Geoscientists recently had the opportunity to get up close to drill core examples from three of Victoria’s most promising mineral deposits.
The trip was organised as part of the Discoveries in the Tasmanides conference, providing attendees with the chance to examine drill core from the Fosterville and Costerfield mines, as well as the Sunday Creek gold-antimony project.
Co-led by Ross Caley, senior geologist from the Geological Survey of Victoria, the field trip took participants from Melbourne to Albury.
Along the route, key geological structures such as the Heathcote Fault and Moormbool Fault, critical features of the Costerfield gold-antimony deposit, were examined.
Costerfield is known as Australia’s only antimony-producing mine, highlighting its importance in the country’s critical minerals strategy.
More than 50 geoscientists participated in the trip, with new technical data from various Victorian gold and critical minerals operations shared with attendees.
This was seen as a unique opportunity to gain fresh insights into Victoria’s geological landscape, with a focus on enhancing exploration techniques for critical minerals and gold, key commodities for the region’s future.
Caley’s keynote presentation at the Discoveries in the Tasmanides conference provided further depth, covering the geology of Victoria and eastern Australia.
His speech emphasised the potential for new discoveries in under-explored areas of the Tasmanides region, which stretches across eastern Australia and is known for its mineral richness.
Some key information to come out of the conference is that the Lachlan orocline plays a crucial role in shaping the mineral systems in eastern Australia.
The orocline’s formation, driven by subduction and the collision of the microcontinent Vandieland, created ideal conditions for mineralisation particularly in the Ordovician-Silurian Lachlan Fold Belt.
This process led to the formation of deposits such as the Cadia and Ridgeway porphyry systems which underpin gold and copper production in New South Wales.
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