scholarly journals Interface Sampling and Indicator Minerals for Detecting the Footprint of the Lancefield North Gold Deposit under the Permian Glacial Cover in Western Australia

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1131
Author(s):  
Walid Salama ◽  
Michael Verrall ◽  
Kirsty Culver ◽  
Ravi Anand
Keyword(s):  
Water Table ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Drill Hole ◽  
Dispersal Distance ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Reducing Conditions ◽  
Glacial Cover ◽  
Indicator Minerals

Areas under a thick Permian glacial cover in Western Australia formed as glaciers gouged fresh bedrock and deposited diamictites in disconnected valleys and basins. These areas now present the greatest challenge for mineral exploration in the northeast Yilgarn Craton. At the Lancefield North gold prospect, in the southern part of the Duketon Greenstone Belt, Permian diamictites on average 40 m thick cover unweathered basalt hosting gold mineralization. The basal Permian diamictites consist of fresh, very poorly sorted, angular to rounded, pebble- to boulder-sized, polymictic clasts supported by a matrix of coarse-grained sand and mud. The framework and matrix are cemented by calcite, dolomite, chlorite, and pyrite. These diamictites are stable under alkaline and reducing conditions below the water table. Detrital; fresh sulfides; gold; and opaque oxides, such as pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, arsenopyrite, gersdorffite, cobaltite, pentlandite, scheelite and galena, chromite, ilmenite, and magnetite, are identified in the framework and matrix of the fresh diamictites, and these are identical to those in the primary gold mineralization. Weathering of diamictites and oxidation of detrital and diagenetic sulfides above the water table produced several Fe- and Mn-rich redox fronts and secondary chalcocite and bornite. Interface sampling across the Archean–Permian unconformity shows Au, As, Zn, Ni, Co, and Cd anomalism over the mineralization compared to the background. However, these elements are low in concentration in the redox fronts, where Fe is correlated with As, Cu, Mo, and Sb and Mn is correlated with Co, Ni, and Ba. Gold shows elevated levels in the fresh basal diamictites and decreases in the weathered diamictites over the mineralization. A sampling at or near the Archean–Permian unconformity (interface sampling) only delineates gold mineralization, with no hydromorphic dispersion halo beyond the peripheries. At the Lancefield North prospect, the detrital indicator sulfides are mechanically dispersed up to 500 m to the east of the mineralization in the direction of ice flow. This dispersal distance is controlled by the rough topography of the Archean–Permian unconformity, and it may be greater, but the estimation of the actual distance of transport is limited by the distribution of drill hole locations.

scholarly journals <i>dh2loop</i> 1.0: an open-source Python library for automated processing and classification of geological logs

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 6711-6740
Author(s):  
Ranee Joshi ◽  
Kavitha Madaiah ◽  
Mark Jessell ◽  
Mark Lindsay ◽  
Guillaume Pirot
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
String Matching ◽  
Drill Hole ◽  
Geological Survey ◽  
Database Structure ◽  
Automated Processing ◽  
Study Case ◽  
Textual Form

Abstract. A huge amount of legacy drilling data is available in geological survey but cannot be used directly as they are compiled and recorded in an unstructured textual form and using different formats depending on the database structure, company, logging geologist, investigation method, investigated materials and/or drilling campaign. They are subjective and plagued by uncertainty as they are likely to have been conducted by tens to hundreds of geologists, all of whom would have their own personal biases. dh2loop (https://github.com/Loop3D/dh2loop, last access: 30 September 2021​​​​​​​) is an open-source Python library for extracting and standardizing geologic drill hole data and exporting them into readily importable interval tables (collar, survey, lithology). In this contribution, we extract, process and classify lithological logs from the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) Mineral Exploration Reports (WAMEX) database in the Yalgoo–Singleton greenstone belt (YSGB) region. The contribution also addresses the subjective nature and variability of the nomenclature of lithological descriptions within and across different drilling campaigns by using thesauri and fuzzy string matching. For this study case, 86 % of the extracted lithology data is successfully matched to lithologies in the thesauri. Since this process can be tedious, we attempted to test the string matching with the comments, which resulted in a matching rate of 16 % (7870 successfully matched records out of 47 823 records). The standardized lithological data are then classified into multi-level groupings that can be used to systematically upscale and downscale drill hole data inputs for multiscale 3D geological modelling. dh2loop formats legacy data bridging the gap between utilization and maximization of legacy drill hole data and drill hole analysis functionalities available in existing Python libraries (lasio, welly, striplog).

