Co-funded Drilling program Round 15 closes 5 pm WST
7 April

EIS logo Round 15 of the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) Co-funded Drilling program is open for online applications from 24 February to
7 April 2017.

The online system for applications opened on 24 February for co-funding of drilling projects to be undertaken in the 2017–18 financial year, and will close at 5 pm (WST) on 7 April 2017.

More information is available at www.dmp.wa.gov.au/eisdrilling or from Margaret Ellis, Coordinator EIS (margaret.ellis@dmp.wa.gov.au) or (08) 9222 3509.

GSWA database and online systems FREE training, 2017

Find out how to access geoscience data online and understand our systems at this FREE training course.

Systems include:

PERTH
The Perth training has been divided into separate sessions: one for mining companies/geologists (morning) and one for prospectors (afternoon).

KALGOORLIE
The Kalgoorlie training is open to anyone (full day).

Register
To register for this free training, send an email to publications@dmp.wa.gov.au including your details (name, company name, telephone number), with the location and date of the training you wish to attend. For the Perth session, please indicate whether you wish to attend the mining companies/geologists (morning) or prospectors (afternoon) training.

Spotlight on three new products

MRB 25 Gemstones of Western Australia (second edition)
by J Michael Fetherston, Susan M Stocklmayer, and Vernon C Stocklmayer

The second edition of Gemstones of Western Australia is an updated version published in response to public demand following depletion of copies of the 2013 edition. These editions form the first systematic works on the subject
of gemstones found in the State since the formal inception of the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) in 1896. In this second joint publication by GSWA and the Gemmological Association of Australia (GAA), the authors have once again assembled a comprehensive resource on almost all gemstones and decorative stones used in jewellery and ornamental sculpture known in the State. The second edition has been updated and expanded to include additional occurrences of emerald, opal, agate, chalcedony, organic gems, tiger eye jasper, aragonite, cordierite, black jade, mookaite, fuchsite, jasper, Munjina and print stones, together with numerous, new gemstone images.

While systematically sound and scientifically authoritative, the second edition of Gemstones of Western Australia is written not only for the professional geologist and gemmologist, but also with the experienced fossicker and amateur rockhound in mind.

Printed copies of Gemstones of Western Australia Second Edition are available for $55 (including GST). To buy a hardcopy, please email bookshop@dmp.wa.gov.au. Order five or more copies and get the books for a special discounted price of $45 per copy. Alternatively, go to DMP eBookshop to download a free PDF copy.

 

A Paleozoic perspective of Western Australia
by Arthur J Mory

Paleozoic strata are preserved across about 30% of onshore Western Australia in both the coastal and interior basins. These sedimentary successions are largely unmetamorphosed and little deformed as orogenic events were subdued compared with the Precambrian. A series of Statewide paleogeographic reconstructions paired with isopach images are used to detail the Paleozoic depositional and structural history of these basins. The time slices are based on regional correlations underpinned by biostratigraphic and paleontological studies from more than 800 wells drilled in the Phanerozoic basins.

The book commences with a brief explanation of the assembly of Gondwana at the end of the Proterozoic and an overview of the distribution and structure of the onshore depocentres. Four main phases of Paleozoic basin development are described: Cambrian intracratonic sag followed by three rift phases of Ordovician – Early Devonian, Middle Devonian to mid-Carboniferous, and latest Carboniferous to Permian age. Following the Paleozoic, the main depocentres shifted offshore to the present-day northwest for most of the Mesozoic.

The book is full of colourful photos and illustrative figures. It has interesting pull-out boxes with simple explanations and many detailed maps of Western Australia.

Printed copies of A Paleozoic perspective of Western Australia are available for $33 (including GST). To buy a hardcopy, please email bookshop@dmp.wa.gov.au. Order five or more copies and get the books for a special discounted price of $22 per copy. Alternatively, go to DMP eBookshop to download a free PDF copy.

 

Report 158 Deposit-scale targeting for gold in the Yilgarn Craton: Part 3 of the Yilgarn Gold Exploration Targeting Atlas
by WK Witt

The Yilgarn Gold Exploration Targeting Atlas, a collaborative project between GSWA, the Centre for Exploration Targeting and several industry groups, is a three-part project of which this is the third part. In Part 3 (deposit-scale targeting), 12 deposit-scale targeting criteria for gold in the Yilgarn Craton are described and assessed. In contrast to Parts 1 and 2, Part 3 relies mostly on qualitative studies and published results because the deposit-scale datasets required to generate quantitative spatial analyses were not available to the project. Targeting criteria assessed include eight related to structural controls on ore bodies and high-grade ore shoots within them, three related to geochemical dispersion around ore, and one based on the mineralogical aspects of hydrothermal alteration associated with gold mineralization.

For the Yilgarn Craton, this study documents strong structural controls on the distribution of gold. These controls include well-established criteria, such as fault intersections, fault bends and jogs, and intersections of faults with rheologically favourable geological units.

The rheological architecture of the deposit and its environs is of paramount importance because it controls the escape path of over-pressured fluids at or below the brittle–ductile transition. This important aspect can ‘over-ride’ the local stress conditions leading to formation of ore shoots at locations not predicted by conventional stress analysis. Geochemical dispersion around gold lodes is generally very restricted, limiting the effectiveness of this approach to mine-scale exploration. However, the relatively recent development of the rare alkali index shows potential for tracking the path of the gold ore fluid beyond the limits established by conventional pathfinder element, alteration index and stable isotope halos. Spectral mineralogical analysis at the mine scale can be applied to resolve different hydrothermal events and to vector towards gold ore, in a similar manner to that at the district-scale (see Part 2 of this Atlas).

To download a free PDF copy, go to DMP eBookshop.

New releases

REPORTS
Report 158 Deposit-scale targeting for gold in the Yilgarn Craton: Part 3 of the Yilgarn Gold Exploration Targeting Atlas
by Witt, WK

Report 165 VMS mineralization in the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: a review of known deposits and prospectivity analysis of felsic volcanic rocks
by Hollis, S, Yeats, CJ, Wyche, S, Barnes, SJ and Ivanic, TJ

RECORD
Record 2017/3 Provenance, depositional setting and regional correlations of the Ordovician Carranya Formation, Canning Basin
by Normore, LS

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Subscribe to Fieldnotes

Subscribe to Fieldnotes Fieldnotes is a quarterly publication released by GSWA to provide the State's exploration industry and other geoscientists with an update on our latest work and ongoing programs. The publication provides updates on other GSWA products and services and is available free from the Information Centre located on the first floor of Mineral House, 100 Plain Street, East Perth 6004. Find past issues of Fieldnotes here or subscribe to receive a hard copy by emailing publications@dmp.wa.gov.au.

Access GSWA products

You can view and download maps, reports, and digital information free of charge from our website.
Click on these links to take you to the download or launch page for that product:

Hard copies
Maps, USB data packages, and nine premium publications are available to purchase as hard copies from the eBookshop or the First Floor counter at Mineral House, 100 Plain Street, East Perth WA 6004. A new online cart and payment system is in place. Records, Reports, Bulletins and other non-series books cannot be purchased in hard copy but are all available as PDFs to view and download free of charge.

Contact us

Contact us

For information on publications, email publications@dmp.wa.gov.au
or telephone +61 8 9222 3459/ fax +61 8 9222 3444.

For information on digital data, email the Digital Data Administrator on gsd.dda@dmp.wa.gov.au or telephone +61 8 9222 3816.

Physical address
Mineral House
100 Plain Street
East Perth WA 6004
www.dmp.wa.gov.au/gswa
For more information about GSWA and its products, go to our website.