Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum Geological Survey of Western Australia MINERAL SYSTEMS STUDIES IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA Trevor Beardsmore Manager, Minerals Geoscience, GSWA 3 July 2013

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum GSWA MISSION Understand and promote the resource prospectivity of the State Open up new geographic & commodity-oriented search spaces Provide fundamental new geoscience data AND knowledge (of the right type) Historical role for GSWA, but much accelerated with $138M EIS funding for All GSWA “science” is directed towards mineral systems – understanding them and helping find them Not our job to actually find mineral deposits.

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum OUTLINE Brief snapshot of GSWA’s contribution to understanding mineral systems Historical work Current programs Future focus Evolutionary, rather than revolutionary change in activities

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum HISTORICAL WORK Regional Geoscience Regional geological series mapping (various scales), regional geochemical, geophysical, geochronological data Understand 3D-4D terrane evolution (i.e. mineral deposit context) Limitations – 2.5D, patchy (by priority, resource allocation)

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum HISTORICAL WORK Mineral System studies Deposit-scale focus, comprising: Brief endowment synopses in Explanatory Notes

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum HISTORICAL WORK Mineral System studies Deposit-scale focus, comprising: Brief endowment synopses in Explanatory Notes Mineral Resource Bulletins (25)

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum HISTORICAL WORK Mineral System studies Deposit-scale focus, comprising: Brief endowment synopses in Explanatory Notes Mineral Resource Bulletins (25) Regional prospectivity (endowment) analyses (>40 Reports and Records)

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum HISTORICAL WORK Mineral System studies Deposit-scale focus, comprising: Brief endowment synopses in Explanatory Notes Mineral Resource Bulletins (25) Regional prospectivity (endowment) analyses (>40 Reports and Records) Metallogenic studies (few) MINEDEX database

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum HISTORICAL WORK Mineral System studies Showcase known endowment as a crude measure of prospectivity. Advantages: One-stop summaries of known mineralization Deposit type/style permissivity indicators Disadvantages: Commodity reviews are selective Limited geographical coverage Limited geological data Resource-hungry, episodic compilations Information is dated (commonly before release) Non-digital Little systematic work to understand mineral systems

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum PRESENT PROGRAMS Regional Geoscience Huge data acquisition exercise over 8 years (EIS-assisted) Geophysics Complete statewide magnetics-radiometrics WA (National) ASTER map Ground gravity (30% of WA at 2.5km station spacing) Targetted seismic, MT and AEM surveys (selected crustal blocks and terrane boundaries) Geology On-going 100K mapping; some 250K recompilation Targeted geochronology, geochemistry, regolith studies Regional tectonostratigraphic syntheses (e.g. Yilgarn) Co-funded drilling Focus on poorly understood basement terranes

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum PRESENT PROGRAMS Mineral System studies Creation of GSWA Mineral Systems group “Deposit-scale” studies VMS, Fe, REE, Au (geographically restricted) Deposit characteristics and metallogenesis; terrane fertility Develop exploration criteria and/or targetting/detection tools Mix of staff and “embedded” researchers Terrane-scale studies (several approaches) Mineral Systems Analysis (CET/UWA – W Arunta, Musgrave, Gascoyne, East Capricorn, West Kimberley) – e.g. Report 113 Weights-of-evidence analysis (Witt – Eastern Goldfields) Multi-scale study “Grain-to-terrane” scale studies of hydrothermal systems (Arc Linkage)

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum PRESENT PROGRAMS Much work is collaborative Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluids UWA/Curtin/Macquarie Deep Exploration Technologies CRC (until 2018) ARC Linkage projects CET (Multiscale dynamics; Southern Cross) Curtin (Phosphate dating Capricorn) Adelaide (Musgrave metamorphism) Monash (Musgrave layered intrusions) Monash (East Yilgarn volcanics)

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum PRESENT PROGRAMS Much work is collaborative CSIRO-embedded researchers Yilgarn VHMS fertility (GSWA) Albany–Fraser/Eucla margin (GSWA, multi-company) Eastern Goldfields gold deposits (GSWA, Gold Fields-St Ives+) CET-embedded researcher Yilgarn and Pilbara magnetitic BIF iron ore Other projects REE (GSWA, industry) Supported by local, world-class analytical facilities (e.g. HyLogger, John de Laeter Centre etc.)

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum INTO THE FUTURE Move to “Geosystems” studies Distal Footprints of Giant Ore Systems Capricorn Orogen - cover map, AEM, structure, metamorphism, 4D evolution Collaboration with CSIRO, Curtin Uni Applied Geology, UWA-CET, Industry Science and Industry Endowment Fund Minerals Systems Atlas Targeting criteria for different commodities WAIn_3D Collaboration with UWA-CET (Prof Mark Jessell Whole of Yilgarn crust + lithosphere 3D model

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum INTO THE FUTURE Continue collecting pre-competitive data …but the “right” kind: e.g. Mineral System geochronology Resistate alteration mineral geochemistry Petrochemical and petrophysical data Emphasise less-explored and/or buried terranes (e.g. Gascoyne-East Capricorn (SEIF), sub-Eucla Basin)

Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum SUMMARY GSWA’s job is to promote WA mineral prospectivity Reduce technical risk for explorers Do this with: Business as “usual” Value-adding with Mineral Systems knowledge Collaborative exercise with all other geoscience sectors (Government, Academia, Industry)