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Geochemical prospecting in the vicinity of radio-active deposits and prospects in the Northern Territory, Australia

Created 16/10/2025

Updated 16/10/2025

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During the 1953 field season geochemical prospecting techniques were employed as an additional tool in the search for ore deposits in the Northern Territory. Areas of particular interest were those at which radio-active minerals had already been discovered or at which radiometric anomalies were being investigated. The work thus included the already proved Rum Jungle field as well as the new prospects at Brodribb, Waterhouse, Edith River, and Coronation Hill. A direct chemical test for uranium in soils was not used, the discovery of the radio-active areas being left to the sensitive ratemeters now in use. The close association between copper and uranium was used to advantage as it is present at many of the uranium prospects in the Northern Territory. It is a logical step to use the geochemical techniques to locate new copper mineralization, and then to carry investigations further by attempting to locate uranium in the vicinity of the copper, particularly in areas covered by deep soils where ratemeters are of no use. A field test for cobalt, a metal often closely associated with both copper and uranium, was developed, but of the many samples tested for this element only one gave a positive test. It is possible that the cobalt, an element which is extremely mobile in the oxidized zone, has been completely leached and dispersed from the radio-active minerals.

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Field Value
Title Geochemical prospecting in the vicinity of radio-active deposits and prospects in the Northern Territory, Australia
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/7588c427-7587-4cb3-8003-f117732d1c61
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 22/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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      ],
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      ],
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      ],
      [
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      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Geochemical prospecting in the vicinity of radio-active deposits and prospects in the Northern Territory, Australia". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/geochemical-prospecting-in-the-vicinity-of-radio-active-deposits-and-prospects-in-the-northern-