Supervisors
Research Affiliations
Degree Type/Name
Pre-requisites
Student Support
Collaboration
A/Prof Pietro Guj, Dr Oliver Kreuzer, Dr Wolf Maier
Centre for Exploration Targeting
Hons - Geology, Earth Science, Minerals Geoscience
Degree in Geology, Earth Science, Mineral Geoscience or other kind of Geoscience degree
Currently being negotiated.
Currently being negotiated.
Skills
The outcomes of this study, and the skills and expertise that you will develop are directly relevant to the minerals industry and applied research centres such as the CET.
Project Description
According to the CSIRO “there was a surge in exploration for PGEs in Australia in the mid to late 1980s, resulting in discovery of the large but subeconomic Munni Munni deposit in the
Pilbara, the potentially mineable Panton deposit in the Kimberley, and the unusual and evidently subeconomic Fifield supergene Pt-Fe occurrence in NSW. PGE exploration in
Australia is currently undergoing something of a resurgence, with active projects in the
Kimberley region, in the Narndee and Windimurra layered intrusions in the Yilgarn Block, and in the West Musgrave region of WA. Timely strategic planning and exploration success has potential to capture an important market opportunity for Australia. However, extraction of PGE from ores is capital intensive, and successful startups are rare. Of all the strategic metal commodities in the world, platinum has the most localised and concentrated source of supply, and has been the most resistant to exploration success. New exploration methodologies and paradigms are urgently needed.”
We believe that a thorough review of Australian PGE exploration coupled with an analysis of the related risks and geological uncertainties would produce outcomes that are useful for the design of future PGE exploration strategies. Your challenge is to manage, interrogate and interpret diverse datasets, come up with a synthesis of PGE exploration in Australia and use the results to assess Australia’s PGE potential.
Recommended Reading
Barnes, J., McIntyre, J.R., Nisbet, B.W., and Williams, C.R., 1990, Platinum group element mineralisation in the Munni Munni Complex, western Australia: Mineralogy and Petrology, v.
42, p. 141-164.
Hoatson, D.M., 2000, Exploration strategies for Precambrian layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions in the East Kimberley: Australian Geological Suvery Organisation, Research
Newsletter, http://www.ga.gov.au/pdf/Corp0032.pdf.