Authors / CoAuthors
Ford, A. | Huston, D. | Cloutier, J. | Doublier, M. | Schofield, A. | Cheng, Y. | Beyer, E.
Abstract
<div>The production of rare earth elements is critical for the transition to a low carbon economy. Carbonatites (>50% carbonate minerals) are one of the most significant sources of rare earth elements (REEs), both domestically within Australia, as well as globally. Given the strategic importance of critical minerals, including REEs, for the Australian national economy, a mineral potential assessment has been undertaken to evaluate the prospectivity for carbonatite-related REE (CREE) mineralisation in Australia. CREE deposits form as the result of lithospheric- to deposit-scale processes that are spatially and temporally coincident.</div><div><br></div><div>Building on previous research into the formation of carbonatites and their related REE mineralisation, a mineral system model has been developed that incorporates four components: (1) source of metals, fluids, and ligands, (2) energy sources and fluid flow drivers, (3) fluid flow pathways and lithospheric architecture, and (4) ore deposition. This study demonstrates how national-scale datasets and a mineral systems-based approach can be used to map the mineral potential for CREE mineral systems in Australia.</div><div><br></div><div>Using statistical analysis to guide the feature engineering and map weightings, a weighted index overlay method has been used to generate national-scale mineral potential maps that reduce the exploration search space for CREE mineral systems by up to ∼90%. In addition to highlighting regions with known carbonatites and CREE mineralisation, the mineral potential assessment also indicates high potential in parts of Australia that have no previously identified carbonatites or CREE deposits.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Citation: </b>Ford, A., Huston, D., Cloutier, J., Doublier, M., Schofield, A., Cheng, Y., and Beyer, E., 2023. A national-scale mineral potential assessment for carbonatite-related rare earth element mineral systems in Australia, <i>Ore Geology Reviews</i>, V. 161, 105658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2023.105658</div>
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document
eCat Id
147754
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Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
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Keywords
- ( Project )
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- EFTF – Exploring for the Future
- ( Project )
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- Australia’s Resources Framework
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- Mineral potential
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- mineral systems
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- carbonatites
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- rare earth elements
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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- Earth SciencesData mining and knowledge discovery
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- critical minerals
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- Published_External
Publication Date
2023-11-01T21:29:06
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completed
Purpose
A national-scale mineral potential map for carbonatite-related rare earth element mineral systems has been developed using a hybrid data- and knowledge-driven approach using a mineral systems framework. Mappable criteria have been identified that represent spatial proxies for the mineral system components and have been derived from a large volume of multidisciplinary precompetitive geoscience data. The mineral potential map successfully predicts the location of known carbonatites and carbonatite-related rare earth element deposits in Australia while reducing the exploration search space and highlighting new areas of elevated prospectivity in under-explored areas.
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geoscientificInformation
Series Information
Ore Geology Reviews Volume 161, October 2023 105658
Lineage
<div>Multiple national-scale geological and geophysical datasets have been used as the basis for generating novel mappable criteria for distinct mineral system components. The mappable criteria have been integrated into a series of coherent products to assess national mineral potential.</div>
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[-44.00, -9.00, 112.00, 154.00]
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