Australia's Resources Framework
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Demand for critical minerals, vital for advanced technologies, is increasing. This study shows that Australia’s richly endowed geological provinces contain numerous undeveloped or abandoned mineral occurrences that could potentially lead to new economic resources. Three study areas were assessed for critical mineral occurrences through database interrogation and literature review, namely the Barkly-Isa-Georgetown (BIG), Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian (DCD) and Officer-Musgrave (OM) project areas. The study found approximately 20,000 mineral occurrences across the three areas, with just over half occurring in the DCD region. Critical minerals were recognised in ~10% of all occurrences in BIG, ~10% in DCD and 70% in OM. Gold and base metal occurrences comprise 48% (OM), 81% (DCD) and 82% (BIG) of all occurrences in the study areas, with these metals in the DCD and BIG historically and presently important. This large-scale analysis and literature review of Australia’s forgotten mineral discoveries identifies potential new sources of critical minerals and, with the addition of mineralisation style to the data, contributes to predictive exploration methodology that will further unlock the nation’s critical mineral potential. These data are available through the Exploring for the Future portal (https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/eftf). <b>Citation:</b> Kucka C., Senior A. & Britt A., 2022. Mineral Occurences: Forgotten discoveries providing new leads for mineral supply. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/146983
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<div>This contribution presents the distribution and geology of Australian alkaline and related rocks of Paleozoic age, one in a series within the Alkaline Rocks Atlas of Australia that collectively document alkaline rocks across the continent through time. </div><div><br></div><div>In general, alkaline and related rocks are a relatively rare class of igneous rocks worldwide. Alkaline rocks encompass a wide range of rock types and are mineralogically and geochemically diverse. They are typically thought to have been derived by generally small to very small degrees of partial melting of a wide range of mantle compositions. As such these rocks have the potential to convey considerable information on the evolution of the Earth’s mantle (asthenosphere and lithosphere), particularly the role of metasomatism, which may have been important in their generation, or to which such rocks may themselves have contributed. Such rocks, by their unique compositions and/or enrichments in their source protoliths, also have considerable metallogenic potential, e.g., diamonds, Th, U, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, REEs. It is evident that the geographic occurrences of many of these rock types are also important, and may relate to presence of old cratons, craton margins or major lithospheric breaks. Finally, many alkaline rocks also carry with them mantle xenoliths providing a snapshot of the lithospheric mantle composition at the time of their emplacement.</div><div><br></div><div>Accordingly, although alkaline and related rocks comprise only a volumetrically minor component of the geology of Australia, they are of considerable importance to studies of lithospheric composition, evolution and architecture and to helping constrain the temporal evolution of the lithosphere. They are also directly related to metallogenesis and mineralisation, particularly for a number of the critical minerals, e.g., rare earth elements, niobium. In light of this, Geoscience Australia is undertaking a compilation of the distribution and geology of Australian alkaline and related rocks, of all ages, and producing a GIS and associated database of such rocks, to both document such rocks and for use in metallogenic and mineral potential studies. </div><div><br></div><div>The broadening of the definition of alkaline rocks within the Alkaline Rocks Atlas herein, to include ultra-high K mafic to felsic silica-saturated rocks (alkaline-shoshonites), which are commonly formed at convergent margin settings, manifests in some divergences in the presentation of alkaline rocks that are particularly relevant to the Phanerozoic, and Paleozoic Australia in particular. </div><div><br></div><div>Paleozoic alkaline and related rocks occur throughout eastern Australia, with occurrences in the Northern Territory, and in all States excluding Western Australia. However, with a few exceptions they are principally located within the Tasman Element, and are over-represented in NSW – with respect to other states jurisdictions (based on available data). Paleozoic alkaline rocks range from ultramafic through to felsic, and from strongly alkaline (undersaturated) through to mildly alkaline. </div><div><br></div><div>Strongly alkaline rocks – congruent with the outline of alkaline rocks presented above – are comparatively rare in the Paleozoic, and are compositionally diverse incorporating alkali basalt, kimberlite, carbonatite-related rocks, and lamprophyre, with