Authors / CoAuthors
Schofield, A. | Huston, D.L. | Mernagh, T.P. | Skirrow, R.G. | Connolly, D.P. | van der Wielen, S.E.
Abstract
Mineral deposits are a product of the coincidence of favourable geological conditions within a given spatial and temporal setting. Collectively, these key geological elements may be considered as aspects of a mineral system. Mineral system-based investigations of the potential for a range of uranium systems have recently been undertaken in northern Queensland, east-central South Australia and the southern Northern Territory. Building on the methodology employed in northern Queensland, the mineral system assessment in South Australia and the Northern Territory consists of four key system components: (1) sources of metals and fluids, (2) drivers of fluid flow, (3) fluid pathways and architecture, and (4) depositional sites and mechanisms. Favourable geological criteria are developed from these four components, which are in turn translated into mappable geological proxies. Thus, the mineral systems framework drives the collection and synthesis of geoscientific data. This approach minimises the influence of localised geological controls, which may only be significant at the mine scale, and allows the system to be mapped on a broad scale, maximising the 'footprint' of mineralisation. Locations of known mineralisation are not considered in the assessment but are used to verify results. By employing a systems-based approach, the potential of relatively unexplored areas may be assessed objectively, transparently and systematically. Significantly, the approach used here is able to predict the potential for unrecognised mineralisation beneath cover. The assessments undertaken for uranium potential successfully reproduce the location of known uranium deposits and, importantly, delineate several areas where uranium mineralisation is currently unknown.
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nonGeographicDataset
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73493
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- External Publication
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_Internal
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2012-02-15T00:00:00
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