Victorian Gold Province, Australia: a contemporary exploration guide

Category: Special Publications	Product Code: MP-R-37383
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Preface A Contemporary Exploration Guide is written for geologists who are likely to be outside Victoria and possibly outside Australia. The target reader is one who is able to influence or decide where a company’s exploration focus will be, potentially an exploration or new ventures manager. Some exploration experience is assumed such as a broad-based knowledge of the industry, but not necessarily technical knowledge relating to gold deposits or knowledge of Victorian geology.

The Guide avoids esoteric debate and much geological data where these do not materially influence exploration, but does not shy away from highlighting alternative ideas where they might provide an astute explorer with an exploration advantage. The report is deliberately reference-heavy to provide the opportunity to take any of the ideas farther, and much previous descriptive work has only been lightly summarised here as it is readily available in the literature.

In any exploration process, there needs to be confidence that gold is there to be discovered, and this confidence comes from understanding the nature of the primary gold province, the variety of possible styles of goldfields, an understanding of the terrain including its later modifications, and the ability to select appropriate methods to explore for the deposits. Ultimately, any decision to explore for gold in Victoria will be based on the belief that there is gold to find, that a Reserve can be established, that the deposit can be mined, and a profit is likely. If the exploration process can be facilitated and made more productive by some innovative ideas, the case for exploration in Victoria is enhanced. Little attempt is made here to provide a detailed exploration plan as this must be influenced by a company’s philosophy and targets, regional geomorphology, the community, regulations, costs and land availability.

Although the report is focused on the State of Victoria, it necessarily includes the larger scale context. The Cainozoic Murray Basin provides a barrier to northward extension of surface exploration methods from central Victoria, but the subsurface Victorian Gold Province itself extends well into New South Wales and north-eastern Tasmania: much can be gleaned by including some data from these parts of the Province. Nature has formed all parts of this well-endowed gold province as one, and only later divided it with a major river and strait of water.

Download The downloadable version of this report is supplied in PDF format.

Bibliographic reference Phillips, G.N., 2010. Victorian Gold Province, Australia: a contemporary exploration guide. GeoScience Victoria Special Publication. Department of Primary Industries.