©2007 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Economic Geology, v. 102, pp. 1511–1539

Mesoproterozoic Gold in the Central Gawler Craton, South Australia:

Geology, Alteration, Fluids, and Timing
GEOFFREY L. FRASER,†
Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia, and Research School of Earth Sciences,
Australian National University, Acton, A.C.T. 0200, Australia

ROGER G. SKIRROW,
Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, A.C.T. 2601, Australia

ANDREAS SCHMIDT-MUMM,
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Adelaide, GPO Box 498, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia

AND OLIVER HOLM

Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia, and Research School of Earth Sciences,
Australian National University, Acton, A.C.T. 0200, Australia

Abstract
Similarities in mineralization and alteration style, host rocks, fluid compositions, and alteration-related
40Ar/39Ar ages from several recently discovered gold prospects support the existence of a significant Mesopro-
terozoic gold province spanning an arcuate region at least 300 km in length in the central Gawler craton, South
Australia. At the recently discovered prospects of Tunkillia, Nuckulla Hill, Barns, and Weednanna, as well as at
the historically mined Au deposit at Tarcoola, gold occurs as disseminated and veinlet-hosted mineralization
focused in brittle to brittle-ductile faults and shear zones. Host rocks are principally ~1715 to ~1680 Ma gran-
ites but also include Hutchison Group (2000–1860 Ma) and Tarcoola Formation (~1650 Ma) metasedimentary
rocks. Hydrothermal alteration is characteristically zoned around gold mineralization, with intense sericite-
pyrite alteration and quartz veining proximal to gold mineralization and chlorite ± epidote ± hematite alter-
ation distal from mineralization. Alteration was either synchronous with or, in some cases, continued after
deformation. Gold is associated with pyrite and minor to trace galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite. Iron oxides
are low in abundance in mineralized zones, which correspond to demagnetized zones. Fluid inclusion analyses
suggest that multiple fluids were present in some systems, but one key fluid type occurs in each of the gold
prospects: a low- to moderate-salinity (up to 10 wt % NaCl equiv) fluid with homogenization temperatures
mostly in the range of ~150° to 300°C and commonly containing CO2 or associated with CO2-rich inclusions.
Several features of the prospects are similar to those of orogenic- and intrusion-related gold deposits, but nei-
ther the prospect-scale geology nor the regional geologic setting in the central Gawler craton is sufficiently well
understood to establish a genetic model or to confidently classify the mineralizing system. Hydrothermal white
micas from several of the central Gawler craton gold prospects yield reproducible 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of be-
tween 1567 and 1583 Ma. These ages, together with U-Pb zircon ages of granitic host rocks, constrain the tim-
ing of mineralization to the interval ~1690 to 1570 Ma, although we interpret the 40Ar/39Ar results to indicate
a narrower mineralizing interval at ~1580 ± 10 Ma. This age range overlaps with, and is indistinguishable from,
the range of U-Pb zircon ages reported from regional Hiltaba Suite granites and Gawler Range Volcanics, al-
though igneous rocks of this age have not been identified locally at each of the prospects.

Introduction a variety of commodities. The northeastern part of the craton

MINERAL explorers are increasingly faced with the challenge
of discovering new prospects and deposits in regions where
outcrop is poor or even nonexistent. One such region is the
Gawler craton of South Australia where more than 90 percent
of crystalline basement rock is covered by several tens of me-
ters of deeply weathered regolith and in many places also by
aeolian dunes. This lack of continuous basement outcrop has
severely limited the geologic understanding of the Gawler
craton and continues to hamper mineral exploration efforts.
Despite these problems, exploration interest in the region is
high, as the Gawler craton is known to be well endowed with
† Corresponding author: e-mail, Geoff.Fraser@ga.gov.au
hosts the giant Olympic Dam Cu-Au-U deposit, and to the
southeast are the historically important iron oxide-Cu-Au
(IOCG) deposits of Moonta and Wallaroo. In the northwest
mining has recently commenced at the Archean Challenger
gold deposit. In the central part of the Gawler craton, mining
activity has been restricted mainly to the Tarcoola goldfield,
which was active until 1986. More recent exploration interest
in the central Gawler craton has been largely driven by sur-
face geochemical surveys showing numerous gold anomalies
in calcrete samples. Drilling programs centered around such
anomalies have led to the discovery of several gold prospects
in the central Gawler craton over the past decade. As yet,
none of these prospects has been shown to be economic, but

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1512 FRASER ET AL.

new prospects continue to be discovered (e.g., Drown, 2004)
and the potential for large deposits appears high (Drown,
2003). The largest of the recently discovered prospects is
Tunkillia, where a resource of 720, 000 oz Au has been de-
fined (Helix Resources, 2003 Annual Report).
On the basis of similarities between several recently dis-
covered gold prospects, Ferris and Schwarz (2003) coined the
term “central Gawler craton gold province” to refer to the
area in which they are found. This follows the work of Budd
et al. (1998) who suggested that the contrasting metallogeny
of the eastern Gawler craton (dominantly IOCG), and the
central Gawler craton (Au-only deposits) might be related to
geochemical differences in coeval granites. As currently pro-
posed, the central Gawler craton gold province forms an ar-
cuate belt wrapping around the southwestern margin of the
~1590 Ma Gawler Range Volcanics province and in part fol-
lowing the trend of the Yarlbrinda shear zone (Fig. 1).
While attractive as an exploration concept, the existence of
the central Gawler craton gold province requires consider-
able testing. Geologic and metallogenic understanding of the

Tarcoola

Zone
Yerda Shear Earea Dam

Glenloth

Tunkillia
Fig. 2

NUYTS DOMAIN
YSZ

Nuckulla Hill
GAWLER RANGE VOLCANICS DOMAIN
Kondoolka Batholith
YSZ

Ceduna

Menninnie Dam (Pb,Zn)

Great Australian Mawson

Bight
Streaky Bay Weednanna
Barns

FIG. 1. Geologic map of the central Gawler craton, showing the distribution of gold prospects, the extent of the proposed
central Gawler craton gold province (after Ferris and Schwarz, 2003), and the position of the Yarlbrinda (YSZ) and Yerda
shear zones. Note that this map is heavily based on aeromagnetic interpretation and is subject to considerable uncertainty.
The interpreted age of many of the granites is untested by geochronology. The dashed box shows the position of Figure 2.

