Abstract
Airborne magnetic and radiometric datasets have, over the past few years, become powerful tools in the identification of porphyry systems which may host economic porphyry copper–gold–molybdenum ore bodies. Magnetisation contrasts with the unaltered host rocks, coupled with the elevated radiometric signature, compared to the host rock, makes identification of large-scale porphyry copper systems possible. Integrating these two different datasets with stream sediment data and other geochemical exploration methods results in a higher degree of confidence. Stream sediment data were analysed to see the distribution of copper and gold elements throughout the study area, located within the Eastern Papuan Peninsula of Papua New Guinea. Airborne geophysics data over the same area were also processed for magnetic and radiometric responses. The processing of the magnetic data revealed several magnetic anomalies related to concealed intrusive rock units, with associated radiometric signatures. The distribution of gold and copper anomalism was correlated with the geology and geophysical signatures. Results indicate varying degrees of correlation, with some areas showing a strong correlation between gold/copper occurrence and geophysical signatures, compared to other areas. Some factors that we believe impact the level of correlation may include tectonic history, volcanic cover, and weathering patterns. We recommend caution when applying multi-data exploration for porphyry copper systems.
Highlights
Papua New Guinea is host to two large copper mines in Ok Tedi and Panguna and at least three more undeveloped copper projects; one of which, the Frieda River prospect, is in the top 10 largest copper deposits in the world, in terms of reserves
We combined geology, geochemistry, and geophysics to identify possible porphyry system target(s) within the study area. This approach has been previously undertaken in the past as a multi-criteria decision making (MDM) tool in mineral potential mapping [49,50]
With some success, the potential to constrain the extent of exploration to areas that have a higher chance of hosting mineralisation
Summary
Papua New Guinea is host to two large copper mines in Ok Tedi and Panguna and at least three more undeveloped copper projects; one of which, the Frieda River prospect, is in the top 10 largest copper deposits in the world, in terms of reserves. The formation and deposition of porphyry copper–gold systems in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands occurred between 24 and 20 Ma and again between 12 and. Their emplacement has long been associated with calc-alkaline intrusive rocks [4,5] and arc magmatism [1]. It is critical that mineral exploration programmes are instituted to identify new mineral deposits that may be developed in the few decades
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