Presented by Dr Mark Pearce. This seminar highlights the findings of one of the recent CSIRO projects in the Carpentaria Zinc Belt (McArthur River/HYC) that utilized some ground-breaking new microanalytical technology, and for the first time mapped out the trace element deportment on drill core-scale samples at micron-scale resolution.

By combining new microanalyses with deposit-wide textural analyses, nano-scale focussed analyses, basin-scale sequence stratigraphy, geophysical modelling and thermodynamic modelling of ore fluids, we present a robust model for subsurface carbonate replacement-driven ore formation.

The audience will not only hear about how this refined model for ore formation and its key features (e.g. geochemical anomalies) can help redefine the exploration space for massive Zn-Pb deposits, but also how this systematic approach in poorly understood systems can unravel complex mineral systems in general.