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 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING
prospects within the region is rudimentary, and it is not clear
to what extent the various prospects have a common origin. In
this contribution we document geologic features of several
gold prospects in the central Gawler craton gold province, in-
cluding alteration style and fluid characteristics, and provide
improved age constraints for the timing of alteration and min-
eralization. We emphasize that this work has been undertaken
in a region where even such fundamental information as the
distribution of basement lithologic units is poorly known, the
Proterozoic tectonic setting is uncertain, and access to rock
samples is restricted to limited diamond drill holes from
widely spaced prospects. Nevertheless, sufficient data are
now available to support the concept of an early Mesopro-
terozoic gold province in the central Gawler craton.
Geologic Setting
The geology of the Gawler craton has been described by
Drexel et al. (1993) and Daly et al. (1998) and is briefly sum-
marized here. The oldest rocks in the Gawler craton are
found in the Sleaford Complex in the southwest and the
Mulgathing Complex in the northwest (Fig. 1). These cores
of the craton consist of highly deformed interlayered para-
and orthogneisses and yield U-Pb zircon ages of ~2400 to
2450 Ma (Fanning et al., 2007). Overlying this basement are
Paleoproterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Hutchison Group,
consisting of quartzites, schists, dolomite, and jaspilite,
which were deposited between ~2000 and ~1860 Ma on a
shallow continental shelf, deepening to the east (Daly et al.,
1998). In the southern Gawler craton, the Hutchison Group
is intruded by ~1850 Ma Donington Suite granites and was
variably deformed and metamorphosed during the Kimban
orogeny between ~1730 to 1700 Ma. Syn- to late-tectonic in-
trusions associated with the Kimban orogeny include the
Middlecamp Granite and Moody Suite granitoids (Fanning
et al., 2007) and also the recently recognized Paxton Suite
granites in the Tarcoola area (Budd and Fraser, 2004). Post-
dating the Kimban orogeny in the central Gawler craton is a
belt of I-type intrusions with a magmatic age of ~1680 Ma,
termed the Tunkillia Suite (Ferris, 2001). Farther north are
fluvial to marine sediments of the Tarcoola Formation, with
a tuffaceous unit in the upper member of the Tarcoola For-
mation yielding a U-Pb TIMS zircon age of 1656 ± 7 Ma
(Fanning, 1997).
In the southwestern Gawler craton is an extensive region
known as the Nuyts domain dominated by calc-alkaline gran-
ites of the St Peters Suite with a magmatic age of ~1620 Ma
(Ferris, 2001). East of the Nuyts domain lies an area domi-
nated by flat-lying Gawler Range Volcanics, dated at ~1592
Ma (Fanning et al., 1988; Mortimer et al., 1988; Creaser and
Cooper, 1993). The Gawler Range Volcanics are bimodal, but
predominantly of felsic composition, and represent one of the
largest known provinces of felsic volcanism. The extent of es-
sentially flat-lying Gawler Range Volcanics testifies to the ge-
ologic stability of large parts of the central Gawler craton
since ~1590 Ma. Intruding all the geologic units described
above, and widely distributed across the Gawler craton, are
granites of the Hiltaba Suite, broadly coeval with the Gawler
Range Volcanics, with U-Pb zircon ages ranging between
~1595 and ~1580 Ma (Fanning et al., 1988, 2007; Creaser
and Cooper, 1993; Fanning, 1997).
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1513
The structure of the central Gawler craton is dominated by
the north-south–oriented Yarlbrinda shear zone and east-
west–oriented Yerda shear zone, forming a “T” shape (Fig. 1).
The Yarlbrinda shear zone, although cropping out poorly, is
clearly evident in regional magnetics, running approximately
north-south for ~150 km, and defines the eastern margin of
the Nuyts domain. Sporadic outcropping shows a steeply dip-
ping to subvertical foliation within the Yarlbrinda shear zone,
and Ferris (2001) reported several examples of dextral strike-
slip shear-sense indicators. Regional magnetics indicate that
toward its southern end the Yarlbrinda shear zone is cut by
the Kondoolka batholith. A massive, coarse-grained granite
from the Kondoolka batholith has yielded a SHRIMP
207Pb/206Pb zircon age of 1580 ± 7 Ma (Ferris, 2001), indicat-
ing that this granite is part of the Hiltaba Suite, and that per-
vasive deformation within the Yarlbrinda shear zone had
ceased by ~1580 Ma. At its northern end, the Yarlbrinda
shear zone swings to the west and joins the east-west–trend-
ing Yerda shear zone. The geometry of these shear zones, ev-
ident in the regional magnetics, suggests that movement
along the Yerda shear zone postdates deformation in the Yarl-
brinda shear zone. This relative timing sequence is supported
by the age of a foliated granite from within the Yerda shear
zone that gives a U-Pb zircon age of 1592 ± 11 Ma (Ferris,
2001), indicating that development of foliation postdated in-
trusion of at least some Hiltaba Suite granites.
Ferris and Schwarz (2003) used Sm-Nd data compiled for
Hiltaba Suite granitoids in the Gawler craton (Stewart et al.,
1999) to suggest that there is a significant change in composi-
tion from west to east, coinciding broadly with the Yarlbrinda
shear zone. These data show that the Yarlbrinda shear zone
marks the eastern boundary of a domain dominated by rela-
tively “primitive” εNd values, possibly related to the presence
of significant volumes of juvenile St. Peter Suite I-type gran-
ites. Older granites of the Tunkillia Suite occur along parts of
this boundary zone although their distribution is not re-
stricted to this setting. Lower εNd values to the east of the
Yarlbrinda shear zone suggest a greater influence of older
basement on Hiltaba Suite magma.
The Tarcoola Goldfield
Mining activity within the central Gawler craton gold
province has occurred at the Earea Dam, Glenloth, and Tar-
coola goldfields (Fig. 1). Mining at Earea Dam and Glenloth
had ceased by the 1940s, whereas the Tarcoola goldfield was
active until 1986, producing over 2 metric tons (t) of gold.
The geology of the Tarcoola goldfield has been more thor-
oughly studied (Hein et al., 1994; Budd and Fraser, 2004;
Budd and Skirrow, 2007) than any of the other prospects in
the central Gawler craton gold province, and we include a
brief summary here for comparison with the more recently
discovered prospects that are the focus of this study.
Host rocks to gold mineralization in the Tarcoola goldfield
include both Tarcoola Formation clastic sedimentary rocks
and Paxton Suite granites (Budd and Fraser, 2004). Gold oc-
curs both in sulfide-bearing quartz reefs and as disseminated
gold in altered granite and is concentrated in fault-controlled
corridors. Gold abundance is correlated with the intensity of
alteration of granitic host rocks, in which plagioclase is pro-
gressively sericitized. Paxton Suite granites yield U-Pb zircon
1514 FRASER ET AL.

