Mapping crustal structures through scale reduction magnetotelluric survey in the East Tennant region, northern Australia
The footprint of a mineral system is potentially detectable at a variety of scales, from ore deposits to the Earth’s crust and lithosphere. To map these systems, Geoscience Australia has undertaken a series of integrated studies to identify key regions of mineral potential using new data from the Exploring for the Future program, together with legacy datasets. The conductivity anomaly mapped from long-period magnetotellurics (AusLAMP) data with a half-degree resolution has highlighted a structural corridor to the east of Tennant Creek, representing a potential source region for iron oxide copper–gold mineral systems. To refine the geometry of this anomaly, we used a higher-resolution magnetotellurics survey to investigate if the deep conductivity anomaly is linked to the near surface by crustal-scale fluid pathways. The 3D conductivity model revealed two prominent conductors in the resistive host, whose combined responses result in the lithospheric-scale conductivity anomaly mapped in the AusLAMP model. The resistivity contrasts coincide with major structures preliminarily interpreted from seismic reflection and potential field data. Most importantly, the conductive structures extend from the lower crust to the near surface. This observation strongly suggests that the major faults in this region are deep-penetrating structures that potentially acted as pathways for transporting metalliferous fluids to the upper crust where they could form mineral deposits. This result indicates high mineral prospectivity for iron oxide copper–gold deposits in the vicinity of these major faults. This study demonstrates that integration of geophysical data from multiscale surveys is an effective approach to scale reduction during mineral exploration in covered terranes with limited geological knowledge.
<b>Citation:</b> Jiang, W., Duan, J., Schofield, A. and Clark, A., 2020. Mapping crustal structures through scale reduction magnetotelluric survey in the East Tennant region, northern Australia. 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)
- 2020-06-22
- Date (Publication)
- 2020-06-22T07:31:16
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/133730
- Citation identifier
- Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/133730
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation Electronic mail address Author Author Author Author
- Purpose
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EFTF Extended Abstract
- Status
- Under development
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation Electronic mail address Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
clientservices@ga.gov clientservices@ga.gov.au
Point of contact Resource provider
- Spatial representation type
- Topic category
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- Geoscientific information
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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Exploring For The Future
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- Keywords
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EFTF
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- Discipline
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Magnetotellurics
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- Place
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East Tennant
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- Keywords
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Crust
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- Process
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mineralisation
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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
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4.0
- Access constraints
- License
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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 Electronic mail address Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
sales@ga.gov sales@ga.gov.au
- OnLine resource
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Extended Abstract for download (pdf) [2.9MB]
Extended Abstract for download (pdf) [2.9MB]
- Distribution format
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pdf
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Resource lineage
- Statement
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With the overarching aim of discovering new frontiers for mineral exploration in covered terranes, Geoscience Australia (GA) has undertaken integrated studies to identify key regions of interest using new data from Exploring for the Future (EFTF) and legacy data.
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/e350d78b-1b60-42d1-a94c-e36970cd3306
- Title
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GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation Electronic mail address Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
clientservices@ga.gov clientservices@ga.gov.au
Point of contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Document
- Name
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GA Document: Extedned Abstract
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/133730
- Date info (Creation)
- 2020-01-27T23:40:36
- Date info (Revision)
- 2020-01-27T23:40:36
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/133730