create a consolidated dataset suitable for modeling of U(VI) mobilization in natural systems. The parameters of the Modified Ryzhenko-Bryzgalin and the Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers (HKF) Equations of State (EoS) were derived based on this dataset and used for thermodynamic modeling different scenarios of U(VI) mobilization. These models suggest that at conditions relevant to natural systems, carbonate-mediated transport of U(VI) is likely suppressed by the high stability of solid UO2(OH)2 and Na2U2O7. In contrast, sulfate-mediated mobilization mechanisms are highly efficient at acidic and near-neutral pH conditions and can lead to effective hydrothermal mobilization of U(VI). <b>Citation:</b> A. Migdisov, E. Bastrakov, C. Alcorn, M. Reece, H. Boukhalfa, F.A. Capporuscio, C. Jove-Colon, A spectroscopic study of the stability of uranyl-carbonate complexes at 25–150 °C and re-visiting the data available for uranyl-chloride, uranyl-sulfate, and uranyl-hydroxide species, <i>Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta</i>, 2024, ISSN 0016-7037, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2024.04.023.

This web map service provides visualisations of datasets prepared for the Technology Investment Roadmap Data Portal. The service has been developed using various mineral deposit, mine location and industrial plant location datasets sourced from the Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources (2019), produced by Geoscience Australia (http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/1327-1466.2018)

A review of mineral exploration trends, activities and discoveries in Australia in 2022.

This web service delivers data from an aggregation of sources, including several Geoscience Australia databases (provinces (PROVS), mineral resources (OZMIN), energy systems (AERA, ENERGY_SYSTEMS) and water (HYDROGEOLOGY). Information is grouped based on a modified version of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2021 Indigenous Regions (IREG). Data covers population centres, top industries, a regional summary, groundwater resources and uses, energy production and potential across six sources and two energy storage options. Mineral production and potential covers 36 commodities that are grouped into 13 groups.

This web service delivers data from an aggregation of sources, including several Geoscience Australia databases (provinces (PROVS), mineral resources (OZMIN), energy systems (AERA, ENERGY_SYSTEMS) and water (HYDROGEOLOGY). Information is grouped based on a modified version of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2021 Indigenous Regions (IREG). Data covers population centres, top industries, a regional summary, groundwater resources and uses, energy production and potential across six sources and two energy storage options. Mineral production and potential covers 36 commodities that are grouped into 13 groups.

Although critical minerals (CMs) are currently produced from existing mines, their distributions in many mineral systems are, in many cases, poorly known, raising the possibility that CMs are not fully recovered from some ores. The Critical Minerals in Ores (CMiO) database, compiled by Geoscience Australia, United States Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Canada, and Geological Survey of Queensland as part of the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative, contains high-quality geochemical data from global ore deposits classified using a common framework, enabling global comparison. Using CMiO and other data, we have undertaken preliminary investigations on distributions of CMs in mineral systems including porphyry Cu (PCu), iron oxide-Cu-Au (IOCG), iron oxide-apatite (IOA), rare earth element (REE), and Zn-dominated systems. The PCu systems are enriched in Re, Pt, Pd, Se, and Te relative to the continental crust. At the Pebble (USA) PCu deposit, Re and Se are enriched in Cu ore zones; whereas Te is enriched immediately outside these zones. Although generally not recovered, alkalic PCu deposits (e.g., Galore Creek, Canada; Cadia, Australia) can be enriched in Pd and Pt. Cobalt and some REEs occur in IOCG systems, with Co enriched in magnetite-dominant IOCG systems (e.g., Ernest Henry, Australia; Kwyjibo, Canada), and REEs enriched in IOA (e.g., Pea Ridge, USA) and hematite-dominant IOCG systems (e.g., Olympic Dam, Australia). The enrichment of individual REEs depends strongly on mineral system type. In magmatic and metasomatic systems, light REEs (Ce to Sm) and Y are enriched in hematite-rich IOCG, IOA and carbonatite (e.g., Saint-Honoré, Canada) deposits, whereas heavy REEs (Eu to Lu) are enriched in deposits associated with peralkaline magmatism (e.g., Strange Lake, Canada). Unconformity-related REE (e.g., Maw, Canada; Wolverine, Australia) and ionic clay (e.g., Koopamurra, Australia) deposits also tend to be heavy REE-rich, whereas shale-hosted (e.g., SBH, Canada) and phosphorite (e.g., Ardmore, Australia) deposits can be enriched in heavy and/or light REEs. Zinc deposits are important sources of Ga, Ge, and In. Assessment of the distribution of these CMs in Zn deposits suggest that Ge is concentrated in deposits formed from low temperature, oxidized fluids (Mississippi Valley-type: Tres Marias, Mexico; sediment-hosted massive sulfides: Red Dog, USA), whereas In is enriched in deposits formed from higher temperature, reduced fluids (volcanic-hosted massive sulfide: Kidd Creek, Canada; skarn: Isabel, Australia). These examples demonstrate the utility of the CMiO and other datasets for characterizing CMs distribution in individual ore deposit and predicting CMs potentials of mineral systems. This abstract was presented at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Association of Canada (GAC), Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) and Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, Sudbury, Canada May 2023

This web map service provides the locations and status, as at 30 June 2020, of Australian operating mines, mines under development, mines on care and maintenance and resource deposits associated with critical minerals. Developing mines are deposits where the project has a positive feasibility study, development has commenced or all approvals have been received. Mines under care and maintenance and resource deposits are based on known resource estimations and may produce critical minerals in the future.

This web service delivers datasets produced by the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI), a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA), the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Data in this service includes geochemical analyses of over 7000 samples collected from or near mineral deposits from 60 countries, and mineral prospectivity models for clastic-dominated (Zn, Pb) and Mississippi Valley-type (Zn-Pb) deposits across Canada, the United States, and Australia.