Data–driven prospectivity modelling of sediment–hosted Zn–Pb mineral systems and their critical raw materials
Demand for critical raw materials is expected to accelerate over the next few decades due to continued population growth and the shifting consumption patterns of the global economy. Sedimentary basins are important sources for critical raw materials and new discoveries of sediment–hosted Mississippi Valley–type (MVT) and/or clastic–dominated (CD) Zn–Pb deposits are likely required to mitigate future supply chain disruptions for Zn, Pb, Ag, Cd, Ga, Ge, Sb, and In. Herein we integrate public geoscience datasets using a discrete global grid to system to model the mineral potential for MVT and CD deposits across Canada, the United States of America, and Australia. Statistical analysis of the model results demonstrates that surface–wave tomography and derivative products from satellite gravity datasets can be used to map the most favourable paleo–tectonic settings of MVT and CD deposits inboard of orogenic belts and at the rifted edges of cratonic lithosphere, respectively. Basin development at pre–existing crustal boundaries was likely important for maintaining the low geothermal–gradients that are favourable for metal transport and generating the crustal fluid pathways that were reactivated during ore–formation, as suggested by the statistical association of both sediment–hosted mineral deposit types with the edges of upward–continued gravity and long–wavelength magnetic anomalies. Multivariate statistical analysis demonstrates that the most prospective combination of these geophysical datasets varies for each geological region and deposit type. We further demonstrate that maximum and minimum geological ages, coupled with Phanerozoic paleogeographic reconstructions, represent mappable proxies for the availability of oxidized, brine–generating regions that are the most likely source of ore–forming fluids (e.g., low– to mid–latitude carbonate platforms and evaporites). Ore deposition was likely controlled by interaction between oxidized, low–temperature brines and sulfidic and/or carbonaceous rocks, which, in some cases, can be mapped at the exposed surface or identified using the available rock descriptions. Baseline weights–of–evidence models are based on regional geophysics and are the least impacted by missing surface information but yield relatively poor results, as demonstrated by the low area–under–the–curve (AUC) for the spatially independent test set on the success–rate plot (AUC = 0.787 for MVT and AUC = 0.870 for CD). Model performance can be improved by: (1) using advanced methods that were trained and validated during a series of semi–automated machine learning competitions; and/or (2) incorporating geological and geophysical datasets that are proxies for each component of the mineral system. The best–performing gradient boosting machine models yield higher AUC for the test set (AUC = 0.983 for MVT and AUC = 0.991 for CD) and reduce the search space by >94%. The model results highlight the potential benefits of mapping sediment–hosted mineral systems at continental scale to improve mineral exploration targeting for critical raw materials.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2022-02-25
- Date (Publication)
- 2022-02-25T03:50:26
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/146310
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Publisher Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Author Lawley, C.
Geological Survey of Canada External Contact Co-author McCafferty, A.E.
U.S. Geological Survey, Geology, Geochemistry, and Geophysics Science Center Denver CO 80225 United States External Contact Co-author Graham, G.E.
United States Geological Survey Denver CO 80225 United States External Contact Co-author Huston, D.
MEG Internal Contact Co-author Kelley, K.D.
United States Geological Survey Denver CO 80225 United States External Contact Co-author Czarnota, K.
MEG Internal Contact Co-author Paradis, S.
Geological Survey of Canada, 1500–605 Robson Street Vancouver British Columbia V6B 5J3 canada External Contact Co-author Peter, J.M.
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street Ottawa Ontario K1A 0E8 canada External Contact Co-author Hayward, N.
Geological Survey of Canada, 1500–605 Robson Street Vancouver British Columbia V6B 5J3 canada External Contact Co-author Barlow, M.
MEG Internal Contact Co-author Emsbo, P.
United States Geological Survey Denver CO 80225 United States External Contact Co-author Coyan, J.
U.S. Geological Survey, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center Spokane WA 99201 United States External Contact Co-author San Juan, C.A.
U.S. Geological Survey, Geology, Geochemistry, and Geophysics Science Center Denver CO 80225 United States External Contact Co-author Gadd, M.G.
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street Ottawa Ontario K1A 0E8 Canada External Contact
- Purpose
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Release of Web Service to accompany published paper
- Status
- Accepted
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Czarnota, K.
MEG Internal Contact Resource provider Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division
External Contact
- Spatial representation type
Spatial resolution
- Level of detail
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5 km
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
Resource format
- Title
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Protocol
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FILE:DATA-DIRECTORY
- Name of the resource
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Data Store directory containing the digital product files
- Description
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Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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EARTH SCIENCES
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- Keywords
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Prospectivity
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- Keywords
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Modelling
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- Keywords
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Zinc
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- Keywords
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Lead
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- Keywords
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Critical minerals
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- Keywords
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Machine learning
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- Keywords
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
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CC-BY
- Edition
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4.0
- Addressee
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details User Any
- Use constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
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(c) Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2021
Resource constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Classification system
-
Australian Government Security Classification System
Associated resource
- Association Type
- Operated on by
- Title
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Critical Minerals in Ores WMS
- Citation identifier
- 145525
- Citation identifier
- c5bd89f4-5f98-4221-b3c7-76f3a3781edc
Associated resource
- Association Type
- Operated on by
- Title
-
Critical Minerals in Ores WFS
- Citation identifier
- 145527
- Citation identifier
- ae697115-f0bd-49f4-94d0-17c35059a5dd
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- OnLine resource
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Link to Journal Publication
Link to Journal Publication
- Distribution format
-
- OnLine resource
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Link to Dataset
Link to Dataset
- Distribution format
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- OnLine resource
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Critical Minerals in Ores WFS
Web Feature Service for the Critical Minerals in Ores Dataset
- Distribution format
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OGC WFS
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- OnLine resource
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Critical Minerals in Ores WMS
Web Map Service for the Critical Minerals in Ores Dataset
- Distribution format
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OGC WMS
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Resource lineage
- Statement
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This work was published in ore geology reviews https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2021.104635
Metadata constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
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urn:uuid/77b41f4d-cc22-47f6-9677-62261819d3bb
- Title
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GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Owner Czarnota, K
Internal Contact Point of contact Czarnota, K.
MEG Internal Contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Dataset
- Name
-
Web Service
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
-
Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/146310
- Date info (Creation)
- 2022-02-16T05:11:57
- Date info (Revision)
- 2022-02-16T05:11:57
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
-
Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
-
Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551