Background

New South Wales has a long and rich mining heritage dating from the first gold mining in the 1850s, and is a major mineral producer, especially of coal, gold and copper. Mineral exploration continues throughout NSW. Exploration for coal is focussed on the large sedimentary basins and metals are sought mainly in basement rocks.

New South Wales offers:

• Four world class mineral provinces and two major new frontier regions
• A history of continuing mineral discovery and mining
• Comprehensive multi-thematic geoscience data coverage
• Government-funded initiatives supporting mineral exploration
• A modern exploration title system
• Ready access to ground for exploration
• Comprehensive records of 150 years of exploration

In New South Wales, mineral exploration expenditure for 2007-2008 exceeded $A170 million and the state is recognised as a major international exploration destination.

NSW hosts a range of world class mineral deposits and geological provinces with a high mineral potential. Broken Hill in far western NSW is one of the largest base metal deposits ever discovered. The Cadia porphyry system near Orange is now recognised as the 6th largest system of its type in the world, and the third largest gold producing site in Australia. The Cadia Valley deposits occur in a belt of richly mineralised volcanic rocks, the Ordovician Macquarie Arc. This arc also hosts major gold and copper systems such as Northparkes and Cowal and is the focus of major exploration activity. In western NSW, major heavy mineral sands deposits have been discovered in near-surface palaeo beaches. Production in NSW from this new province commenced at the Gingko Mine commissioned January 2006.

Discoveries of new deposits and of extensions to known deposits are occurring throughout NSW. The mineral commodities boom of the late 2000s has led to re-evaluation of numerous under-explored mineral fields across the state. Major international companies have been joint venturing with junior exploration partners and also initiating grass roots exploration programs especially in the buried frontier areas of western NSW.

The major metallic deposits and majority of mineral exploration except for coal and petroleum occur in the Broken Hill Mineral, Lachlan Orogen, New England Orogen and Murray Basin mineral provinces.

Download file		Size
	Advanced Mineral Projects & Exploration Highlights in NSW	3.75 Mb

Broken Hill Mineral Province

The fabulous Broken Hill orebody has produced over 200 million tonnes of high grade ore valued at over $A80 billion. Total resources may reach 300 million tonnes making Broken Hill one of the largest base metals deposits known. The Line of Lode, has been actively mined by Perilya which took over the operations of the Broken Hill Mine in May 2002 from Pasminco with production coming mainly from the Southern Operations and upper levels of the North Mine. In the central part of the field CBH Ltd acquired Consolidated Mining Lease 7 (CML 7) in November 2001 and subsequently opened the Rasp Mine in 2007 to explore and develop the Western Mineralisation. The Rasp Mine decline portal is situated at the base of the Kintore open cut.

Exploration in the surrounding areas is yielding promising results. The Pinnacles deposit is the second largest known Broken Hill-type deposit in the region. This deposit however differs in that it is gold-rich and some 10 million years older. A resource of over 14 million tones of moderate grade silver lead zinc ore with gold and copper credits has been announced following a recent drilling campaign. To the north east of the Pinnacles mine, extending to the Stirling Vale area, Perilya have discovered a series of lenses of mineralisation which may be added to their regional resource inventory.

Major exploration programs in the Curnamona Province are targeting a range of deposit types including zinc, lead, silver, and tungsten Broken Hill type and related mineralisation, cobalt-rich pyrite deposits, iron oxide copper-gold deposits and nickel and platinum group elements in ultrabasic intrusions, tin and tungsten deposits, gold vein systems and rare earths.

Lachlan Orogen

Porphyry and related Cu-Au

Ordovician volcanic rocks of the Lachlan Orogen host a range of major deposits including the porphyry copper-gold mines of Northparkes and Cadia and gold-only deposits at Cowal and Wyoming. The Cadia Mine together with the nearby Ridgeway Mine, is one of Australia's largest gold mines and is ranked as the 6th largest porphyry epithermal copper-gold system in the world. Exploration by Newcrest Mining Ltd below the Ridgeway Mine - the Ridgeway Deeps, and in the Cadia Far East continues to expand the resource base.

The Ordovician Macquarie Arc volcanics and adjacent structures are subject to extensive exploration and a discoveries continue to be made. Major systems include Copper Hill, Gooleys, Adelong, Cargo, Discovery Ridge and the newly announced Monza discovery.

