The Redan Geophysical Zone forms a regional magnetic high in contrast to the regional magnetic low defined by the main part of the Broken Hill Block. The magnetic rocks are interpreted to dip below the remainder of the Broken Hill Block and there has been speculation that they are significantly older than the Early Proterozoic Willyama Supergroup. Evaluation of lithological mapping and aeromagnetic data permitted interpretation of a stratigraphic sequence within the Redan Geophysical Zone, consisting of three new formations: the Redan Gneiss, Ednas Gneiss and Mulculca Formation, plus the Lady Brassey Formation, part of the Thackaringa Group. The rocks are considered to belong to the lower part of the Willyama Supergroup and are not an older basement. Although the Redan Geophysical Zone contains some rock types not found elsewhere in the Broken Hill Block, there are some lithological similarities with the lower part of the Willyama Supergroup: an abundance of albite‐rich rocks, the presence of quartz‐magnetite rocks with Cu and trace Co, and abundant amphibolite/ basic granulite in the Lady Brassey Formation. The boundary between the Redan Geophysical Zone and the remainder of the Broken Hill Block appears to be conformable, with no evidence of major faulting. Similarly no evidence of unconformities or major displacement of stratigraphic boundaries has been found within the Redan Geophysical Zone. Structural history, fold style and orientation, and metamorphic grade within the Redan Geophysical Zone are similar to adjacent areas of the Broken Hill Block. It is concluded that the Broken Hill Block contains no outcropping equivalent of the first cycle of sedimentary/ igneous rocks recognized in the Early Proterozoic of northern Australia. Albite‐quartz‐hornblende‐magnetite rocks unique to the Redan Geophysical Zone most likely comprised detritus derived directly from an intermediate volcanic suite. Some were altered considerably, while other rocks retained the dacite/andesite composition, except for the addition of Na, an increase in the oxidation state, and partial leaching of some of the more mobile elements. These modifications could have taken place in shallow alkaline evaporitic lakes. The Redan Geophysical Zone contains some of the elements of a foreland basin adjacent to a continental volcanic arc: a thick stratigraphic sequence, oxidizing evaporitic conditions, and intermediate volcanic detritus. The change from intermediate‐acid volcanism in the earliest formations, to bimodal acid/basic volcanism in the Thackaringa and Broken Hill Groups could correspond with a change from initial continental arc volcanism into bimodal rift volcanism. The case for the arc volcanism is weakened, however, by the relative scarcity of rocks with andesitic compositions and the lack of basaltic andesite compositions. The alternative is that the intermediate to acid volcanism represents only a variation on the later bimodal rift volcanism.