THE CRC LEME LEGACY -
EXPLORERS' GUIDE SERIES
A guide for mineral exploration through the regolith in the Curnamona Province, South Australia
Adrian Fabris, Malcolm Sheard, John Keeling, Steven Hill, Ken McQueen, Colin Conor and Patrice de Caritat
Email: Fabris.Adrian@saugov.sa.gov.au
Email: Sheard.Malcolm@saugov.sa.gov.au
Email: Keeling.John@saugov.sa.gov.au
Email: Steven.Hill@adelaide.edu.au
Email: Ken.McQueen@canberra.edu.au
Email: Conor.Colin@saugov.sa.gov.au
Email: Patrice.deCaritat@ga.gov.au
 This Guide is designed to assist mineral explorers working in regolith-dominated regions of the Curnamona Province. Although the information presented may be applied across the Curnamona region, the focus is on the southern Curnamona Province where there has been the greatest number of regolith studies.
The Guide provides an introduction to the regolith and landscape history of the area, as well as advice on appropriate exploration strategies and techniques for exploring through, and within, the regolith. The information presented here is based on current knowledge and best practice, but the Guide is not meant to be a foolproof manual for exploration success.
The Curnamona Province has a long history of exploration following on from the discovery of the world-class Broken Hill Pb–Zn–Ag deposit in 1883. Numerous mineral occurrences have been located throughout the district. The majority of exploration and subsequent discoveries, however, have been made in and around bedrock exposures, which account for less than 10% of the landscape. The major challenge facing exploration in the region is exploring effectively through thick transported regolith. Although large areas are beyond explorable depths–with more than 1 kilometre in thickness of sediment cover–there are extensive areas where predicted depth to bedrock is less than 100 metres. Around bedrock inliers, sediment thickness may decrease to less than 1 metre, but, even here, the thin cover is usually comprised of distally transported deposits. Mineral exploration approaches need to be able to penetrate sediment cover and weathered bedrock to effectively explore within, or through, the regolith.
Download the guide and appendices:
- Curnamona Province Explorers' Guide complete text (63.8 Mb)
- Appendix 2 - Curnamona Province regolith tour guides:
- Appendix 3 - 3D model of the sedimentary cover of the Curnamona Province
- Appendix 4 - Regolith-landform maps of the Curnamona Province
- Curnamona Province regolith-landform mapping (228 Kb)
- Landscape Evolution of far western NSW (2.3 Mb)
- Northern Barrier Ranges landscape evolution (4.5 Mb)
- Southern Barrier Ranges landscape evolution (810 Kb)
- RTMAP users guide (3.5 Mb)
- RTMAP regolith-landform unit codes (83 Kb)
- 1:2,000 scale maps
- 1:2,500 scale maps
- 1:4,000 scale maps
- 1:5,000 scale maps
- 1:10,000 scale maps
- 1:12,000 scale maps
- 1:25,000 scale maps
- 1:30,000 scale maps
- 1:100,000 scale maps
- 1:150,000 scale maps
- 1:500,000 scale maps
- Appendix 5: Case studies
- Biogeochemical sampling media for regional- to prospect-scale mineral exploration in regolith-dominated terrains of the Curnamona Province and adjacent areas in western NSW and eastern SA (137 Kb)
- Blue Rose Au-Cu prospect, South Australia (2 Mb)
- Flying Doctor Ag-Pb-Zn prospect, Northern Leases, Broken Hill, NSW (1.5 Mb)
- Geochemical detection of deeply buried mineralisation below the Mundi Mundi Plain, Curnamona Province - implications for discovery success (190 Kb)
- Geology and geochemistry of regolith carbonate accumulations of the southwestern Curnamona Province, SA: implications for mineral exploration (4.6 Mb)
- Groundwater in the Broken Hill region, Australia: recognising interaction with bedrock and mineralisation using S, Sr and Pb isotopes. P de Caritat, D Kirste, G Carr and M McCullogh 2005. Applied Geochemistry 20(4), pp. 767-787 (subscription needed).
- Hydrogeochemistry applied to mineral exploration under cover in the Curnamona Province (1.6 Mb)
- Some important plant characteristics and assay overviews for biogeochemical surveys in western New South Wales (176 Kb)
- Portia and North Portia Cu-Au-Mo prospects, South Australia (531 Kb)
- The distribution of pathfinder elements at the North Portia prospect, Lake Frome Embayment, South Australia (769 Kb)
- River red gums as a biogeochemical sampling medium in mienral exploration and environmental chemistry programs in the Curnamona Craton and adjacent regions of NSW and SA (883 Kb)
- Geochemical signature of mineralization in weathered sediments and bedrock, Thunderdome prospect, Broken Hill region, western New South Wales, Australia: implications for mineral exploration under cover. E Tonui, P de Caritat and W Leyh 2003. Geochemistry, Exploration, Environment, Analysis, 3, pp. 263-280 (subscription needed).
- White Dam - detailed regolith-landform mapping as a tool for refining the interpretation of surface geochemical results (336 Kb)
- White Dam Au-Cu prospect, Curnamona Province, South Australia (774 Kb)
- Appendix 6: Recommended sampling procedures
- Appendix 7: Drilling and sampling the regolith (189 Kb)
- Appendix 8: Quality assurance and quality control (153 Kb)
INFORMATION ON THE OTHER REGIONAL GUIDES IN THE SERIES
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