Gold Industry Group members Northern Star Resources Limited, Gold Road Resources, Ramelius Resources, Evolution Mining and Saracen Mineral Holdings have joined groundbreaking research in translating science to mineral exploration, supporting the role of Australia's resources in sustainable global development.
CSIRO researchers John Walshe and Adam Bath logging and sampling historical diamond drill core from the Mount Magnet core farm.
CSIRO researchers Katie Woodall, John Walshe, Adam Bath and Tina Shelton.
Geological map of part of the Kundana gold camp.
Research by Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, has produced a new understanding of mineralisation in the Yilgarn Province of Western Australia, supported by the Western Australian Government through the Minerals Research Institute of WA (MRIWA).
This news follows the agency’s previous development of new technology for an environmentally superior gold recovery process.
CSIRO researchers found the formation of ancient gold deposits during the Archean period over 2,500 million years ago also produced distinctive patterns of chemical alteration in the surrounding rocks.
Looking for these distinctive patterns will make it faster and more efficient for exploration companies to identify potential new deposits.
This could greatly assist gold exploration in the Eastern Yilgarn region, which, despite sharing its Archean geology with the richly-endowed Eastern Goldfields, has produced fewer gold discoveries to date than expected.
WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum the Hon. Bill Johnston agreed the discovery of these chemicals would improve gold exploration in the area.
"This research will help reduce the risk in targeting ore bodies buried beneath the surface, that conventional exploration has failed to identify, and will encourage investment in under-explored areas in our State,” Mr Johnston said.
"By investing in MRIWA research, the McGowan Government is supporting the mineral exploration industry with the tools and insights needed to find the next generation of gold deposits," he concluded.
Conventional exploration is focused on finding the gold deposit and relies on geological and geophysical mapping, coupled with whole-rock geochemistry, to identify potentially suitable host rocks and structures that might host the deposit.
This method of research instead studied the chemical system that deposited the gold.
"The new approaches developed from the project have challenged conventional wisdom, established new models for the genesis of mineral systems and provided insights into how we might navigate them," said Northern Star Resources General Manager Exploration James Rogers.
"Northern Star sponsored the project to help fast track and ultimately benefit from the development of new mineral exploration tools and technologies,” Mr Rogers continued.
"Discovery of the next generation of gold mines requires developing better ways to target and map the gold mineralising systems," said Gold Road Resources Chief Geologist Kevin Cassidy.
"Gold Road Resources is utilising the innovative technologies and knowledge advances developed from the ground-breaking project to identify new areas with gold potential and refine an understanding of known gold systems, effectively improving the way we go about our exploration," Mr Cassidy continued.
"This research project is a great example of CSIRO's close collaboration with the Western Australian Government and MRIWA, to support a productive, sustainable and globally competitive mineral resources industry for the benefit of Australia," said Dr Rob Hough, CSIRO Director of Mineral Resources.
For more information, the technical report that summarises the findings of this research can be found online at Mapping the Chemical Architecture of Gold Camps.