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Australia-wide 3D Density and Magnetic Susceptibility Models - Reducing the search space for Iron Oxide Copper-Gold deposits

Created 16/10/2025

Updated 16/10/2025

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Three-dimensional models of density and magnetic susceptibility were produced for a volume covering onshore Australia. The models were produced as part of the Australian government’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program and were designed to provide the mineral exploration industry with new information that would help reduce the search space for Iron Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG) deposits.   The density and magnetic susceptibility models were produced by the inversion of gravity and magnetic data, respectively, using the University of British Columbia - Geophysical Inversion Facility’s MAG3D and GRAV3D programs on the National Computational Infrastructure supercomputer. The inversions were constrained with geological information including layers for sediments, undifferentiated crust, upper mantle and depth of magnetisation (Curie depth).   The work presented here is a continuation of previous studies which have shown a strong relationship between regions of coincident high density (>2.83 g/cm3) and high magnetic susceptibility (>0.0125 SI) with known IOCG deposits. Specific examples include the Tennant Creek (Northern Territory), Cloncurry (Queensland) and Gawler (South Australia) regions.   With a horizontal cell size of 800 m, the models are unlikely to image any anomalous physical properties directly associated with IOCG mineralisation itself. However, hydrothermal alteration systems containing IOCG deposits, are much larger and can extend over hundreds of square kilometres in lateral dimensions. It is suggested that these regions of high density and high-magnetic susceptibility are related to ultramafic rocks and the magnetite-forming hydrothermal alteration stages of potentially fertile IOCG systems.   As the largest and most detailed models of their type in the world, these models will play a critical part in de-risking districts across the continent at the concept to greenfield stages of exploration for IOCG deposits. They form part of Geoscience Australia’s pre‑competitive national datasets that make Australia a preferred investment destination for mineral exploration and resource development.

Presented at the 2024 Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG) Discover Symposium

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Field Value
Title Australia-wide 3D Density and Magnetic Susceptibility Models - Reducing the search space for Iron Oxide Copper-Gold deposits
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/1cfd2b45-e2e1-4d5b-a57c-d289076a563f
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 24/02/2025
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Australia-wide 3D Density and Magnetic Susceptibility Models - Reducing the search space for Iron Oxide Copper-Gold deposits". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/australia-wide-3d-density-and-magnetic-susceptibility-models-reducing-the-search-space-for-iron