Publication Name: Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference 2019
Authors: Jessica Stromberg*, Sam Spinks, Mark Pearce
Date Published: September 2019
Number of Pages: 4
Abstract:
The flood basalts and gold-bearing basal sediments of the 2775-2629 Ma Fortescue Group unconformably overlie the Mesoarchean West Pilbara Superterrane to the south of Karratha, Western Australia. Fresh exposures of the sedimentary units are lacking and their geochemical, mineralogical composition and sequence stratigraphy under cover are largely unknown. This research outlines the results of integrated downhole geochemistry and hyperspectral mineralogy of two new diamond drill holes, 4 km apart, which intersect the Fortescue group stratigraphy into the Mesoarchean Pilbara basement. This has been combined with trace element geochemistry, and high-resolution XRF mapping of representative samples provide micro-structural insights and in-situ geochemistry with textural context.