Northern Australia Geochemical Survey: data release 2 - Total (coarse fraction), Aqua Regia (coarse and fine fraction), and Fire Assay (Coarse and fine fraction) elements contents

Main, P.T.; Bastrakov, Evgeniy; Wygralak, AS; Czarnota, K.; Khan, Muhammad Sarwar

doi:10.11636/record.2019.002

Cited by 3 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…As an independent validation dataset, we used the geochemical dataset from the Northern Australia Geochemical Survey (NAGS) project (Main et al, 2019). This dataset contains 773 observations located in the Tennant Creek -Mt Isa region in the Northern Territory and Queensland, with an approximate sampling density of one sample every 500 km 2 and collected in 2017.…”

Section: Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reference Materials (Main and Champion, 2022). In short, a correction factor based on the CRM measurements from the two datasets is calculated and applied as multiplier to relevel the data.…”

Section: Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Li geochemical data for calibration and validation are available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2011.020 (De Caritat and Cooper, 2011a) and http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2019.002 (Main et al, 2019)…”

Section: Declaration Of Competing Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, Australia's ranking for economic resource of Lithium was the second, but it ranked the first for its production (Senior, 2022), with potential of additional discoveries. According to recent survey (Senior, 2022), Australia produced 40 kilotons (kt) of Li (in terms of spodumene, Li2O.Al2O3.4SiO2, concentrates; assuming 6% of Li 2 O in spodumene concentrates) in 2020, or 49% of the global production; a significant increase from 21.3 kt of Li in 2017 (Champion, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A 2013 investigation by Geoscience Australia found that the potential of Li-rich salt lakes in Australia was relatively low in comparison to those, for instance, in the Americas (Jaireth et al, 2013;Mernagh et al, 2015;Mernagh et al, 2016). Most of the Li in Australia exists as mineral deposits (Champion, 2019). Despite Australia's current position as the world's leading supplier of Li, it has limited prospects for immediate expansion as the potential for spodumene similar deposits in Australia…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Digital soil mapping of lithium in Australia

Minasny

McBratney

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Abstract. With a higher demand for lithium (Li), a better understanding of its concentration and spatial distribution is important to delineate potential anomalous areas. This study uses a digital soil mapping framework to combine data from recent geochemical surveys and environmental covariates to predict and map Li content across the 7.6 million km2 area of Australia. Soil samples were collected by the National Geochemical Survey of Australia at a total of 1315 sites, with both top (0–10 cm depth) and bottom (on average 60–80 cm depth) catchment outlet sediments sampled. We developed 50 bootstrap models using a Cubist regression tree algorithm for both depths. The spatial prediction models were validated on an independent Northern Australia Geochemical Survey dataset, showing a good prediction with a root mean square error of 3.82 mg kg-1 (which is 50.9 % of the inter-quartile range) for the top depth. The model for the bottom depth has yet to be validated. The variables of importance for the models indicated that the first three Landsat 30+ Barest Earth bands (blue, green, red) and gamma radiometric dose have a strong impact on Li prediction. The bootstrapped models were then used to generate digital soil Li prediction maps for both depths, which could select and delineate areas with anomalously high Li concentrations in the regolith. The map shows high Li concentration around existing mines and other potentially anomalous Li areas. This is the first study that produces soil Li using remote sensing data at a high resolution over a continent. The same mapping principles can potentially be applied to other elements. The Li geochemical data for calibration and validation are available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2011.020 and http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2019.002 respectively. The covariates data used for this study was sourced from Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) infrastructure, which is enabled by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) https://esoil.io/TERNLandscapes/Public/Products/TERN/Covariates/Mosaics/90m/ (TERN, 2019).

