Using tourmaline to identify base metal and tungsten mineralising processes in the Jervois mineral field and Bonya Hills, Aileron Province

Abstract

This Record documents the study of tourmaline as an indicator of palaeoenvironmental conditions and mineralising processes in the northeastern Aileron Province, central Australia. Field and petrographic observations coupled with geochemical, isotopic (11B/10B) and chronologic data have been used to constrain the origin and timing of tourmaline in tourmalinites, pegmatites, and quartz veins. The analysed tourmaline in the tourmalinites is associated with metamorphosed synsedimentary base metal and silver mineralisation in the Jervois mineral field, while the tourmaline in pegmatites and quartz veins is associated with epigenetic tungsten and copper mineralisation in the Bonya Hills area. This study provides an enhanced understanding of the mineral systems operating during the Palaeoproterozoic in the northeastern Aileron Province. The results have implications for the tectonic setting and the assessment of the mineral potential for the North Australian Craton between ca 1.80-1.70 Ga.