ages of ~1715 Ma (Budd and Skirrow, 2007: C. M. Fanning, 65 65

6

E
5 50 E 00

m
pers. commun. 2003), placing a maximum age constraint on 0 m 0

0
0 00 0

00
m 00 m
gold mineralization. In addition, a tuffaceous unit within the

5
N N E

46
47 m
gold-bearing Tarcoola Formation has yielded a U-Pb zircon 00
65 50
47
age of 1656 ± 7 Ma (Fanning, 1997), interpreted as a deposi- 5 00
0 0
tional age and therefore also representing a maximum age for m
N
mineralization. Tighter constraints on the timing of mineral-
ization are provided by 40Ar/39Ar ages (Budd and Fraser,
2004). Four samples of sericite from altered granite give
40Ar/39Ar ages between 1576 ± 5 and 1587 ± 5 Ma (Budd and
E
m
Fraser, 2004), interpreted as minimum ages for sericitic al- 00
65 00
teration. Igneous hornblende from a mafic dike that is cut by 4 50 48
0
gold mineralization gives a 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of 1582 ± 5 0
m
N
Ma (Budd and Fraser, 2004), interpreted as the time of dike
emplacement and therefore a younger maximum age for gold
mineralization. The hornblende and sericite 40Ar/39Ar ages Tunkillia
bracket the time of mineralization and are within uncertainty
E
of each other at ~1580 Ma. This age is also within uncertainty 00
m

of the time of regional Hiltaba Suite and Gawler Range Vol- 65 50

4 00 48
canics magmatism. Fluid inclusion analyses (Hein et al., 0 0
m
N
1994) reveal the presence of a low-salinity fluid (~5 wt %

ne
NaCl equiv) with homogenization temperatures ranging be-

Zo
tween ~110° and 340°C.

ar
Recently Discovered Gold Prospects in

he
E
m
the Central Gawler Craton 00

aS
65 00
3 50 49
Here we report the geologic features of the Tunkillia, 0

nd
0
m
Nuckulla Hill, Barns, and Weednanna prospects. Each of N

these prospects was discovered since ca. 1994 as a result of
drilling, following geochemical sampling of calcrete or analy-
sis of aeromagnetic surveys in areas where rock outcrop is
rare or nonexistent. The Tunkillia and Nuckulla Hill
prospects are located within the Yarlbrinda shear zone,
whereas Barns and Weednanna are farther to the south and
east, near the southern margin of the Gawler Range Volcanics
province (Fig. 1). Also included in the central Gawler craton
gold province, but not reported on here, are the Earea Dam
and Glenloth prospects. The southeastern part of the central
Gawler craton gold province also contains the Menninnie
Dam Pb-Zn deposit.
Tunkillia
The Tunkillia prospect is situated approximately 70 km
southeast of Tarcoola, where the Yarlbrinda shear zone swings
from a north-south to northwest-southeast orientation (Fig.
1). Outcrop is scarce to nonexistent in this area; however in-
terpretation of aeromagnetic data suggests that the Yarlbrinda
shear zone is about 4 km wide in the vicinity of Tunkillia (Fig.
2). The magnetic expression of the Yarlbrinda shear zone is a
broad, curvilinear feature containing zones of low magnetic
response attributed to demagnetization (alteration of mag-
netite to less magnetic minerals), particularly along the mar-
gins of the shear zone. Area 223 of the Tunkillia prospect has
been drill tested and contains a defined resource of 10.5 Mt
at 2.2 g/t Au (730,000 oz Au: Ferris and Wilson, 2004).
The dominant host rocks to alteration and mineralization at
Tunkillia are variably foliated and sheared granitoid rocks
(Helix Resources, unpub. technical report 2204, 1997; Fig. 3).
Igneous textures range from even-grained quartz-K-feldspar-
plagioclase granite to porphyritic granite with K-feldspar
bri
rl
Ya
5 km
FIG. 2. First vertical derivative aeromagnetic image, showing the location
of the Tunkillia prospect on the margin of the Yarlbrinda shear zone.
phenocrysts up to 1 to 2 cm in length (Ferris, 2001); volu-
metrically less significant are mafic and felsic porphyritic
dikes. Mafic dikes are dark gray-green, fine to medium
grained, massive to weakly foliated, and variably altered. Fel-
sic porphyritic dikes are reddish with plagioclase phenocrysts
up to 1 to 2 mm in diameter comprising 5 to 10 vol percent of
the rock. These felsic dikes are undeformed and therefore
postdate the shearing of the host granitoids but in places are
weakly sericite altered, indicating that at least some alteration
postdated emplacement of the felsic dikes.
Foliation typically strikes northwest and dips steeply to the
southwest. Deformation fabrics at Tunkillia vary from foliated
granite, through protomylonite to mylonite, and cataclasite,
indicating a complex structural evolution. Ribbons of recrys-
tallized quartz define a strong fabric that wraps around frac-
tured and partially recrystallized K-feldspar and plagioclase
(Fig. 4b). Based on these deformation textures, temperatures
during initial shearing are estimated to have been on the
order of 400° to 450°C (Passchier and Trouw, 1996).
Hydrothermal alteration at Tunkillia can be divided into
two broad paragenetic stages. The earlier stage (Table 1) is
characterized by two spatially overlapping alteration mineral
assemblages. The outer alteration zone, which in drill core

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 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING
W E
50
Depth (m )
100
150
200
Bleached zone
Dacite dyke
Mafic dyke
FIG. 3. Cross section through the Tunkillia prospect (after Helix Resources Annual Report 2003).
extends over intervals of tens of centimeters to tens of meters,
contains disseminated and veinlet chlorite and partially seric-
itized plagioclase. Hematite dusting of K-feldspars is more
pronounced in this outer, chloritic alteration zone. The inner
zones comprise intense sericite-pyrite alteration, producing a
pale gray-green rock with little or no chlorite and hematite.
Gold-bearing quartz and sulfide veinlets occur within the
sericite-pyrite zones (Fig. 4a) and higher gold grades are
strongly spatially associated with these inner alteration zones.
Sericitic alteration is therefore thought to be coeval with min-
eralization. Whereas some sericite that has pervasively altered
igneous plagioclase is randomly oriented and shows little or
no strain (Fig. 4b), elsewhere the sericite is aligned and de-
fines a foliation (Fig. 4c). These observations suggest that at
least some of this sericitic alteration was pre- or synshearing,
but alteration may also have continued after the semiductile
deformation of the host granites.
Paragenetically later alteration (Table 1) includes carbonate
veinlets and chlorite ± quartz ± pyrite ± galena ± sphalerite
that cut the sheared and sericitized host granitoid rocks as
well as some of the mafic dikes. These veinlets are unde-
formed and are a volumetrically minor component of the
rocks at Tunkillia. The significance of these late-stage veins
with respect to gold mineralization is unknown.
The paragenetic sequence at Tunkillia, therefore, can be
summarized as shearing accompanied by sericite-pyrite-
quartz and chlorite alteration and gold mineralization, fol-
lowed by minor carbonate and chlorite ± quartz- ± sulfide
veinlets.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
1515
3/25
6/6. 5
5/2. 3
15/1. 5
0 50 m
Chlorite-sericite
Augen Gneiss alteration zone
Phyllitic shear Drill hole
Gold anomaly (>1g/t)
Fine grained granite
3/25 3m@25g/t Au
Nuckulla Hill
The Nuckulla Hill prospect is situated approximately 50 km
south of Tunkillia (Fig. 1), within the Yarlbrinda shear zone in
a zone of demagnetization. Host rocks are medium-grained
K-feldspar-plagioclase-muscovite-quartz granites (Fig. 5). In
the three drill holes studied, deformation has produced a va-
riety of structures from minor fracturing to strong foliations
(mylonitic in places), breccias, and cataclasites.
Alteration of the host rocks can be divided into three para-
genetic stages. The earliest stage recognized at Nuckulla Hill
(Table 1) is characterized by intense sericite-pyrite alteration
(Fig. 6a). As at Tunkillia, sericite has replaced igneous plagio-
clase as fine-grained mats in lower strain domains, but it is
also abundant as anastomosing seams defining a mylonitic
fabric. Brecciation and cataclasis, and continued sericitiza-
tion, appear to have postdated semiductile shearing and early
sericitization. Pyrite is common along the shear foliations as
disseminated grains. Anomalous gold values (up to 2 g/t) ap-
pear to be spatially associated with zones of relatively abun-
dant pyrite and sericite, although not all pyrite-sericite–rich
zones are gold rich. The second stage of alteration at Nuck-
ulla Hill is represented by veins and replacement patches of
epidote, quartz, chlorite, galena, sphalerite, pyrite, and fluo-
rite (Fig. 6b), and by quartz + carbonate veins. These assem-
blages show little or no strain and are cut by undeformed
veins of fine-grained albite, carbonate, anhydrite, and fluorite
(Fig. 6b). Vuggy and bladed textures and colloform banding
might be interpreted as evidence of a high-level, perhaps
1515
1516 FRASER ET AL.

