Eastern Victoria: a new exploration frontier?

Abstract

High-quality airborne magnetic and radiometric data provide the cornerstone for the geological understanding of the relatively unexplored eastern highlands of Victoria. The Geological Survey of Victoria has obtained over 180 000 line kilometres of new airborne data in eastern Victoria. This data collection is a maior component of the Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP). Eastern Victoria has an excellent geological section across the eastern Lachlan Fold Belt. The Early Silurian Benambran event deformed Ordovician turbidites. Two cycles of rifting during the Silurian and Early Devonian resulted in transtensional rift-like grabens. Silicic volcanic units and marine sediments filled these rifts. The Late Silurian Bindian deformation resulted in major northwest and northeast fault trends which are apparent in the geophysical data. Granites with varied magnetic and radiometric responses have intruded the area, with several reaching the surface to produce calderas. The area is rich in potential mineral targets. These include porphyry style copper?gold mineralisation, dyke-associated tin?gold mineralisation, volcanic-associated massive sulphide mineralisation, epithermal gold mineralisation, and carbonate-hosted Irish style lead?zinc mineralisation. The new geophysical data allow improved mapping of the geological units of eastern Victoria, interpretation of the regional structural features, and identification of exploration targets. The regional geophysical datasets provide an excellent basis for mineral exploration in the under-explored eastern Victoria