Скачать или смотреть GSWA Open Day 2025 | Mapping heavy minerals in the Kiwirrkurra region

Mapping heavy minerals in the Kiwirrkurra region

Presented by Erin Gray, Senior Geologist

The Kiwirrkurra region (formerly the West Arunta) is considered highly prospective for mineral deposits based on the mineral systems framework,
featuring a cratonic margin setting that has been reactivated
over geological time, regional metamorphism and evidence
of alteration and fluid mobilisation.

Proterozoic geology
mainly considered prospective for mineral deposits is buried
under multiple generations of cover (sedimentary sequences
associated with the Murraba, Amadeus and Canning Basins,
as well as Cenozoic regolith). To characterise the heavy
minerals in this region, we analysed soils from Kiwirrkurra
in collaboration with the John de Laeter Centre.

While the sedimentary material at the surface is no longer in
situ and has mostly lost the direct spatial relationship with its
parent rock, indicator minerals identified in these soils provide
clues about the kinds of mineral systems that have operated
across the Kiwirrkurra landscape over time. Indicator minerals
discovered largely fall into two groups, those associated with
base metals (Zn, Ni, Cu), and those associated with pegmatites
(Sn, Ta, Nb). Pegmatite-hosted mineralisation has previously
been unrecognised in the Kiwirrkurra region and may provide an
interesting new avenue for exploration.

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