The Geothermal Tenements of Australia dataset was developed by combining state geothermal tenement datasets downloaded from online mapping applications. Geothermal tenements are only available for Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Western Australia has recently released 495 geothermal acreage blocks for exploration with Northern Territory in process of developing a Geothermal Energy Bill. The dataset is constantly being maintained, updated and enhanced on an ongoing basis. Sources are listed in descending order of reliability. www.pir.sa.gov.au/geothermal www.dme.qld.gov.au www.dse.vic.gov.au www.mrt.tas.gov.au Geothermal Company websites

J.Walshe Comparative camp-scale studies in the Eastern Yilgarn Craton

This interim report documents progress against the Project Plan and Project Scope for the Broken Hill Managed Aquifer Recharge Project, Phase 1. Specifically, the report covers: (1) the investigative methodology being used for the Phase 1 Risk Assessment (2) details of key data (assessed/) obtained to meet the project outcomes (3) indicative findings to date. An assessment of pre-existing geospatial, hydrogeological, geophysical and borehole data in the Broken Hill area has identified 6 potential priority areas for further investigation. Initial investigations in these 6 priority areas support the general findings and recommendations of Lewis et al. (2008), and re-affirm the view that there is significant potential to develop options for the Broken Hill Managed Aquifer Recharge (BHMAR) project. In summary, the project is on track to deliver on the Phase 1 Risk Assessment as scheduled (by end February 2009).

Pending

Archaean Gold: Tectonostratigraphic architecture of the Eastern Yilgarn Craton

This address was presented at the 2008 Australian Nickel Conference held in Perth, 22-23 October 2008. Geoscience Australia has released a detailed, web-based colour map (at 1:5 000 000 and 1:10 000 000 scales) 'Australian Proterozoic Mafic-Ultramafic Magmatic Events (Sheets 1 and 2)'. This new map is the third and final component of the Proterozoic magmatic event series that show, for the first time, the geographic extent and age relationships of Proterozoic mafic and ultramafic rocks, and associated mineral deposits throughout the continent. The maps (`Proterozoic mafic-ultramafic magmatic events of Western Australia' and 'A Synthesis of Australian Proterozoic Mafic-Ultramafic Magmatic Events. Part 2: Northern Territory and South Australia') were produced in close collaboration with the State and Northern Territory geological surveys.

Valuable new insights into the distribution and geological settings of U, Th and K rich (HHP) granites in Australia have come from interrogation of national datasets, supplemented by wide-ranging regional studies and inversion modelling conducted under a major Government energy security initiative. The increasing attention being paid to these granites in Australia reflects their importance in relation to geothermal energy and uranium mineralisation, which will be outlined. The oldest HHP granites in Australia are potassic, siliceous I-type late Archean (2.85 and 2.65-2.63 Ga) granites in the Pilbara and Yilgarn Cratons, Western Australia. These were produced by melting of Archean TTG-rich crust. The HHP granites were produced on a massive craton-wide scale in a geodynamic environment that is poorly understood, although high geothermal gradients appear necessary. This magmatism effectively redistributed U and Th into the middle and upper crust and stabilized the Pilbara and Yilgarn Cratons. The Proterozoic in Australia, particularly in the age range 1.8-1.5 Ga, is typified by granites with high K and, locally, very high U and Th abundances. In general, these HHP granites were also emplaced late in the evolution of the Proterozoic crust and are considered to be the result of crustal reworking, under high geothermal gradients. It is probable that there was associated crustal thinning, and mantle contributions of heat and some material. I- and S-type HHP granites also occur within the Australian Paleozoic. Their chemical compositions, including the elevated U and Th contents in the majority of these rocks, reflect extensive and efficient fractional crystallisation processes in magmas derived predominantly by crustal melting. Geodynamic environments are considered to range from late syn-tectonic, to post-collisional and back-arc extension.

Yilgarn 3/MERIWA Project - Hydrothermal Alteration Footprints

Camp- to deposit-scale zonation of hydrothermal alteration in the St Ives gold camp, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: evidence for two fluid systems

Geochemical controls on high-grade gold mineralisation at the Junction lode-gold deposit, Kambalda, WA