Silurian volcanic-hosted massive sulphide deposits (VHMS deposits)

Volcanic-hosted massive base metal sulphide systems are distributed throughout Silurian volcanic-sedimentary sequences in the eastern half of the Lachlan Orogen. These include the large Woodlawn deposit, south of Goulburn and Captains Flat east of Canberra. A series of deposits contain small to moderate base metal and gold resources including the Burra project, about 25 km south of Queanbeyan, Harnetts north of Cooma, the John Fardy deposit near Crookwell and Lewis Ponds.

New exploration established a significant barite resource at the Kempfield silver-zinc-barite project, 50 kms southwest of Bathurst. Broad widths of mineralisation and include narrower zones of higher-grade lead, zinc and silver mineralisation.

At the Wellington Project, centred 15 kilometres to the south east of Wellington drilling of a series of mineralised lenses has established the presence of several million tonnes of copper mineralisation over a strike length of over 300 metres. The drilling intersected altered volcanics hosting broad widths of disseminated pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralisation with occasional massive sulphide lenses up to 5 metres thick.

A major new discovery has been at McPhillamys, part of the Moorilda project near Blayney. Gold and zinc occur in highly deformed Silurian volcanics adjacent to a major fault system. This system is being actively explored. The exact nature of this deposit is still to be determined - it may be a large deformed VHMS system or mineralisation may have been introduced into the hanging wall of a regional structure.

Miscellaneous base-metal and gold deposits

The Lachlan Orogen includes a wide range of mineral deposits including skarns such as Browns Creek, base metals systems in structures such as at Frogmore and systems which may be volcanic or granite-related such as Burraga and Sunny Corner.

Orogenic gold

Orogenic gold deposits are extensively developed in the Lachlan Orogen and are generally characterised by relatively simple mineralogies and location adjacent to major structures. Hundreds of small to moderate sized gold deposits occur throughout the Lachlan Orogen. The majority of these comprise simple quartz veins containing gold. Host rocks include sediments, volcanics and intrusives.

The Cowal deposit near West Wyalong is a major orogenic gold deposit hosted in Ordovician volcanics. The Caloma prospect, part of the Wyoming project, at Tomingley south of Dubbo, has yielded numerous high grade intersections in a series of high grade gold lodes occur in fractured porphyry and occurs beneath shallow cover.

New gold reefs have been discovered in the West Wyalong goldfield. At Hill End and Hargraves, north of Bathurst, exploration of extensive gold-bearing quartz vein systems has lead to the identification of new resources and initial test mining.

Intrusion-related gold

In the Majors Creek goldfield, near Braidwood, substantial gold lode systems are being drill tested at Dargues Reef and Exeter Farm. The multiple gold bearing lodes occur in an alteration envelope with the lodes separated by unmineralised intervals. The deposits fall within the broad class of intrusive-related gold deposits. Gold deposits in intrusive rocks also occur in many places in the Lachlan Orogen but many are probably orogenic deposits passively hosted by intrusive rocks.

Cobar copper-gold-lead-zinc-silver mineral field

The major Cobar mineral field In the western part of the Lachlan Orogen has been a consistent producer of base metals and gold since the 1860's, continues to produce exciting results from both near-mine and greenfields exploration. Current major operations are located near Cobar, at the Endeavor mine (formerly called Elura), CSA, and the Peak group of mines (New Occidental, New Cobar and Perseverance). Recent exploration show that at the CSA mine that the main copper lenses in the QTS North ore system extend to nearly 2 kms depth with grade and width increasing with depth. Exploration around the Peak Gold Mine has outlined significant additional resources at the New Occidental, New Cobar and Perseverance deposits. Regionally, a silver - lead system has been discovered at Gundaroo.

At Nymagee, exploration drilling has intersected lenses of high grade mineralisation below historic workings. Five kilometres to the south, at the Hera project, a high grade nuggetty gold-rich core has been identified in a series of gold and basemetal lenses. Significant additional potential exists along down plunge and along the mineralised structure towards the Hebe prospect.

East of Cobar, exploration around the historically rich Canbelego gold mine is yielding base metals, silver and gold.