ion
a iat
fol
brittle deformation

gn-sp

d
gn

Au
py

b c
py
qtz
ser

ser
Kfs

2 mm

FIG. 4. Photomicrographs of samples from the Tunkillia prospect. a. Photomosaic showing a stage 2 quartz-galena (gn)-
sphalerite (sp) vein crosscutting sheared granite. This vein is deformed and recrystallized and cut by brittle cataclastic de-
formation. Gray areas in the sheared granite are plagioclase, sericitized (ser) late within the shearing stage and broadly syn-
chronously with stage 2 quartz veining. Transmitted light, LED9 150.15 m. b. Sheared granite in which ribbons of
recrystallized quartz (qtz) wrap around lozenge-shaped plagioclase and K-feldspar (Kfs) with elongate tails. Plagioclase has
subsequently been replaced by sericite (ser). Sericitic alteration from this sample has been dated by the 40Ar/39Ar method.
Transmitted light, sample 2003369004, LED03 238.2 m. c. Sheared and altered granite showing foliation defined by sericite,
pyrite, and recrystallized quartz. Transmitted light, crossed polars, sample 1388923A from Ferris (2001). d. High-magnifica-
tion view of (c), showing gold (Au) and galena (gn) inclusions in pyrite (py) within the sericite foliation. Reflected light, sam-
ple 1388923A from Ferris (2001).

epithermal, environment during this latest stage of hydro-
thermal activity.
Barns
The Barns prospect is located about 150 km southeast of
Nuckulla Hill, to the southeast of the Yarlbrinda shear zone,
and near the southern margin of the Gawler Range Volcanics
domain (Fig. 1). A gold-in-calcrete anomaly has been defined
over an area of 4.5 × 1.5 km at the 2.5-ppb level. Drilling has
defined three main zones of gold mineralization in bedrock
over a combined strike length of ~1.2 km (Drown, 2003). The
dominant host rock is granodiorite containing a weak, subver-
tical foliation. Also present are quartzite and gneiss occurring
as blocks within the granodiorite and volumetrically minor
pegmatites and mafic dikes (Drown, 2003).
Alteration and mineralization cut all host-rock types at
Barns (Fig. 7). Alteration is zoned (Drown, 2003) with an
outer chlorite-albite envelope in which biotite is replaced by
chlorite, plagioclase is altered to albite, and K-feldspar con-
tains abundant microcrystalline hematite inclusions. Within
this zone is an inner envelope of pervasive sericite and dis-
seminated pyrite alteration in which sericite occurs as fine-
grained aggregates of randomly oriented crystals replacing
plagioclase (Fig. 6d) and chlorite, whereas K-feldspar gener-
ally is intact (Table 1).
Gold mineralization is hosted in 1- to 10-mm-wide quartz-
pyrite veins within the inner alteration zone, with gold
occurring as free particles generally less than ~100 µm in di-
ameter. The mineralized veins strike north-south or north-
east-southwest and dip moderately to the west or northwest

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 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING 1517

TABLE 1. Summary of Hydrothermal Stages and Alteration Parageneses in Gold Prospects of the Central Gawler Craton

Stage 1: Main stage of

Prospect Prestage 1 Au mineralization Stage 2 Stage 3

Tunkillia Late in shearing Post shearing

inner: ser-py-Au and qtz-sp- carb ± chl veins
gn-py veinlet networks
outer: chl-carb-py veins and
pervasive alteration,
also ser-hem

Nuckulla Hill Ser-py-Au?; minor qtz veining Early: ep-qtz-chl-gn-sp-py-fl ab-prh-carb-fl

veins with rare Kfs, carb;
Late: qtz-carb veins

Barns inner: ser-py-Au carb, prh

outer: chl-ep-ser-rut-hem
stage 1 qtz veining

Weednanna and Early: cpx, hbl, ol, po, grt, ttn Ser, chl, carb, qtz, chalcedony, hem
Mawson Late: mag, act, py, bt, ms, grt, native Bi, Au
srp, tlc, carb, qtz, native Bi,
Au, gn, po, ccp

Mineral abbreviations (after Kretz, 1983): ab = albite, act = actinolite, bt = biotite, carb = carbonate, ccp = chalcopyrite, chl = chlorite, cpx = clinopyrox-
ene, ep = epidote, fl = fluorite, gn = galena, grt = garnet, hbl = hornblende, hem = hematite, Kfs = K-feldspar, mag = magnetite, ms = muscovite, ol = olivine,
po = pyrrhotite, prh = prehnite, py = pyrite, qtz = quartz, rut = rutile, ser = sericite, srp = serpentine, sp = sphalerite, tlc = talc, ttn = titanite

(Drown, 2003). In addition to gold, subeconomic levels of
copper (as chalcopyrite), lead, bismuth, and silver are pre-
sent. Keeling et al. (2004) have shown, using HyLogger
spectral logging of drill core, that higher gold grades corre-
late with zones of increased sericitic alteration and de-
creased chlorite abundance and more specifically with zones
of increased phengite component in hydrothermal white
mica. The nested nature of the alteration zonation and the
spatial association of gold mineralization with zones of in-
tense sericitic alteration suggest that mineralization and
both the inner and outer alteration envelopes were probably
coeval at Barns and represent a single major fluid-flow
event. This event was followed by relatively minor brittle
fracturing and carbonate ± prehnite veining, interpreted as
the final stage of cooling after the major fluid-flow event
(Drown, 2003).

