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The age and genesis of the Nifty copper deposit: back to the future

Created 16/10/2025

Updated 16/10/2025

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A Nd-Sm isochron from apatite in apatite-chalcopyrite veins mostly in the footwall to the Nifty deposit indicates an age of 791 ± 43 Ma. As this apatite is paragenetically associated with chalcopyrite in the veins and in the ore zone, this age is interpreted as the best estimate for the timing of mineralisation at the Nifty deposit. Consideration of the temporal evolution of Nd values precludes deposition of the apatite significantly younger than 800 Ma. The U-Pb systematics of the apatite have been disturbed, resulting mostly in highly scattered arrays that do not have geologic significance. Observations on primary fluid inclusions in quartz from the apatite veins suggest low temperature, relatively high salinity brines. These observations, the geochronological constraints and large ranges in sulphur isotope values suggest that the Nifty deposit formed early, possibly diagenetically, from low temperature, relatively oxidised fluids. This inference is consistent with the original model for the Nifty deposit (Haynes et al., 1993) though less consistent with the tectonic model proposed by Anderson et al. (2001). Structural modelling assuming that mineralisation is early shows that the north trend of ore shoots reported previously on the northeastern limb of the Nifty Anticline is consistent with control by antithetic normal faults developed during basin formation. If this model is correct, these antithetic normal faults would trend west-southwest on the southwestern limb of the Nifty Anticline. This trend has not been adequately drill-tested, and provides scope for additional near-mine exploration on the southwestern limb of the Nifty Anticline.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title The age and genesis of the Nifty copper deposit: back to the future
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/ca5c6a02-3341-4881-8823-2239d8a87688
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 10/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
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      [
        121.5,
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      ],
      [
        122.0,
        -22.0
      ],
      [
        122.0,
        -21.5
      ],
      [
        121.5,
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      ],
      [
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      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "The age and genesis of the Nifty copper deposit: back to the future". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/the-age-and-genesis-of-the-nifty-copper-deposit-back-to-the-future