wide-ranging ages. </div><div><br></div><div>Overwhelmingly, the Paleozoic alkaline rock compilation is dominated by very high K alkali mafic to felsic silica-saturated rocks. Mafic-intermediate rocks within this grouping typically have an “arc signature” (i.e., low Nb/Y) but incorporate both arc magmas as well as rocks associated with backarc rifting. These rocks typically occur within rock units or packages that comprise a diverse array of rock types and compositions from volcanic rocks, related volcaniclastics and epiclastics through to sedimentary rocks. Igneous rocks within these packages commonly range from subalkaline / calc-alkaline through to mildly alkaline (trachybasalt to trachyandesite, and less commonly trachyte) based on alkali contents. Quartz-saturated felsic alkaline rocks are dominated by near peralkaline–peralkaline A-types and high-temperature transitional I-A compositions, but locally include rarer mildly alkaline (based on HFSE) rocks. The inclusion of whole rock units, which may only incorporate a small volume of alkaline rocks, necessarily means that the volume of these alkaline rocks is both poorly constrained and over-represented with this dataset.</div><div><br></div>
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<div>The lithology, geochemistry, and architecture of the continental lithospheric mantle (CLM) underlying the Kimberley Craton of north-western Australia has been constrained using pressure-temperature estimates and mineral compositions for >5,000 newly analyzed and published garnet and chrome (Cr) diopside mantle xenocrysts from 25 kimberlites and lamproites of Mesoproterozoic to Miocene age. Single-grain Cr diopside paleogeotherms define lithospheric thicknesses of 200–250 km and fall along conductive geotherms corresponding to a surface heat flow of 37–40 mW/m 2. Similar geotherms derived from Miocene and Mesoproterozoic intrusions indicate that the lithospheric architecture and thermal state of the CLM has remained stable since at least 1,000 Ma. The chemistry of xenocrysts defines a layered lithosphere with lithological and geochemical domains in the shallow (<100 km) and deep (>150 km) CLM, separated by a diopside-depleted and seismically slow mid-lithosphere discontinuity (100–150 km). The shallow CLM is comprised of Cr diopsides derived from depleted garnet-poor and spinel-bearing lherzolite that has been weakly metasomatized. This layer may represent an early (Meso to Neoarchean?) nucleus of the craton. The deep CLM is comprised of high Cr2O3 garnet lherzolite with lesser harzburgite, and eclogite. The peridotite components are inferred to have formed as residues of polybaric partial mantle melting in the Archean, whereas eclogite likely represents former oceanic crust accreted during Paleoproterozoic subduction. This deep CLM was metasomatized by H2O-rich melts derived from subducted sediments and high-temperature FeO-TiO2 melts from the asthenosphere.</div><div><br></div><div>Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential. This leads to a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. This includes supporting Australia’s transition to net zero emissions, strong, sustainable resources and agriculture sectors, and economic opportunities and social benefits for Australia’s regional and remote communities. The Exploring for the Future program, which commenced in 2016, is an eight year, $225m investment by the Australian Government.</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Citation:</strong></div><div>Sudholz, Z.J., et al. (2023) Mapping the Structure and Metasomatic Enrichment of the Lithospheric Mantle Beneath the Kimberley Craton, Western Australia, <em><i>Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems</i>,</em> 24, e2023GC011040.</div><div>https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011040</div>
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<div>Alkaline and related rocks are a relatively rare class of igneous rocks worldwide. Alkaline rocks encompass a wide range of rock types and are mineralogically and geochemically diverse. They are typically though to have been derived by generally small to very small degrees of partial melting of a wide range of mantle compositions. As such these rocks have the potential to convey considerable information on the evolution of the Earth’s mantle (asthenosphere and lithosphere), particularly the role of metasomatism which may have been important in their generation or to which such rocks may themselves have contributed. Such rocks, by their unique compositions and or enriched source protoliths, also have considerable metallogenic potential, e.g., diamonds, Th, U, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, REEs. It is evident that the geographic occurrences of many of these rock types are also important, and may relate to presence of old cratons, craton margins or major lithospheric breaks. Finally, many alkaline rocks also carry with them mantle xenoliths providing a snapshot of the lithospheric mantle composition at the time of their emplacement.