Some History
The origins of mineral systems thinking in the Australia context can be traced back to work in the 1990s in Geoscience Australia (BMR as it was then), inspired by Petroleum Systems concepts as formalised by Magoon and Dow (1991). The aim was to look beyond the immediate ore deposit and environs and describe the whole mineralizing system (Wyborn et al., 1994).
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Programs such as the pmd*CRC (Predictive Mineral Deposits CRC; 2002-2008) and its predecessor AGCRC (Australian Geodynamics CRC; 1993-2000) systematized approaches to mapping and modelling systems across a range of scales and application to exploration.
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The Solomon meetings (2011, 2018) and the planned Solomon-Wall meeting, continue the conversation of the nature of systems, advance the understanding of their mapping and application to mineral exploration.
Magoon, L. B., and Dow, W. G., 1991, The petroleum system – from source to trap: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 75, p. 627
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Wyborn, L. A. I., Heinrich, C. A., and Jaques, A. L., 1994, Australian Proterozoic Mineral Systems: Essential Ingredients and Mappable Criteria: AusIMM Publication Series v. 5/94, p. 109 -115
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Mineral system themes of the Solomon & Wall meetings include:
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architecture of systems across a range of scales
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mapping gradients in systems to aid vectoring, defining fluid pathways and identifying processes of metal transport & deposition
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new tool and technologies for mapping architecture and related gradients
Caves House, Yallingup, WA 2011
Clare Valley, SA, 2018