U-Pb and Sm-Nd Evidence for Episodic Orogenic Gold Mineralization in the Kalgoorlie Gold Camp, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan A. McDivitt ◽  
Steffen G. Hagemann ◽  
Anthony I.S. Kemp ◽  
Nicolas Thébaud ◽  
Christopher M. Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Late Stage ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Orogenic Gold ◽  
Yilgarn Craton ◽  
Gold Telluride ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Metamorphic Fluids

Abstract Different genetic and timing models for gold mineralization in the Kalgoorlie gold camp (Yilgarn craton, Western Australia) suggest either broadly synchronous, late-stage mineralization related to metamorphic fluids at ca. 2640 Ma or a punctuated mineralization history from ca. 2675 to 2640 Ma with the involvement of early magmatic-hydrothermal systems (represented by the Fimiston, Hidden Secret, and Oroya gold-telluride lodes) and late metamorphic fluids (represented by the Mt. Charlotte gold stockwork veins). The results of U-Pb and Sm-Nd geochronological studies of zircon, apatite, and titanite from pre-ore dikes and syn-ore dikes constrain the absolute timing of mineralization and provide new evidence to this timing controversy. Emplacement ages constrained by U-Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon data are interpreted to be similar for both the pre-ore dikes (n = 10) and syn-ore dikes (n = 7) at ca. 2675 Ma. An inferred emplacement age of ca. 2675 Ma for the syn-ore dikes is supported by a Sm-Nd isochron age from apatite (laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry; LA-ICP-MS) of 2678 ± 15 Ma and by a U-Pb titanite age (LA-ICP-MS) of 2679 ± 6 Ma. The results of chemical abrasion-isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-Pb zircon analysis from the pre- and syn-ore dikes are complicated by multistage Pb loss, reverse discordance, and potential inheritance. However, the data are compatible with the emplacement of Fimiston/Hidden Secret gold mineralization at ca. 2675 Ma and suggest a younger age for Oroya mineralization at ca. 2665 Ma. These results contrast with models for orogenic gold deposits that invoke broadly synchronous, late-stage mineralization related to metamorphic fluids at ca. 2640 Ma. The bulk of the Kalgoorlie gold camp’s estimated 2,300 t Au endowment was emplaced at ca. 2675 Ma as Fimiston/Hidden Secret Au mineralization. This early Au mineralization was deformed and overprinted twice by subordinate Au mineralization at ca. 2665 (Oroya mineralization) and ca. 2640 Ma (Mt. Charlotte mineralization). Gold mineralization in the Kalgoorlie gold camp was protracted in nature from ca. 2675 to 2640 Ma and reflects the interplay of early magmatic (Fimiston, Hidden Secret, Oroya) and late metamorphic (Mt. Charlotte) hydrothermal fluid systems in the formation of hybrid intrusion-related and metamorphic orebodies.

Chapter 12: Geologic Setting and Gold Mineralization of the Kalgoorlie Gold Camp, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

2020 ◽  
pp. 251-274
Author(s):  
Jordan A. McDivitt ◽  
Steffen G. Hagemann ◽  
Matthew S. Baggott ◽  
Stuart Perazzo
Keyword(s):  
Lava Flow ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Yilgarn Craton ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Geologic Setting ◽  
Multiple Deformation ◽  
Geochronological Constraints ◽  
Golden Mile