</div><div><br></div><div>Accordingly, although alkaline and related rocks comprise only a volumetrically minor component of the geology of Australia, they are of considerable importance to studies of lithospheric composition, evolution and architecture and to helping constrain the temporal evolution of the lithosphere, as well as more directly to metallogenesis and mineralisation.</div><div><br></div><div>This contribution presents data on the distribution and geology of Australian alkaline and related rocks of Proterozoic age. Proterozoic alkaline and related rocks are primarily restricted to the western two-thirds of the Australia continent, congruent with the distribution of Proterozoic rocks more generally. Proterozoic alkaline rock units are most abundant in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with minor occurrences in South Australia, and the western regions of Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania.</div><div><br></div><div>The report and accompanying GIS document the distribution, age, lithology, mineralogy and other characteristics of these rocks (e.g., extrusive/intrusive, presence of mantle xenoliths, presence of diamonds), as well as references for data sources and descriptions. The report also reviews the nomenclature of alkaline rocks and classification procedures. GIS metadata are documented in the appendices. </div>
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<div>Lithospheric structure and composition have direct relevance for our understanding of mineral prospectivity. Aspects of the lithosphere can be imaged using geophysical inversion or analysed from exhumed samples at the surface of the Earth, but it is a challenge to ensure consistency between competing models and datasets. The LitMod platform provides a probabilistic inversion framework that uses geology as the fabric to unify multiple geophysical techniques and incorporates a priori geochemical information. Here, we present results from the application of LitMod to the Australian continent. The rasters summarise the results and performance of a Markov-chain Monte Carlo sampling from the posterior model space. Release KY22 is developed using the primary-mode Rayleigh phase velocity grids of Yoshizawa (2014).</div><div><br></div><div>Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia's geology and resource potential. This leads to a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. This includes supporting Australia's transition to a low emissions economy, strong resources and agriculture sectors, and economic opportunities and social benefits for Australia's regional and remote communities. The Exploring for the Future program, which commenced in 2016, is an eight year, $225m investment by the Australian Government.</div>
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<div>The Proterozoic alkaline and related igneous rocks of Australia is a surface geology compilation of alkaline and related igneous rocks of Proterozoic age in Australia. This dataset is one of five datasets, with compilations for Archean, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic alkaline and related igneous rocks already released.</div><div><br></div><div>Geological units are represented as polygon and point geometries and, are attributed with information that includes, but is not limited to, stratigraphic nomenclature and hierarchy, age, lithology, composition, proportion of alkaline rocks, body morphology, unit expression, emplacement type, presence of mantle xenoliths and diamonds, and primary data source. Source data for the geological unit polygons provided in Data Quality LINEAGE. Geological units are grouped into informal geographic “alkaline provinces”, which are represented as polygon geometries, and attributed with information similar to that provided for the geological units.</div>
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<div>Airborne electromagnetics surveys are at the forefront of addressing the challenge of exploration undercover. They have been essential in the regional mapping programmes to build Australia's resource potential inventory and provide information about the subsurface. In collaboration with state and territory geological surveys, Geoscience Australia (GA) leads a national initiative to acquire AEM data across Australia at 20 km line spacing, as a component of the Australian government Exploring for The Future (EFTF) program. Regional models of subsurface electrical conductivity show new undercover geological features that could host critical mineral deposits and groundwater resources. The models enable us to map potential alteration and structural zones and support environmental and land management studies. Several features observed in the AEM models have also provided insights into possible salt distribution analysed for its hydrogen storage potential. The AusAEM programme is rapidly covering areas with regional AEM transects at a scale never previously attempted. The programme's success leans on the high-resolution, non-invasive nature of the method and its ability to derive subsurface electrical conductivity in three dimensions – made possible by GA's implementation of modern high-performance computing algorithms. The programme is increasingly acquiring more AEM data, processing it, and working towards full national coverage.</div> This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2023 Australian Exploration Geoscience Conference 13-18 Mar (https://2023.aegc.com.au/)
