Potential for magmatic uranium systems in Australia Map 1: Intrusive-related

Intrusive-related U mineralisation constitutes only a small proportion of Australia's known U resources despite the widespread occurrence of U-rich intrusive igneous rocks across both time and space. Due to this apparent discrepancy, the potential for intrusive-related U systems has been assessed on a continental scale using a GIS-based approach. This approach focuses on identifying those units or magmatic events which are the most favourable for the presence of magmatic-related U systems. Thus, the results do not necessarily identify likely locations of mineralisation, but rather are intended to form the basis for area selection and detailed follow-up work. This map uses surface geology, and therefore no information is given of the potential for these systems undercover.


This map applies a mineral systems approach to assessing the potential for intrusive-related U systems, which is translated into mappable geoscientific criteria. The mineral systems model has three components: (1) melt generation; (2) U concentration; and (3) U deposition. Prospectivity criteria for melt generation (1) are the distribution of peralkaline or high temperature, high halogen I- or A-type melts, and the distribution of felsic igneous rocks. U concentration (2) is facilitated by fractional crystallisation, which is quantified using Rb/Sr, and exhibits itself in elevated U or high field strength element contents. U deposition (3) is mapped using U2/Th radiometric anomalies.


The 'fuzzy logic' method is used to combine the disparate prospectivity criteria developed. The result gives an indication of the potential prospectivity on a scale of 0 to 1. The study has confirmed the favourability of already known U provinces, such as the Curnamona Province of South Australia and the Pine Creek region of the Northern Territory. However, new potential has been highlighted in regions not currently well-known for intrusive-related U mineralisation, such as the Arunta, Halls Creek and northern Musgrave regions.


Note that the potential indicated here does not include other 'hybrid-style' systems, which may also have a genetic association with igneous rocks, such as the Olympic Dam IOCG-U deposit.

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Date (Publication)
2011-01-01T00:00:00
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/70459

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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
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Schofield, A.

 1
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MNHD
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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

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  • Geoscientific information

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Unknown

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Product data repository: Various Formats

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Data Store directory containing the digital product files

Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes

Keywords

  • Thematic Map

Theme

  • mineral exploration

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  • AU

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

  • Earth Sciences

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  • Published_External

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

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CC-BY

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4.0

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

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License

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2018-11-01T00:00:00
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English
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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

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Download the file (jpg)

Download the file (jpg)

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Unknown

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Non geographic dataset
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Thematic Map

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Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

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Unclassified

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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

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Non geographic dataset
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nonGeographicDataset

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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

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eCatId/70459

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https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/a05f7892-f7be-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-20T06:13:45
Date info (Creation)
2010-05-19T00:00:00

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

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

 
 

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Keywords

mineral exploration

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