Mapping sandstone-hosted uranium mineral systems in the Callabonna Sub-basin (South Australia) using AEM

Abstract

The Frome airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey was designed to provide reliable pre-competitive AEM data to aid the search for energy and mineral resources around the Lake Frome region of South Australia. Flown in 2010, a total of 32,317 line kilometres of high-quality airborne geophysical data were collected over an area of 95,450 km2 at a flight line spacing mostly of 2.5 km, opening to 5 km spaced lines in the Marree–Strzelecki Desert area to the north. Interpretations of the data show the utility of regional AEM surveying for mapping crucial elements of sandstone-hosted uranium mineral systems as well as for mapping geological surfaces, structures and depth of cover over a wide area. Data from the Frome AEM survey allow mineral explorers to put their own high-resolution AEM surveys into a regional context. Survey data were used to map and interpret a range of geological features that are associated with, or control the location of, sandstone-hosted uranium mineral systems, and have been used to assess the uranium prospectivity of new areas to the north of the Flinders Ranges.