50
4/1.3

22/1.1
Depth (m )

100

150

0 50 m

200

Silcrete, calcrete Ser-ep altered breccia Au mineralised

and soil + Qtz-calc-fl sulphide veinlets zone
Ser-ep-(hm) altered gneissic Drill hole
Bleached clay
breccia Gold anomaly (>1g/t)
Clay / saprolite 4/1. 3 4m@1.3g/t Au
Pyritic mylonitic breccia
ferruginous

FIG. 5. Cross section through the Nuckulla Hill prospect.

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1518 FRASER ET AL.

a b

ep-chl-qtz

ser-p qtz-ep
y folia
tion
ab-carb

sp

c 2 mm d

ser

ser

ms
2 mm

FIG. 6. Photomicrographs of samples from the Nuckulla Hill and Barns prospects. a. Intensely sheared and altered host
granite from Nuckulla Hill, showing a foliation defined by stage 2 alteration minerals, sericite and pyrite (ser-py), cut by stage
3 quartz-epidote-sphalerite vein (qtz-ep, sp). Transmitted light, NHDDH1 149.0 m. b. Altered host granite from Nuckulla
Hill, showing stage 3 epidote-chlorite-quartz vein (ep-chl-qtz) offset by crosscutting stage 3 albite-carbonate vein (ab-carb).
Transmitted light, NHDDH2 138.1 m. c. Sheared granite from Nuckulla Hill, showing deformed coarse-grained muscovite
(ms), interpreted as relict igneous grains, surrounded by secondary sericite (ser). Coarse-grained, relict igneous muscovite
from this sample has been dated by the 40Ar/39Ar method. Transmitted light, crossed polars, sample 2003369014, NHDDH2
119.2 m. d. Host granite at the Barns prospect, showing complete replacement of plagioclase by mats of intergrown sericite,
within a matrix of recrystallized quartz. Transmitted light, crossed polars, sample 2003369005, PDBN136 77.0 m.

Weednanna district Mawson experienced a relatively early phase of alteration

The Weednanna and Mawson prospects lie approximately
100 km east of the Barns prospect, near the southern margin
of the Gawler Range Volcanics province (Fig. 1). The local
host sequence is dominated by metasedimentary rocks, in-
ferred to be part of the Hutchison Group and Donington
Suite granites. Mineralization at the Weednanna and Mawson
prospects is hosted mainly in hydrothermally altered biotite-
plagioclase-quartz gneiss, felsic orthogneiss, and strongly
metasomatized carbonate-rich units. These metamorphic
rocks were intruded by an undeformed but weakly altered
granite pluton, intersected in deeper levels at the Weednanna
prospect (Fig. 8). The porphyritic texture with fine-grained
groundmass, myrmeketic intergrowths, and miarolitic cavities
suggest a high crustal level, perhaps subvolcanic, environ-
ment of emplacement of the granite.
The alteration histories and mineral parageneses at Weed-
nanna and Mawson are more complex than that seen in the
other prospects of the central Gawler craton gold province
discussed above and include multiple phases of hydrothermal
activity. The metamorphic host rocks at both Weednanna and
(stage 1, Table 1) during which a variety of hydrothermal min-
erals replaced the metamorphic host rocks. Although this al-
teration in places has clearly proceeded along the preexisting
gneissic and compositional banding, generally the metaso-
matites form massive coarse- to fine-grained zones up to sev-
eral meters wide, with little or no textural evidence of the
relict host rock. The earliest recognized hydrothermal assem-
blages (stage 1) comprise diopside-garnet-titanite (Mawson
prospect, WDDH 6) and talc-serpentine (pseudomorphous
after olivine) intergrown with semimassive pyrrhotite, recrys-
tallized carbonate, and traces of graphite (Mawson, WDDH
6; Weednanna, WDDH 2, 3, 4). These assemblages may rep-
resent metasomatized carbonate-rich metasedimentary units.
Early stage 1 minerals are partially to wholly replaced by
magnetite, pyrite (Fig. 9a), serpentine, talc, actinolite, car-
bonate, and quartz, in places forming delicate colloform-
banded intergrowths. Native bismuth, pyrrhotite, and
cobaltite occur as disseminated inclusions within carbonate
and quartz, which are weakly strained. Native bismuth also
occurs in microscopic domains where late stage 1 carbonate
and quartz were recrystallized and/or overgrown by stage 2

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 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING 1519

50

4/3. 8
Depth (m)

100

36/1. 8

?
150 2/67. 6 10/2. 5
?

0 30 m
?

200
?

Aeolian Propylitic
Granodiorite Drill hole
sand alteration
Phyllic Gold anomaly (>0.1g/t)
Saprolite Quartzite
alteration
4/3. 8 4m@3.8g/t Au
Mafic dykes Principal fault
or shear

FIG. 7. Cross section through the Barns prospect (after Drown, 2003).

W E
0

100 6/2.66
FAU LT ED

16/1.93
3/16. 8
Depth (m )

200
CO N TA CT

300
?

400
0 100 m

Bleached
Granite Ironstone Drill hole
clay
Chlorite/sericite Gold anomaly (>0.1g/t)
Saprolite alteration and
Skarn
variabl e 16/1.93 16m@1.93g/t Au
Gneiss brecciation

FIG. 8. Cross section through the Weednanna prospect.

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1520 FRASER ET AL.

a b
py
py
py bism
ccp
Au py
marc
carb
mag

400 µm
200 µm

c d

carb
carb-1b
carb
qtz-1b
qtz-2
mag
carb
sulfides, Bi
qtz-1b
qtz-2
400 µm

e f

chl after bt
ser
ms

bt 400 µm

FIG. 9. Photomicrographs of samples from the Weednanna and Mawson prospects. a. Stage 1 pyrite (py), magnetite
(mag), and chalcopyrite (ccp) replacing stage 1 bladed pyrrhotite (preserved as inclusions in stage 1 minerals), set in a ma-
trix of calcite and ankerite (carb). Elsewhere in the sample, stage 1 olivine is replaced by stage 2 serpentine and chlorite. Re-
flected light, WDDH4 78.4m, Weednanna prospect. b. Same sample as (a), showing gold (Au) and bismuthinite (bism) in-
clusions in stage 1 pyrite (py), and magnetite (mag) pseudomorphous after pyrrhotite. Gold also occurs with bismuthinite as
inclusions in chalcopyrite elsewhere in the sample. Late-stage marcasite (marc, tarnished brown) also replaced pyrrhotite
with goethite (not shown). Reflected light, WDDH4 78.4 m, Weednanna prospect. c. Stage 1 interbanded magnetite (mag)-
carbonate (carb)-talc (not shown) intergrown with inclusion-ridden stage 1 quartz (qtz -1b), sulfides, and native bismuth (Bi).
The fine banding, probably of replacement origin, was disrupted by fracturing and carbonate veining. The sulfides comprise
pyrrhotite, pyrite, and cobaltite(?). Clearer stage 2 quartz (qtz 2) overgrows stage 1 quartz (qtz-1b) and fills cavities together
with carbonate. Transmitted light, WDDH6 406.1 m, Mawson prospect. d. Same sample as (c), showing cloudy bladed stage
1 carbonate (carb -1b) and quartz (qtz -1b) overgrown by clearer stage 2 quartz (qtz-2) and carbonate (carb-2). Transmitted
light, WDDH6 406.1 m, Mawson prospect. e. Altered host rock from Weednanna, showing stage 1 assemblage of muscovite-
biotite-sulfide overgrown and partly corroded by stage 2 sericitic alteration and partial replacement of biotite by chlorite.
Coarse-grained stage 1 muscovite from this sample was dated by the 40Ar/39Ar method (sample 2003369008, WDDH5 164.8
m, Weednanna prospect). f. Primary and pseudosecondary fluid inclusions in gold mineralized quartz from the Barns
prospect. Inclusions are low-salinity H2O-CO2, with variable phase ratios (i.e., V > L and L > V), possibly indicating phase
separation during the mineralization event.

