Mar 11 2004
CSIRO has announced a new research and development push targeting a giant copper-zinc ore body in the Yilgarn Craton, a 500,000 square kilometres patch of desert encircling Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Initial predictions of a 100 million tonne copper-zinc deposit are being touted. CSIRO Exploration and Mining is forming a team of crack scientists that brings together a new range of disciplines and technologies, to provide the answer.
2700 million years ago enormous volcanic forces were creating the rocks that host one of the world's great base metal mines, at Kidd Creek in Northern Ontario, Canada. At the same time, give or take a few million years, the Yilgarn Craton was also being formed in Western Australia.
Today, Kidd Creek is as cold as the Yilgarn is hot, but the geological similarities are striking. During the 1970's there was considerable base metal exploration in Western Australia. Many subsequently concluded that the area would not contain deposits similar to those in Canada. However some more recent discoveries, notably the small but rich Teutonic bore deposit near Leonora, the much larger Golden Grove deposit near Yalgoo, and the Jaguar deposit in the southern Yandal province suggest it is time to review these conclusions and apply some new thinking.
"Base metal deposits have been deeply weathered and may lie at depth, below previous exploration levels," said Professor Neil Phillips, Chief of CSIRO Exploration and Mining.
"Given our understanding of how ore bodies form through studying seafloor volcanic activity, and our work on understanding weathering processes, we believe we can improve targeting to the extent that it will make exploration for base metals in the Yilgarn a sound investment."
The new team will be based at the Australian Resources Research Centre (ARRC) in Perth.
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