New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from the Wau-Bulolo region, Papua New Guinea

Created 17/10/2025

Updated 17/10/2025

This Record presents new zircon U Pb geochronological data obtained via Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe (SHRIMP) from rocks sampled within the Wau 1:100 000 map sheet area, which is located on the Papuan Peninsula in eastern Papua New Guinea. Exposure in the Wau Bulolo region comprises low-grade Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Owen Stanley Metamorphics, which are intruded by the mid-Miocene Morobe Granodiorite batholith, and overlain by Pliocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Wau Basin. The map sheet area contains the Morobe Goldfield (from which more than 3.2 Moz of alluvial gold has been mined) and the Hidden Valley epithermal Au-Ag deposit (which has a total gold resource in excess of 3 Moz), and lies about 70 km south-southeast of the giant mid-Miocene Wafi-Golpu porphyry Cu-Au deposit (>26 Moz Au and 9 Mt Cu). The geochronological data in this Record were generated as part of a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) of Papua New Guinea in 2012. Four samples were analysed: two from the Pliocene Bulolo Volcanics and one from the Miocene Morobe Granodiorite to establish precise, accurate magmatic crystallisation ages, and one metasandstone from the Mesozoic Owen Stanley Metamorphics for detrital zircon provenance analysis. Sample locations, descriptions, and U Pb SHRIMP results are summarised in Table 1.1.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from the Wau-Bulolo region, Papua New Guinea
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/861ab10e-6a35-4513-8ddf-4a5c74007fce
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 22/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage Australia
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages from the Wau-Bulolo region, Papua New Guinea". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/new-shrimp-u-pb-zircon-ages-from-the-wau-bulolo-region-papua-new-guinea