Lithospheric-scale controls on zinc–lead–silver deposits of the North Australian Zinc Belt: evidence from isotopic and geophysical data

The North Australian Zinc Belt is the largest zinc–lead province in the world, containing 3 of the 10 largest individual deposits known. Despite this pedigree, exploration in this province during the past two decades has not been particularly successful, yielding only one significant deposit (Teena). One of the most important aspects of exploration is to choose regions or provinces that have greatest potential for discovery. Here, we present results from zinc belts in northern Australia and North America, which highlight previously unused datasets for area selection and targeting at the craton to district scale. Lead isotope mapping using analyses of mineralised material has identified gradients in μ (238U/204Pb) that coincide closely with many major deposits. Locations of these deposits also coincide with a gradient in the depth of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary determined from calibrated surface wave tomography models converted to temperature. In Australia, gradients in upward-continued gravity anomalies and a step in Moho depth corresponding to a pre-existing major crustal boundary are also observed. The change from thicker to thinner lithosphere is interpreted to localise prospective basins for zinc–lead and copper–cobalt mineralisation, and to control the gradient in lead isotope and other geophysical data.


<b>Citation:</b> Huston, D.L., Champion, D.C., Czarnota, K., Hutchens, M., Hoggard, M., Ware, B., Richards, F., Tessalina, S., Gibson, G.M. and Carr, G., 2020. Lithospheric-scale controls on zinc–lead–silver deposits of the North Australian Zinc Belt: evidence from isotopic and geophysical data. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.

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Identification info

Date (Creation)
2020-02-07T10:00:00
Date (Publication)
2020-06-19T06:37:09
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/134276

Citation identifier
Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/134276

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Huston, D.L.
Author

Champion, D.C.
Author

Czarnota, K.
Author

Hutchens, M.
Author

Hoggard, M.J.
Author

Ware, B.
Author

Richards, F.
Author

Gibson, G.M.
Author

Carr, G.
Author

Tessalina, S.
Issue identification

EFTF abstracts

Purpose

EFTF abstract

Status
Completed
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
Point of contact

Huston, D.L.
Resource provider

Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division
Spatial representation type

Spatial resolution

Level of detail

Very

Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

Extent

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
As needed

Resource format

Title

Product data repository: Various Formats

Website

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

theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf

  • EARTH SCIENCES

Project

  • EFTF

Project

  • Exploring for the Future

Keywords

  • Mineral Systems

Theme

  • lead isotopes

Keywords

  • gravity

Keywords

  • surface wave tomography

Keywords

  • reflection seismic

Keywords

  • lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary

Process

  • sediment-hosted zinc deposits

Place

  • North Australian Zinc Belt

Place

  • Northern Cordillera

Keywords

  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

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

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

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
OnLine resource

Extended Abstract for download (pdf) [3.1MB]

Extended Abstract for download (pdf) [3.1MB]

Distribution format

  • pdf

Resource lineage

Statement

The North Australian Zinc Belt is the largest zinc–lead province in the world. Zinc exploration not been particularly successful over the last two decades, with very few major discoveries. One of the most important aspects of exploration is to choose regions or provinces that have greatest potential for discovery. Here, we present results from zinc belts in northern Australia and North America, which highlight previously unused datasets for area selection at the craton to district scale. Lead isotope mapping has identified gradients that coincide closely with many major deposits. Locations of these deposits also coincide with a gradient in the depth of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary and gradients in upward-continued gravity anomalies. These datasets reflect changes from thicker to thinner lithosphere that localise prospective basins for zinc–lead and copper–cobalt mineralisation.

Reference System Information

Reference system identifier
EPSG/GDA94 / Geoscience Australia Lambert (EPSG:3112)

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security Classification System

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

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

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/1d7422a3-dcb2-4592-ae61-c6602b4e7a9a

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
Point of contact

Huston, D.L.

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

GA publication: Extended Abstract

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/134276

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/5167d912-6784-4371-9938-3931e84ca6f1

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/1d7422a3-dcb2-4592-ae61-c6602b4e7a9a

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au:80/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/1d7422a3-dcb2-4592-ae61-c6602b4e7a9a

Date info (Creation)
2019-04-08T01:55:29
Date info (Revision)
2019-04-08T01:55:29

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

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

EFTF Exploring for the Future Mineral Systems gravity lead isotopes lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary reflection seismic sediment-hosted zinc deposits surface wave tomography
theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
EARTH SCIENCES

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