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 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING
carbonate and euhedral quartz (Fig 9c, d, see below). Spher-
ical inclusions of native bismuth intergrown with gold have
been reported from similar assemblages in WDDH4 (A.
Purvis, unpub. data, 1997). These textural relationships and
the strong association of bismuth with gold (Fig. 9b) at Weed-
nanna and Mawson (e.g., WDDH6, 7 m at 0.75 g/t Au, 5,720
ppm Bi) suggest that gold and bismuth deposition com-
menced during late stage 1 with perhaps some remobilization
during stage 2.
In the quartzofeldspathic host gneisses, the earliest recog-
nized hydrothermal assemblage is part of late stage 1 alteration
and contains weakly to randomly oriented biotite overprinting
strongly aligned metamorphic biotite, as well as muscovite
(Fig. 9e), green andradite, magnetite, and actinolite. In some
places these minerals form narrow aureoles around late stage 1
pyrite ± galena veins. Samples of this late stage 1 muscovite and
biotite have been dated by the 40Ar/39Ar method.
Stage 2 sericite-chlorite alteration is well developed in the
quartzo-feldspathic gneisses, replacing late stage 1 minerals,
and also overprints the porphyritic Hiltaba Suite granite.
Local fracturing and shearing was syn- to poststage 2 alter-
ation, and in places contains minor, possibly redeposited, gold
(e.g., WDDH5 281 m, 1 m at 1 g/t Au).
The mineralogical and textural evolution from early stage 1
to stage 2 suggests decreasing temperatures of alteration and
mineralization. The higher temperature calc-silicate mineral
assemblages in association with magnetite can be described as
skarn-style alteration, although the source of the hydrother-
mal fluids is unclear. While the granite in WDDH 5 or a re-
lated pluton is a possible source of the skarnlike alteration, we
have not observed endoskarn within this intrusion.
At the Mawson prospect we have observed colloform-banded
magnetite-chalcedony intergrowths with carbonate and na-
tive bismuth, suggestive of late-stage low-temperature fluids.
Sampling and Analytical Methods
Zircon geochronology
Zircons from host rocks at Barns and Weednanna were sep-
arated by standard crushing, wilfley table, heavy liquid, and
electromagnetic methods followed by handpicking. The zir-
cons were then mounted in epoxy disks (1-in diam) and pol-
ished to expose grains in cross section, then photographed
and imaged with cathodoluminescence to reveal internal
zonation. Isotopic analyses were performed using the
SHRIMP RG at Australian National University. Data pro-
cessing used the software SQUID and ISOPLOT (Ludwig,
2003). Data were screened to exclude analyses containing
>0.5 percent common 206Pb or that were >10 percent discor-
dant. Data tables are provided in Appendix 1.
40Ar/39Ar
geochronology
Mineral separates from altered host rocks at the Tunkillia,
Nuckulla Hill, Barns, and Weednanna prospects were pre-
pared by standard crushing, sieving, and heavy liquid meth-
ods, followed by handpicking to maximize purity. In this
study, the term sericite is used for mats of fine-grained (<50
µm) white mica replacing plagioclase, whereas muscovite is
used for coarse-grained (>100 µm) white mica. Samples
were irradiated together with the fluence monitor standard
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1521
GA-1550 biotite for 32 d in the X33 or X34 position at the
HIFAR facility, Lucas Heights, Australia. The irradiation can-
ister included a 0.2-mm-thick sleeve of Cd to shield material
from thermal neutrons and was inverted three times during
the irradiation period to minimize the effect of the large neu-
tron fluence gradients at the HIFAR facility. Analyses of GA-
1550 biotite were performed via laser-fusion of single grains
with an Ar ion laser attached to a VG-3600 mass spectrome-
ter. Mineral separates of ~0.5 to 1.0 mg were step heated in a
double vacuum resistance furnace attached to a VG-1200
mass spectrometer. In each of the mass spectrometers mass
discrimination (1.0025 VG3600; 1.00499 VG1200 at 1 amu)
was monitored by repeat measurements of the isotopic com-
position of atmospheric argon. Analysis of K glass situated at
each end of the irradiation can revealed no significant depar-
ture of the (40Ar/39Ar)K correction factor from the established
value for HIFAR, thus correction for K- and Ca-derived nu-
cleogenic isotopes was made via the following correction fac-
tors from Tetley et al. (1980): (36Ar/37Ar)Ca = 3.5 × 10–4,
(39Ar/37Ar)Ca = 7.86 × 10–4, and (40Ar/39Ar)K = 2.7 × 10–2.
Data processing was via the inhouse Macintosh software
Noble and does not include correction for any chlorine-re-
lated nucleogenic 36Ar. Ages were calculated assuming the
age of GA-1550 biotite as 98.8 ± 0.5 Ma (Renne et al., 1998).
Uncertainties on apparent ages of individual heating steps, as
shown in the data tables (App. 2), are given at the 1σ level.
Plateau ages have been calculated using the statistical criteria
of Isoplot (Ludwig, 2003). Uncertainties of plateau ages
shown in figures and discussed in the text are quoted at the
2σ level and include uncertainties in the J-parameter, esti-
mated at 0.35 percent (1σ) and propagated via the method of
Karner and Renne (1998). The plateau age uncertainties do
not include uncertainty in the age of GA-1550 biotite or decay
constant uncertainties. The quoted uncertainties are appro-
priate for intercomparison of the 40Ar/39Ar ages but underes-
timate the uncertainty for comparison with independent dat-
ing methods such as U-Pb zircon ages. Propagation of
external uncertainties via the method of Karner and Renne
(1998), and using the decay constant uncertainties given by
Beckinsale and Gale (1969), expands the uncertainty of a typ-
ical plateau age from ±8 to ±25 Ma (2σ). The highly radi-
ogenic isotope composition of argon from all samples in this
study, a consequence of their age, means that isotope correla-
tion diagrams were not useful in trying to identify and correct
for possible excess argon.
Fluid inclusion analyses
Fluid inclusion samples were selected from veins at the
Barns, Nuckulla Hill, Weednanna, and Mawson prospects to
represent, where possible, the key paragenetic stages and in
particular those associated with gold deposition. Fluid inclu-
sion generations in the samples were distinguished based on
the petrographic guidelines of Roedder (1984) and Goldstein
and Reynolds (1994). Microthermometric analysis was car-
ried out using a LINKAM heating and cooling stage which
was calibrated to an accuracy of ±0.1°C in the temperature
range –150° to 0°C and ±1°C in the range 0° to 350°C. Bulk
salinities of inclusions were calculated using the Q2.exe and
Bulk.exe programs in Bakker and Brown (2003), for determi-
