Wed 7th December 2022 @ 12:00 nn, 312.222 and online via Webex (meeting #: 2654 563 1797 and password: 6VwJRMFiM95)

Abstract:

Mineral exploration is challenging in much of Australia with mineral resource potential frequently concealed beneath regolith. Heavy minerals, such as zircon, spinels, and cassiterite, are widely used by mineral explorers and can provide information on geochemistry, alteration and mineralisation through cover.

The joint Geoscience Australia-Curtin University Heavy Mineral Map of Australia (HMMA) is an ambitious, first of its kind project that aims to define the heavy mineral baseline across Australia. The heart of the HMMA project is a sample suite comprising more than 1,300 catchment outlet sediments collected from most of Australia’s drainage catchments as part of the National Geochemical Survey of Australia. The mineralogy of these sediments reflects the geology of the hinterlands from which they are derived, and concentrations of certain heavy minerals can potentially indicate the presence of economically important critical minerals on a regional scale. Partial heavy mineral datasets covering areas of economic interest have been released through 2022, with the HMMA due to be completed in 2023.

When finished, we envisage the Heavy Mineral Map of Australia will contribute significantly to mineral prospectivity analysis and modelling as a pre-competitive dataset available to both mineral explorers and researchers alike.

Short bio:

Alex is a researcher and mineralogist at the John de Laeter Centre in Curtin University, where he spends much of his time generating and exploring large mineralogical datasets. He completed a PhD in Applied Geology at Curtin University in 2019, which characterised sulphur isotope and sulphide trace element signatures in the Fraser Zone of the Albany-Fraser Orogen. Alex’s research interests center on applied, economic and exploration geology, with a current focus on world-class mineralisation in Western Australia.