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The Exploring for the Future program Showcase 2023 was held on 15-17 August 2023. Day 2 - 16th August talks included: Highways to Discovery and Understanding Session AusAEM - Unraveling Australia's Landscape with Airborne Electromagnetics – Dr Yusen Ley Cooper Exploring for the Future Data Discovery Portal: A scenic tour – Simon van der Wielen Towards equitable access to regional geoscience information– Dr Kathryn Waltenberg Community engagement and geoscience knowledge sharing: towards inclusive national data and knowledge provision – Dr Meredith Orr Foundational Geoscience Session The power of national scale geological mapping – Dr Eloise Beyer New surface mineralogical and geochemical maps of Australia – Dr Patrice de Caritat Imaging Australia’s Lithospheric Architecture – Dr Babak Hejrani Metallogenic Potential of the Delamerian Margin– Dr Yanbo Cheng You can access the recording of the talks from YouTube here: <a href="https://youtu.be/ZPp2sv2nuXI">2023 Showcase Day 2 - Part 1</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/dvqP8Z5yVtY">2023 Showcase Day 2 - Part 2</a>
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Australian iron ore is predominantly exported and used for steelmaking internationally. However, steelmaking is an energy- and carbon-intensive heavy industry, and its electrification in the coming decades will likely disrupt the existing iron ore–steel value chains. Green steel—produced using hydrogen and electricity from renewable energy sources—presents both opportunities and challenges for Australia. Indeed, with abundant renewable energy potential and iron-ore resources, Australia could lead this global transformation. Here, we examine the interrelationships between the Australian iron-ore industry, the production of green-hydrogen from renewable energy sources, and an emergent green steelmaking process. In particular, we undertake detailed case studies to estimate current green steel production costs within two regions; the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. While existing technology is not well suited to Australian hematite ores, our analysis highlights the site-specific competitiveness of small-scale, magnetite-fed, off-grid operations. The results underscore the advantages of a well-optimised system in decreasing hydrogen and energy storage requirements, and decreasing production costs. While our results also suggest that grid-connected projects could reduce costs through flexible operation, more work is required to understand the limitations of these conclusions. The results underscore the need to develop technologies to utilise hematite ores in green steelmaking, but also highlight the opportunity for this emerging industry to commercialise Australia’s magnetite resources. <b>Citation: </b>Wang C., Walsh S. D. C., Haynes M. W., Weng Z., Feitz A., Summerfield D., & Lutalo I., 2022. From Australian iron ore to green steel: the opportunity for technology-driven decarbonisation. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/147005
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Over 900 Australian mineral deposits, location and age data, combined with deposit classifications, have been used to assess temporal and spatial patterns of mineral deposits associated with convergent margins and allow assessment of the potential of poorly exposed or undercover mineral provinces and identification of prospective tracts within known mineral provinces. Here we present results of this analysis for the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane and the Tasman Element, which illustrate end-members of the spectrum of convergent margin metallogenic provinces. Combining our Australian synthesis with global data suggest that after ~3000 Ma these provinces are characterised by a reasonably consistent temporal pattern of deposit formation, termed the convergent margin metallogenic cycle (CMMC): volcanic-hosted massive sulfide – calc-alkalic porphyry copper – komatiite-associated nickel sulfide → orogenic gold → alkalic porphyry copper – granite-related rare metal (Sn, W and Mo) – pegmatite. Between ca 3000 Ma and ca 800 Ma, virtually all provinces are characterised by a single CMMC, but after ca 800 Ma, provinces mostly have multiple CMMCs. We interpret this change in metallogeny to reflect secular changes in tectonic style, with single-CMMC provinces associated with warm, shallow break-off subduction, and multiple-CMMC provinces associated with modern-style cold, deep break-off subduction. These temporal and spatial patterns can be used to infer potential for mineralisation outside well-established metallogenic tracts. <b>Citation:</b> Huston D. L., Doublier M. P., Eglington B., Pehrsson S., Mercier-Langevin P. & Piercey S., 2022. Convergent margin metallogenic cycling in the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane and Tasman Element. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/147037