Tritton - Girilambone copper

The Tritton copper mine, to the northwest of Nyngan, and the similar Girilambone deposits about 25 km to the north occur in highly deformed Ordovician deep water sediments and mafic volcanics of the Girilambone Group. The deposits are copper-dominant massive sulphide systems. Sulphide lenses have been intersected below the oxide based open cuts in the Girilambone mine area. Exploration is continuing on copper deposits in the Girilambone Group at Tottenham, 120 km south of Girilambone.

Lateritic nickel-cobalt

Lateritic nickel-cobalt deposits formed by the weathering of mafic to ultramafic rocks are extensively developed through the Lachlan Orogen. These deposits include the Syerston nickel-cobalt-platinum deposit near Fifield, north of Condobolin, and extensive lateritic nickel-cobalt deposits near Young.

Tin and tungsten

Several tin and tungsten systems are being re-examined in the Lachlan Orogen. These include Tallebung, and White Rock (east of Young). A large skarn system at Doradilla is being further tested. In the Cargelligo area, the Tara system has produced promising tin values in basement granites and in overlying Tertiary palaoechannels.

Channel iron deposits (CID)

An extensive series of palaeochannels of possible Tertiary age occur across the peneplains east of Cobar over weathered Lachlan Orogen rocks. These channels contain maghemite and can be readily identified in regional aeromagnetic surveys. New work is focussing on the channels to determine if magnetic separation can be used to upgrade the pisolitic material for supply to east coast iron ore markets.

Title	Details
Mineral deposits of the Lachlan - Thomson - Delamerian orogens		1.4 Mb

New England Orogen

The New England Orogen offers a diverse range of mineral deposit types. Resurgent metal prices have led to renewed interest in tin, molybdenum, tungsten and bismuth which are related to granites which occur throughout New England. Major exploration activity is focussed at the Conrad mine south of Inverell, Glen Eden, Kingsgate, Elsmore, Tingha and in the Emmaville area.

The New England region is also renowned for its gemstones with diamond exploration in areas of important past production at Bingara and Copeton, sapphires near Glen Innes and Inverell and rubies in the Barrington Tops area in southern New England.

Gold has also been a major focus for exploration with intense exploration in and around the Hillgrove gold-antimony-tungsten field east of Armidale. Drilling has been targeted at the Eleanora/Garibaldi and Metz mines and at the Clarkes Gully prospect. To the west of Hillgrove, gold related to major structures has been identified in the Enmore-Melrose goldfield.

A cluster of gold anomalies have been discovered in the vicinity of the Tooloom goldfield in the far north east of the State. Near Tooloom, the greenfields Phoenix project is centred on a breccia zones containing gold and antimony.

Gold also occurs in numerous granitic systems such as Timbarra and Seven Hills. Silver-rich polymetallic granite-related veins are being explored at the Conrad deposit near Inverell, and in the Rivertree mineral field near Drake. Rich gold values have been obtained from drilling at Boorook.

Exploration has also been carried out over skarn mineralisation in the Attunga area north of Tamworth where tungsten has been found to be more extensive that previously reported. A range of other granite-related styles of mineralisation occur throughout New England including copper at Dundurrabin, north of Dorrigo, silver and base metals in the Torrington area and cobalt and mercury west of Grafton. Base and precious metals associated with the Drake Volcanics are also being re-evaluated.

Title	Details
Mineral Deposits of the New England Orogen		1.10 Mb

Murray Basin

The Tertiary Murray Basin in southwestern NSW has emerged as a world class mineral sands province. Exploration has been producing a series of major discoveries. Large beach placer deposits, some tens of kilometres long, represent a world class source of rutile, ilmenite and zircon. The Gingko mine was commissioned in early 2006 and is shipping minerals concentrate to a new mineral separation plant built at Broken Hill and planning for development of the nearby Snapper deposit is underway. Major new discoveries include the rich West Balranald deposit.

Location of Mineral Sands Deposits, Murray Basin - Detailed Map to Download

Thomson and Delamerian orogens

These orogens in western NSW represent major new mineral provinces. Initial interpretation of airborne magnetic surveys covering these vast areas as part of NSW government funded exploration initiatives indicates that a potential volcanic arc may be a component of the Thomson Orogen and that rocks from the gold-rich Stawell and Bendigo zones extend subsurface into southwestern NSW. There has been a large take-up of exploration licences in many areas never previously explored. Both areas are largely covered by younger basin sequences of varying thickness.

Title	Details
Mineral deposits of the Lachlan - Thomson - Delamerian orogens		1.4 Mb