A minerals systems approach to mapping Australia's endowment

Mineral endowment is a key element in determining prospectivity. As part of an ongoing assessment of Australia's prospectivity, AGSO has compiled density plots of recorded mineral occurrences, which not only map Australia's historic mineral provinces but also highlight regions with anomalously high metal contents. Most regions with a high abundance of recorded mineral occurrences contain one or more world-class deposits-although there are notable exceptions in the case of buried deposits. An abundance of occurrences can be due to the compounded effects of sequential or overlapping mineralising systems. It may also reflect an inefficient mineralising process or processes that resulted in dispersed low-grade mineralisation. Nevertheless, most of the known world-class deposits are in regions with a high density of mineral occurrences-suggesting surface prospecting probably played a key role in the discovery of many such deposits. Early results of AGSO's ongoing assessment of Australia's mineral potential indicate that substantial areas of potential remain (especially under cover).