Product catalogue
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.
Simple
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
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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
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EFTF abstracts
- Purpose
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EFTF abstract
- Status
- Completed
- Point of contact
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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
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Very
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
Resource format
- Title
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Website
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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
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EARTH SCIENCES
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- Project
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EFTF
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- Project
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Exploring for the Future
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- Keywords
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Mineral Systems
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- Theme
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lead isotopes
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- Keywords
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gravity
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- Keywords
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surface wave tomography
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- Keywords
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reflection seismic
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- Keywords
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lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary
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- Process
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sediment-hosted zinc deposits
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- Place
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North Australian Zinc Belt
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- Place
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Northern Cordillera
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- Keywords
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
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CC-BY
- Edition
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4.0
- Access constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- License
Resource constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- OnLine resource
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Extended Abstract for download (pdf) [3.1MB]
Extended Abstract for download (pdf) [3.1MB]
- Distribution format
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pdf
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Resource lineage
- Statement
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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
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
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urn:uuid/1d7422a3-dcb2-4592-ae61-c6602b4e7a9a
- Title
-
GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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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
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GA publication: Extended Abstract
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/134276
- Date info (Creation)
- 2019-04-08T01:55:29
- Date info (Revision)
- 2019-04-08T01:55:29
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551