Abstract The Kalgoorlie gold camp in the Yilgarn craton of Western Australia comprises the supergiant Golden Mile and the smaller Mt. Charlotte, Mt. Percy, and Hidden Secret deposits. Since the camp’s discovery in 1893, ~1,950 metric tons (t) of Au have been produced from a total estimated endowment of ~2,300 t. The camp is located within Neoarchean rocks of the Kalgoorlie terrane, within the Eastern Goldfields superterrane of the eastern Yilgarn craton. Gold mineralization is distributed along an 8- × 2-km, NNW-trending corridor, which corresponds to the Boulder Lefroy-Golden Mile fault system. The host stratigraphic sequence, dated at ca. 2710 to 2660 Ma, comprises lower ultramafic and mafic lava flow rocks, and upper felsic to intermediate volcaniclastic, epiclastic, and lava flow rocks intruded by highly differentiated dolerite sills such as the ca. 2685 Ma Golden Mile Dolerite. Multiple sets of NNW-trending, steeply dipping porphyry dikes intruded this sequence from ca. 2675 to 2640 Ma. From ca. 2685 to 2640 Ma, rocks of the Kalgoorlie gold camp were subjected to multiple deformation increments and metamorphism. Early D1 deformation from ca. 2685 to 2675 Ma generated the Golden Mile fault and F1 folds. Prolonged sinistral transpression from ca. 2675 to 2655 Ma produced overprinting, NNW-trending sets of D2-D3 folds and faults. The last deformation stage (D4; &lt; ca. 2650 Ma) is recorded by N- to NNE-trending, dextral faults which offset earlier structures. The main mineralization type in the Golden Mile comprises Fimiston lodes: steeply dipping, WNW- to NNW-striking, gold- and telluride-bearing carbonate-quartz veins with banded, colloform, and crustiform textures surrounded by sericite-carbonate-quartz-pyrite-telluride alteration zones. These lodes were emplaced during the earlier stages of regional sinistral transpression (D2) as Riedel shear-type structures. During a later stage of regional sinistral transpression (D3), exceptionally high grade Oroya-type mineralization developed as shallowly plunging ore shoots with “Green Leader” quartz-sericite-carbonate-pyrite-telluride alteration typified by vanadium-bearing muscovite. In the Hidden Secret orebody, ~3 km north-northwest of the Golden Mile, lode mineralization is a silver-rich variety characterized by increased abundance of hessite and petzite and decreased abundance of calaverite. At the adjacent Mt. Charlotte deposit, the gold-, silver-, and telluride-bearing lodes become subordinate to the Mt. Charlotte-type stockwork veins. The stockwork veins occur as planar, 2- to 50-cm thick, auriferous quartz-carbonate-sulfide veins that define steeply NW- to SE-dipping and shallowly N-dipping sets broadly coeval with D4 deformation. Despite extensive research, there is no consensus on critical features of ore formation in the camp. Models suggest either (1) distinct periods of mineralization over a protracted, ca. 2.68 to 2.64 Ga orogenic history; or (2) broadly synchronous formation of the different types of mineralization at ca. 2.64 Ga. The nature of fluids, metal sources, and mineralizing processes remain debated, with both metamorphic and magmatic models proposed. There is strong evidence for multiple gold mineralization events over the course of the ca. 2.68 to 2.64 orogenic window, differing in genesis and contributions from either magmatic or metamorphic ore-forming processes. However, reconciling these models with field relationships and available geochemical and geochronological constraints remains difficult and is the subject of ongoing research.

Alteration patterns linked to high-grade gold mineralization at the Wattle Dam deposit, Western Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 103471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam B. Bath ◽  
John L. Walshe ◽  
Jonathan Cloutier ◽  
Jackie Rotherham ◽  
Rob Hutchison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
High Grade

Low‐cost geophysical investigations of a paleochannel aquifer in the Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia

Geophysics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 690-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Holzschuh
Keyword(s):  
Water Table ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Wave Reflection ◽  
Gravity Data ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Gravity Modeling ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Sand And Gravel ◽  
Gravel Aquifer

Compressional (P) wave and shear (S) wave seismic reflection techniques were used to delineate the sand and gravel aquifer within a highly saline clay‐filled paleochannel in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. The seismic refraction and gravity methods were also used to investigate the paleochannel. The unsaturated loose fine‐grained sand up to 10 m in depth at the surface is a major factor in degrading subsurface imaging. The seismic processing needed to be precise, with accurate static corrections and normal moveout corrections. Deconvolution enhanced the aquifer and other paleochannel reflectors. P‐wave reflection and refraction layer depths had good correlation and showed a total of six boundaries: (1) water table, (2) change in velocity (compaction) in the paleochannel sediments, (3) sand and gravel aquifer, (4) red‐brown saprolite and green saprolite boundary, (5) weathered bedrock, and (6) unweathered bedrock. P‐wave explosive and hammer sources were found to have similar signal characteristics, and the aquifer and bedrock were both imaged using the hammer source. The deep shots below the water table have the most broadband frequency response for reflections, but stacking clear reflections was difficult. The S‐wave reflection results showed high lateral and vertical resolution of the basal saprolite clay, the sand and gravel aquifer, and very shallow clays above the aquifer. The S‐wave reflection stacking velocities were 10–20% of the P‐waves, increasing the resolution of the S‐wave section. The gravity data were modelled to fit the known drilling and P‐wave seismic reflection depths. The refraction results did not identify the top of bedrock, so refraction depths were not used for the gravity modeling in this highly weathered environment. The final gravity model mapped the bedrock topography beyond the lateral extent of the seismic and drilling data.

Zircons, Dikes, and Gold Mineralization at Jundee-Nimary: Post ca. 2.66 Ga Archean Lode Gold in the Yandal Belt, Western Australia

2005 ◽  
Vol 100 (7) ◽  
pp. 1389-1405 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. Baggott ◽  
N. M. Vielreicher ◽  
D. I. Groves ◽  
N. J. McNaughton ◽  
M. Gebre-Mariam
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Lode Gold
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