If recent monthly metals prices hold any clues, the Australian mining sector may already be recovering from the March 2020 quarter's tariff- and COVID-related travails. We take a look at evidence that Archean-aged sensuo stricto boninites and related rocks have been identified in the Western Australian Youanmi region — something that might prick up the ears of explorers chasing subduction-related deposits. And we show you how nanoscale mineral mapping has revealed substantial radionuclide content within and coating accessory minerals at the Olympic Dam IOCG superdeposit. Read More

Our industry business-conditions snapshot reveals that the Australian mining sector was collateral damage in the US-China trade tariff warring and looks set for a further kick to the gut as the global coronavirus-induced economic slowdown takes grip. We reveal how systematic retrieval and analysis of environmentally relevant data such as rainfall and snowfall can help mineral project managers to understand local weather, vegetation, and lake level patterns. We take a look at research that has uncovered thick basal volcanic rocks beneath Australia's McArthur River base metal deposits. And we walk you through the significance of a new map of the onshore and offshore geology of Papua New Guinea's gold-endowed New Ireland Basin. Read More

The Australian mining sector is doing well enough, but according to our industry business-conditions snapshot the broader economy and Australian workers, households, and consumers seem uncomfortably perched on a knife's edge. We look at how glacial drift-derived sulfide grains can explorationally point the way toward possible mineralization. And we see how once-shunned rotational seismic waves have become the next big thing in seismology and beyond. Read More

In our latest issue of the Fathom Geophysics newsletter, we show you that the Australian mining sector is riding high, according to our industry business-conditions snapshot. We also take a look at how Canada's Kidd Creek and Bathurst mining camps reveal important clues for explorers of volcanic-related massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. We see how a closer look at apparent mineral-chemistry trends at the Marathon copper-palladium deposit revealed them to be a mirage, but at the same time uncovered a legitimate exploration vector to mineralization. And we examine strategies for undertaking meaningful mineral exploration in the lateritic pediment-dominated landscapes of sub-Saharan West Africa. Read More

We show you that mineral explorers who rely on rutile as a pathfinder to ore should weed rutile's misleading polymorphs out of their samples. We also take a look at a Fathom Geophysics' true 3D filtering of 3D datasets — a service we believe is offered nowhere else yet in the industry. We take a look at a few of the mining-intensive states and provinces that seem keen to entice explorers with rock reference-collection refurbisments. And we examine new research about how explorers can tell between calcrete and explorationally-unimportant weathered marine-origin carbonates. Read More

Business looks back on track for the Australian mining industry. We also take a look at a transvaporization and overpressurization model put forward to explain the existence of supergiant ore deposits, and examine four industry-related quantitative analytical methods that have recently been introduced or improved. Read More