The East Tennant project activity sits within the Tennant Creek to Mount Isa focused integrated study area. It is located east of Tennant Creek and is defined by an approximately northeast-trending corridor extending for 350 km situated between Tennant Creek and the Queensland border. The East Tennant area is almost completely covered by sedimentary rocks of the Georgina Basin, which obscure its potential to host mineral systems. Despite the lack of exposed basement rocks in the area, the East Tennant area was selected as an area for ongoing detailed geoscientific investigation through integration of new multi-disciplinary and multi-scale geoscience data.
Location of the East Tennant project activity (black outline). Base layer is gravity coverage draped over the first vertical derivative magnetic coverage
The East Tennant region is characterised by a range of geological features that are favourable for mineral systems, including large-scale changes in lithospheric architecture and zones of high electrical conductivity in the crust and mantle. Detailed gravity and broadband magnetotelluric data acquired by the Exploring for the Future Program reveal crustal-scale conductivity pathways that coincide with regional faults.
Stratigraphic drilling was conducted as part of MinEx CRC's National Drilling Initiative. Ten holes were drilled through a range of cover sequences and into basement for a total of nearly 4,000 m including over 1,500 m of diamond cored basement rocks.
Data from this drilling program have better constrained the East Tennant basement geology and calibrated predictive mineral potential maps to further our understanding of the prospectivity of this promising region.
East Tennant drill-hole locations. Base layer is gravity coverage draped over the first vertical derivative magnetic coverage
Regional faults, AusLAMP electrical conductivity, AusARRAY crustal and lithospheric thickness, and the location of the new East Tennant mineral exploration fairway. Infill geophysical data coverage is also shown. The lower panel shows a section through a 3D conductivity model derived from AusLAMP and infill magnetotelluric data. Note the region of higher electrical conductivity extending from the deep crust to the near surface. The lower right image shows a photo of drill-core showing evidence of mineralisation coinciding with higher electrical conductivity and upper crustal faults
