Originally posted by tinhat
"Regional Map". That's half a continent! I don't understand a lot of the info you have provided but it led me to google what a craton is. So basically, that "regional" map is suggesting that major Cu deposits in the western half of the continent lie within the two belts that run between the continental cratons.
At last year's CZI AGM I had a chat with Jon Hronsky who was involved in WMC's original Nebo-Babel discovery through a geological examination of such maps. That work is summarised in a PDF that is too large to post
but hopefully this link works.
Three major deposits were probably discovered as a result of this work:
- Nebo-Babel and the West Musgrave Province (2-4 Mt of contained Ni Cu + Co and counting)
- Tropicana Au (7-10 Moz Au from memory)
- Karlawinda Au (currently held by CMM) (1-2Moz of lowish grade Au but IMO much more possible)
Of special interest to me was #3 which WMC targeted as a
Nickel deposit but actually came up with the Francopan
gold Prospect under some 200m of cover!
JH's response was that it is the deep seated and long lasting nature of these major crustal features that allow potentially large mineral deposit to form. The nature of mineralisation is not predictable (Ni/Au/Cu etc) but the huge economic potential tends to make exploration worthwhile.
Many proposals like this probably cost companies money without success so one has to wonder what would have happened without the discoveries? They were made and theory, persistence paid off. Finding Gold instead of Nickel is one corollary of such theories.
Anecdotally Olympic Dam was not the target type WMC were pursuing but no one says No to what turned out to be 8 Bt or so of IOCG ore when looking for a ?Central African Copper Belt target. The large systems produce SOME large deposits.
WA is more than Regional -Apologies.
Greatland's map shows the Paterson and Albany-Fraser Orogens which correlate to WMC's similar but different 1995+ work.
That Cu/Au occur in the Paterson Province does not preclude other economic minerals along the belt.
My original post was to point out that parts of the Paterson Orogen appear to have been re-activated over a long period of time.
Cu/Au in the Telfer area is some 6-700 Million years old. Ni/Cu in the West Musgrave Province is some 4-500 million years older - 1100Ma?
What lies between Telfer and WMP is maybe a 1000 Kms of ground where the Paterson Orogen dives under desert cover most of which is too deep for current economic interest.
In broad terms this is how exploration is carried out. Global/Regional concepts that can be tested at the local level. Statistics show finding a deposit that will be made into a mine are not great. The few that make it through though.....Nebo Babel? is IMO getting into the home stretch after a long haul - fairly typical.
Troppo has been going for ?5 years - discovery 2005.
Just the latter has paid for all the exploration and then some. WMP?
GLTAH
