Zircon and rutile provenance of the heavy mineral sands at the Copi North Deposit, Murray Basin, NSW

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dc.contributor.authorChalmers, S. C.
dc.contributor.schoolSchool of Physical Sciencesen
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionThis item is only available electronically. Whole thesis (as available).
dc.description.abstractThe Murray Basin hosts one of the world’s largest strandplain systems with large resources of heavy mineral sands (HMS). Associated with the Loxton-Parilla Sands formation, Murray Basin HMS are a key contributor to Australia’s titanium and zirconium production. Critical to discovery of new HMS deposits is determining the provenance of the HMS. Within the northern Murray Basin, a large resource of >1.2 billion tonnes of HMS at the Copi North deposit are delineated. However, provenance studies of the Copi North HMS (both shallower and deeper deposits) are currently lacking. In this study, the provenance of Copi North’s lower HMS deposit wasdetermined using zircon and rutile U-Pb geochronology and geochemistry. Of all zircon U-Pb ages (concordance ≤5%), over 84% fall into the age range of 0 – 1250 Ma with remaining zircon ages recorded as high as ca. 2630 Ma. Approximately 47% of zircons are derived from the Tasmanides to the northeast (0 – 480 Ma). Roughly 48% are considered to be derived from the Adelaide Superbasin (>500 Ma) and roughly 5% from the Delamerian Orogen (514 – 490 Ma), both of which provide an easterly transported source of HMS. Over 98% of rutile U-Pb ages (concordance ≤5%) are between 475 –550 Ma correlating to the provenances of the Adelaide Superbasin and Koonenberry Belt. Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA) shows subtle differences between the two deposits highlighting minerals seen in the deeper deposit that are absent in the shallower deposit (e.g., sanidine, celestine and cordierite) as well as those that are absent in the lower deposit but observed in the shallower deposit (e.g., kyanite and scheelite). These results show a subtle difference in mineral makeup and provenance between the two HMS deposits at Copi North. Further investigation into the geochronology of rutile grains from the Adelaide Superbasin and Koonenberry Belt would corroborate these findings.
dc.description.dissertationThesis (B.Sc.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Physical Sciences, YEAR
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/145983
dc.language.isoen
dc.provenanceThis electronic version is made publicly available by the University of Adelaide in accordance with its open access policy for student theses. Copyright in this thesis remains with the author. This thesis may incorporate third party material which has been used by the author pursuant to Fair Dealing exceptions. If you are the author of this thesis and do not wish it to be made publicly available, or you are the owner of any included third party copyright material you wish to be removed from this electronic version, please complete the take down form located at: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/legalsen
dc.subjectHonours
dc.subjectGeology
dc.subjectzircon
dc.subjectrutile
dc.subjectU-Pb geochronology
dc.subjecttrace elements Heavy Mineral Sands
dc.subjectprovenance
dc.subjectMurray Basin
dc.subjectCopi North
dc.titleZircon and rutile provenance of the heavy mineral sands at the Copi North Deposit, Murray Basin, NSW
dc.typeThesis

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