The mineralogical and lithogeochemical footprint of the George Fisher Zn-Pb-Ag massive sulphide deposit in the Proterozoic Urquhart Shale Formation, Queensland, Australia

Cite as:

Rieger, Philip; Magnall, Joseph M.; Gleeson, Sarah.A.; Schleicher, Anja M.; Bonitz, Marie; Lilly, Richard (2020): The mineralogical and lithogeochemical footprint of the George Fisher Zn-Pb-Ag massive sulphide deposit in the Proterozoic Urquhart Shale Formation, Queensland, Australia. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.3.1.2020.003

Status

I N R E V I E W : Rieger, Philip; Magnall, Joseph M.; Gleeson, Sarah.A.; Schleicher, Anja M.; Bonitz, Marie; Lilly, Richard (2020): The mineralogical and lithogeochemical footprint of the George Fisher Zn-Pb-Ag massive sulphide deposit in the Proterozoic Urquhart Shale Formation, Queensland, Australia. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.3.1.2020.003

Abstract

The Proterozoic Carpentaria province in northern Australia comprises several of the wordl's largest Zn-Pb massive sulphide deposits. These deposits are mostly hosted in fine grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, which have been affected by variable degrees of tectonic overprint, especially to the south of the district. Three of these world class clastic-dominated (CD-type) Zn-Pb deposits (George Fisher, Hilton, and Mount Isa) are hosted in siltstones and mudstones of the Urquhart Shale Formation (ca. 1654 Ma; southern Carpentaria Province). The hydrothermal alteration footprint of these CD-type systems is not well constrained, which complicates exploration for and discovery of new CD-type Zn-Pb deposits.

A major caveat to understanding such footprints is the availability of suitable correlative host rock lithologies, which represent the un-mineralized protolith (background composition). In this study, we report whole rock lithogeocheochemical and mineralogical data from drill-holes that intersected the main ore bodies at the George Fisher deposit and from correlative un-mineralized Urquhart Shale.

These data were combined with petrographic observations in order to (1) establish the detrital, authigenic, and diagenetic background composition of the Paleoproterozoic Urquhart Shale Formation, and to (2) evaluate mineralogical and associated chemical mass changes that resulted from the hydrothermal event(s) at the George Fisher deposit.

This data report includes bulk rock major, minor, and trace element composition, as well as S, TOC, total C, CO2, Cgra concentrations, and mineralogical composition of 41 samples from the un-mineralized Urquhart Shale Formation and 70 samples from the George Fisher deposit. The data were generated using X-ray fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, LECO, and X-ray diffraction analyses.

Access to drill cores was granted by Mount Isa Mines (MIM) George Fisher operation and Mount Isa Mines Resource Development; the respective MIM drill core IDs and depths of individual samples are reported in the data table.

For further details see: Rieger et al. (2020).

Authors

Rieger, Philip;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Magnall, Joseph M.;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Gleeson, Sarah.A.;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Schleicher, Anja M.;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Bonitz, Marie;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;Department of Earth Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
Lilly, Richard;Department of Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

Contact

Rieger, Philip; GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;

Keywords

lithogeochemistry, CD-type massive sulphide deposit, SEDEX massive sulphide deposit, hydrothermal alteration, Proterozoic, sedimentary basin, Mount Isa, George Fisher, Carpentaria Province, bulk rock mineralogy