Geochemistry of ore metals at very high temperatures. The world’s largest copper and gold mines occur in extinct volcanoes around the Pacific Rim. Understanding how these essential metals are mobilised from magmas in the roots of volcanoes to become ore deposits and how to recognize where this has occurred is crucial in exploration for new deposits.
Source to spectrum: Finding deposits beyond the Fe oxide-Cu-Au envelope. Source to spectrum: Finding deposits beyond the Fe oxide-Cu-Au envelope. This project aims to improve exploration models for the spectrum of deposits at Olympic Dam. The giant Olympic Dam iron–oxide–copper–gold (IOCG) deposit in the Gawler Craton, discovered 40 years ago, has contributed billions of dollars to the economy. A fluid flow event in the Olympic Dam created a vast, crustal-scale alteration system with a spectrum ....Source to spectrum: Finding deposits beyond the Fe oxide-Cu-Au envelope. Source to spectrum: Finding deposits beyond the Fe oxide-Cu-Au envelope. This project aims to improve exploration models for the spectrum of deposits at Olympic Dam. The giant Olympic Dam iron–oxide–copper–gold (IOCG) deposit in the Gawler Craton, discovered 40 years ago, has contributed billions of dollars to the economy. A fluid flow event in the Olympic Dam created a vast, crustal-scale alteration system with a spectrum of different mineral deposits, many of which are under-explored. This project aims to constrain the source of metal and fluids in the Gawler Craton deposits, determine crustal fertility for deposit formation and develop metal specific 'prospectivity maps' to improve exploration efficiency.Read moreRead less
Four dimensional lithospheric evolution and controls on mineral system distribution in Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic terranes. This project will resolve important questions about the links between the evolution and preservation of continents and important mineral deposits in Australia and West Africa between 2.7 and 1.8 billion years ago. The results will improve the understanding of a key period of Earth history and make a major contribution to mineral exploration.