nation of bulk salinities based on clathrate and ice-melting
1522 FRASER ET AL.
temperatures, respectively. Equations of state used were
those of Potter et al. (1978), Bowers and Helgeson (1983),
Bakker (1999) for ice melting in saline aqueous solutions, and
Duan et al. (1992a, b) and Duschek et al. (1990) for calcula-
tions based on clathrate melting. In the case of liquid-vapor
inclusions that may contain a small proportion of unidentified
CO2, the maximum overestimate of salinity due to melting
point depression of ice by dissolution of CO2 is estimated at
~3 wt percent NaCl equiv (Diamond, 2003).
Age of Host Rocks: Zircon U-Pb Dating Results
Relatively few age constraints exist for basement rocks that
host Au mineralization in the central Gawler craton. At Tunkil-
lia, the age of the host granodiorite was previously constrained
by SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating, giving an interpreted mag-
matic age of 1680 ± 5 Ma (Ferris, 2001). This age provides a
maximum age constraint for the timing of alteration and min-
eralization at Tunkillia. At Nuckulla Hill the sheared granites
hosting mineralization have not been radiometrically dated
but are interpreted to be part of the Tunkillia Suite, with an in-
trusive age of ~1680 Ma (Ferris and Schwarz, 2003). Here we
report results of U-Pb SHRIMP dating of zircon from host
rocks at the Barns and Weednanna prospects.
Barns
Sample 2002363019J comes from the granodiorite host
rock to mineralization at the Barns prospect. Zircons from
this sample are predominantly euhedral to subhedral, clear,
and exhibit concentric zonation in cathodoluminescence im-
ages typical of magmatic zircon. Thirty U-Pb analyses were
performed on this sample, with seven of these yielding data
that is >10 percent discordant or containing >0.5 percent
common 206Pb. The remaining 23 analyses define a popula-
tion of 207Pb/206Pb ages with a weighted mean age of 1693 ± 5
Ma (MSWD 1.5 and probability of equivalence of 0.065).
This age is interpreted as the crystallization age of the gran-
odiorite, consistent with the field interpretation of the host
rock as part of the Tunkillia Suite granitoids (Drown, 2003).
Alteration and mineralization at the Barns prospect, there-
fore, occurred after ~1690 Ma.
In addition to the granodiorite sample described above, we
attempted to date two examples of mafic dikes from Barns.
These dikes are overprinted by sericite + pyrite alteration
and clearly predate at least some of the alteration and min-
eralization. Zircons are relatively rare in these rocks, which
limited the success of U-Pb dating. Zircons from sample
2003362502 are predominantly subhedral with approxi-
mately 50 percent of the grains displaying concentric zoning,
while many other grains show mottled or streaky composi-
tional variation in cathodoluminescence images. The compo-
sitional zoning patterns in these zircons are consistent with
fluid-related alteration and partial recrystallization, possibly
related to infiltration of mineralizing fluids. In an effort to
constrain the intrusive age of the dike, U-Pb analyses were
targeted at least altered regions of zircon where concentric
zoning is preserved. Of 29 analyses, 16 are <10 percent dis-
cordant and contain <0.5 percent common 206Pb. These 16
analyses range in age from 1719 ± 4 to 1672 ± 9 Ma (1σ),
with a weighted mean age of 1698 ± 6 Ma (95% confidence),
but show considerable scatter beyond that expected for a
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1522
gaussian distribution (MSWD 7.2; Fig. 10b). A second mafic
dike sample (2003362500) yielded very few zircons and rather
similar results to those described above. Seven analyses de-
fine a scattered age population with a weighted mean age of
1708 ± 18 Ma (95% confidence, MSWD 5.4; Fig. 10c). Nei-
ther of these mafic dikes yielded a gaussian population of zir-
con ages and consequently there is considerable uncertainty
on the geologic validity of the mean ages. In addition we can-
not be certain that the analyzed zircon grains crystallized
within the mafic dikes. The zircons in the dikes are not dis-
tinguishable in age from the age of the host granodiorite, and
it is possible that zircons in the dikes are xenocrysts entrained
during ascent and emplacement of the dikes. Given these un-
certainties, the ages of zircons from the dikes represent max-
imum ages for the timing of dike emplacement and of alter-
ation and mineralization and provide no further constraints
than that given by the age of the host granodiorite.
Weednanna
U-Pb SHRIMP zircon analyses were undertaken on a sam-
ple of seriate granite (sample 2003362501) at Weednanna. The
granite is weakly altered by sericite-chlorite that we attribute to
stage 2 alteration at Weednanna, making the intrusive age of
this rock a maximum age constraint for at least a part of stage 2
alteration. Zircons from this sample have a variety of mor-
phologies, the majority of grains being subhedral, but both eu-
hedral and anhedral grains are also present. Most grains are
clear and colorless and exhibit delicate concentric zonation in
cathodoluminescence images. Thirty-one analyses were com-
pleted, with six of these excluded from the age calculation due
to excess discordance or elevated common Pb content. The re-
maining 25 zircon analyses define a mean 207Pb/206Pb age of
1588 ± 4 Ma (MSWD = 1.2, probability of equivalence = 0.2;
Fig. 10d). This age is interpreted as the intrusive age of this
granite and matches the age of the regionally extensive Hiltaba
Suite granites and the Gawler Range Volcanics.
Fluid Inclusion Results
Fluid inclusions at Tunkillia
Mineralization at Tunkillia is confined to quartz ± sulfide
veins with gold occurring as isolated blebs and in fractures in
quartz and sulfides. Previous work by Ferris (2001) indicates
that milky quartz comprises ~90 percent of the veins with up
to ~10 percent sulfides, mainly pyrite. Ferris (2001) reported
fluid inclusion data from quartz + sulfide (dominantly pyrite)
veins, representing stage 2, which host gold at Tunkillia, rep-
resenting stage 2. Several types of inclusions were identified
comprising early primary two-phase (vapor-liquid) and less
abundant three-phase CO2-containing aqueous inclusions
(vapor-H2O-CO2), as well as abundant single-phase, sec-
ondary, aqueous inclusions. The primary inclusions consid-
ered to represent the mineralizing fluids were reported to be
of low salinity (<6 wt % NaCl equiv), low CO2 content, and
have homogenization temperatures between 165° and 350°C
(Table 2, Fig. 11).
Fluid inclusions at Nuckulla Hill
Samples selected for fluid inclusion analysis from Nuckulla
Hill represent early stage 3 veins of epidote-quartz-sulfides
 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING 1523