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Section: Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Declaration Of Competing Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Digital soil mapping of lithium in Australia

Minasny

McBratney

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Digital soil mapping of lithium in Australia

Minasny

McBratney

et al. 2023

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

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Abstract. With a higher demand for lithium (Li), a better understanding of its concentration and spatial distribution is important to delineate potential anomalous areas. This study uses a digital soil mapping framework to combine data from recent geochemical surveys and environmental covariates that affect soil formation to predict and map aqua-regia-extractable Li content across the 7.6×106 km2 area of Australia. Catchment outlet sediment samples (i.e. soils formed on alluvial parent material) were collected by the National Geochemical Survey of Australia at 1315 sites, with both top (0–10 cm depth) and bottom (on average ∼60–80 cm depth) catchment outlet sediments sampled. We developed 50 bootstrap models using a cubist regression tree algorithm for each depth. The spatial prediction models were validated on an independent Northern Australia Geochemical Survey dataset, showing a good prediction with a root mean square error of 3.32 mg kg−1 (which is 44.2 % of the interquartile range) for the top depth. The model for the bottom depth has yet to be validated. The variables of importance for the models indicated that the first three Landsat 30+ Barest Earth bands (red, green, blue) and gamma radiometric dose have a strong impact on the development of regression-based Li prediction. The bootstrapped models were then used to generate digital soil Li prediction maps for both depths, which could identify and delineate areas with anomalously high Li concentrations in the regolith. The predicted maps show high Li concentration around existing mines and other potentially anomalous Li areas that have yet to be verified. The same mapping principles can potentially be applied to other elements. The Li geochemical data for calibration and validation are available from de Caritat and Cooper (2011b; https://doi.org/10.11636/Record.2011.020) and Main et al. (2019; https://doi.org/10.11636/Record.2019.002), respectively. The covariate data used for this study were sourced from the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) infrastructure, which is enabled by the Australian Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS; https://esoil.io/TERNLandscapes/Public/Products/TERN/Covariates/Mosaics/90m/, last access: 6 December 2022; TERN, 2019). The final predictive map is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7895482 (Ng et al., 2023).

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A regolith lead isoscape of Australia

Desem,

de Caritat,

Woodhead

et al. 2024

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

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Abstract. We present the first national-scale lead (Pb) isotope maps of Australia based on surface regolith for five isotope ratios, 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/206Pb, and 208Pb/206Pb, determined by single-collector sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after an ammonium acetate leach followed by aqua regia digestion. The dataset is underpinned principally by the National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) archived floodplain sediment samples. We analysed 1219 samples (0–10 cm depth, <2 mm grain size), collected near the outlet of 1119 large catchments covering 5.647×106 km2 (∼75 % of Australia). The samples consist of mixtures of the dominant soils and rocks weathering in their respective catchments (and possibly those upstream) and are therefore assumed to form a reasonable representation of the average isotopic signature of those catchments. This assumption was tested in one of the NGSA catchments, within which 12 similar samples were also taken; results show that the Pb isotope ratios of the NGSA catchment outlet sediment sample are close to the average of the 12 upstream sub-catchment samples. National minimum, median, and maximum values were 15.56, 18.84, and 30.64 for 206Pb/204Pb; 14.36, 15.69, and 18.01 for 207Pb/204Pb; 33.56, 38.99, and 48.87 for 208Pb/204Pb; 0.5880, 0.8318, and 0.9847 for 207Pb/206Pb; and 1.4149, 2.0665, and 2.3002 for 208Pb/206Pb, respectively. The new dataset was compared with published bedrock and ore Pb isotope data, and it was found to dependably represent crustal elements of various ages from Archaean to Phanerozoic. This suggests that floodplain sediment samples are a suitable proxy for basement and basin geology at this scale, despite various degrees of transport, mixing, and weathering experienced in the regolith environment, locally over protracted periods of time. An example of atmospheric Pb contamination around Port Pirie, South Australia, where a Pb smelter has operated since the 1890s, is shown to illustrate potential environmental applications of this new dataset. Other applications may include elucidating details of Australian crustal evolution and mineralisation-related investigations. The new regolith Pb isotope dataset for Australia is publicly available (Desem et al., 2023; https://doi.org/10.26186/5ea8f6fd3de64).

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Northern Australia Geochemical Survey: data release 2 - Total (coarse fraction), Aqua Regia (coarse and fine fraction), and Fire Assay (Coarse and fine fraction) elements contents

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Digital soil mapping of lithium in Australia

Digital soil mapping of lithium in Australia

Digital soil mapping of lithium in Australia

A regolith lead isoscape of Australia

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