Central Eastern Fold Belt, North West Queensland Solid Geology Interpretation and Insights from Crustal Architecture

URL: https://geoscience.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/cr123565

An updated solid geology interpretation has been produced for a >7100 square kilometre area covering the central part of the Eastern Fold Belt (EFB) southeast of Cloncurry, Queensland. This work builds on a series of industry-supported, solid geology interpretation projects completed by the WH Bryan Mining & Geology Research Centre (BRC) as well as Geological Survey of Queensland products. The BRC projects have been focused on enhancing base metal prospectivity in the Eastern Fold Belt and have been pragmatically-oriented, specifically focused within practically-explorable depths in both outcropping and covered areas. BRC’s 2D and 3D interpretations in the Cloncurry-Osborne region (Deep Mining Queensland (DMQ); Murphy et al., 2017), around and south of Cannington (Southern Eastern Fold Belt (SEFB); Hinman et al., 2018), and around Ernest Henry (Ernest Henry; Valenta, 2018) have advanced the tectono-magmatic-stratigraphic understanding and significantly enhanced mineral prospectivity. These projects were carried out with the generous financial support of the DNRME under the umbrella of the IPI and SREP New Discovery Program initiatives.

The giant Ernest Henry and Cannington base metal deposits lie north and south, respectively, of the Area of Interest which includes the Eloise Cu-Au-Ag and Maronan Pb-Ag (and Cu-Au) mines, and is considered to be highly prospective for both Broken Hill Type Ag-Pb-Zn massive sulphide and IOCG-style Cu-Au deposits. Several significant deposits in this region, including Osborne, Eloise, Ernest Henry and Cannington, were discovered under shallow cover in the 1980’s and 1990’s based on the increased availability of widespread airborne magnetic datasets during that period. Much of the prospective area in this region is under deeper cover (200-400m or greater) and current exploration must focus on improved interpretation of geology, structure, alteration and mineralisation in areas of deeper cover using all the available data, new technology, and practical application of a mineral systems approach.