0.108
a Barns Granodiorite 2002363019J b Barns Mafic Dyke 2003362502
Mean Age = 1693 ± 5 Ma (MSWD 1.5) 0.108 Mean Age = 1698 ± 6 Ma (MSWD 7.2)
1760
0.106 1740

0.106

Pb/204Pb
0.104
Pb/204Pb

1700
1720

0.102
0.104

207
1660
1660
207

0.100
1680
1680
1620
0.102
0.098

1580
n = 23 n = 16
0.096 1640
0.100
2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.2
238
238
U/206Pb U/206Pb

0.108 0.103
c Barns Mafic Dyke 2003362500 d Weednanna Granite 2003362501
Mean Age = 1708 ± 18 Ma (MSWD 5.4) Mean Age = 1588 ± 4 Ma (MSWD 1.2)
1760

0.101
0.106
1640
Pb/204Pb
Pb/204Pb

1720 0.099

0.104 1600
207
207

0.097

1680
1560
0.102
0.095

1520
n=7 n = 23
1640
0.100 0.093
3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.2

238
U/206Pb 238
U/206Pb
FIG. 10. U-Pb zircon concordia diagrams for samples from the Barns and Weednanna prospects. All U-Pb data were col-
lected in a single analytical session using the SHRIMP RG instrument at the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian
National University. The accuracy of the 207Pb/206Pb ages was monitored via regular analyses of the QGNG standard zircon,
with a nominal age of 1850 Ma. Nineteen analyses of QGNG zircon over the course of the analytical session yielded a mean
207Pb/206Pb age of 1854.3 ± 3.4 Ma (MSWD 0.9, probability of equivalence 0.5).

cutting sericite-pyrite–altered and sheared granitoid, and
later stage 3 carbonate-quartz veins. No suitable samples for
fluid inclusion studies representing stage 2 or stage 4 alter-
ation assemblages were identified. Two fluid populations are
evident in the stage 3 veins. Quartz hosts low-salinity (<8 wt
% NaCl equiv) H2O and H2O + CO2 fluids with homogeniza-
tion temperatures between 110° and 322°C. Later stage 3
carbonate hosts aqueous fluids with elevated salinity (16–23
wt % NaCl equiv) and generally lower homogenization tem-
peratures of 90° to 145°C (Table 2, Fig. 11).
Fluid inclusions at Barns
Fluid inclusion samples at Barns were collected from brec-
ciated granodioritic host rock with a quartz breccia matrix and
from quartz-pyrite veins in sericitized host rock with elevated
Au content (3.9 ppm). In both sample types, two generations
of quartz can be distinguished on the basis of crosscutting re-
lationships. The older generation (quartz A) forms part of the
stage 2 alteration paragenesis in conjunction with sericite,
pyrite, and gold (Table 1). Primary fluid inclusions decorat-
ing innermost growth zones of quartz A are two-phase aque-
ous liquid plus vapor, whereas in outer growth zones, which
constitute the bulk of the vein quartz, inclusions are three-
phase liquid H2O-liquid CO2 vapor. Quartz B occurs as veins
cutting quartz A and also as infillings along the centers of
quartz A veins; it may represent either a continuation of
stage 2 or be part of a later alteration stage. The fluids from
both inner and outer zones in quartz A have salinities from 4
to 8.5 wt percent NaCl equiv, with homogenization temper-
atures between ~150° to 295°C. These fluids were followed

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1524 FRASER ET AL.

TABLE 2. Summary of Properties of Fluid Inclusion Populations in Gold Prospects of the Central Gawler Craton

Prospect Salinity
(Drill hole, sample Paragenetic Host Teutectic Tm(ice)/ (wt % Thomogenization
depths in meters) stage mineral Origin Phases (°C) Tm(clathrate) NaCl equiv) (°C)

Tunkillia (Ferris, 2001) Stage 2 Quartz Primary LV not reported not reported <6 165 to 350

Nuckulla Hill Stage 3 Quartz Primary or LV –18 to –16 0 to –5.1 <8 110 to 322
(NHDD1 149.0, intergrown secondary
218.7, 243.1) with carbonate Primary LLV (rare)
CO2-H2O
Late carbonate Primary LV –38 to –36 –12 to –22 16 to 23 90 to 145

Barns Stage 2 Quartz-A, Primary LV, –36 and –2.4 to –4.7°C 4 to 7.5 150 to 295
(PDBN134 93.1, 97.5; inner zones minor CO2 –24 to –21 clathrate: 8°C
PDBN135 161.8) Stage 2 Quartz-A, Primary, LLV –21 to –15 –3.0 to –5.5 5 to 8.5 180 to 280
outer zones pseudo-
secondary
Stage 2 Quartz-A Secondary LV –24 to –21 0 to –1.2 0 to 2 112 to 290

Weednanna Stage 1 Quartz Primary LLV n.d. clathrate: 8°C 3.8 to 4.1 268 to 298
(WDDH5 442.7) Stage 1 Quartz Secondary LV –22 to –25 –1.7 to –2.1 2.9 to 3.5 144 to 180
and pseudo-
secondary

Mawson
(WDDH6 349.2, Stage 2 Quartz, Primary LVS (carbonate n.d. –12 to –31 16 to 30 88 to 172
401.5) inner zones daughter
minerals)
Stage 2 Quartz, Primary LV n.d. 0 to –6.2 <9.5 149 to 220
outer zones

Notes: LV = aqueous liquid-vapor, LLV = three-phase liquid (H2O)-liquid (CO2)-vapor, LVS = liquid-vapor-solid, n.d. = not determined; salinities in wt
percent NaCL equiv, calculated using the equation of Potter et al. (1978)

30.0 by very low salinity (0–2 wt % NaCl equiv) aqueous secondary

inclusions in quartz A (Table 2, Fig. 11).
25.0
Fluid inclusions in the Weednanna district
Fluid inclusion results from the Weednanna district are from
20.0
[Wt%NaCl equiv.]

the Weednanna prospect and from the Mawson prospect.

15.0
Tunkillia
10.0
Tarcoola
5.0
0.0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Th [°C]
Nuckulla Hill - stage 3a & 3b (in quartz)
Nuckulla Hill - stage 3b (in carbonate)
Barns - stage 2, H2O-NaCl (quartz-A inner)
Barns - stage 2, H2O-CO2 -NaCl (quartz-A outer)
Barns - quartz-A, secondary inclusions
Weednanna - stage 1, H2O-NaCl
Weednanna - stage 1, H2O-CO2 -NaCl
Mawson - stage 2, quartz outer
Mawson - stage 2, quartz inner
FIG. 11. Summary of salinity and homogenization temperatures from fluid
inclusions from central Gawler craton gold province prospects. Previously re-
ported data from Tarcoola (Hein et al., 1994) and Tunkillia (Ferris, 2001) are
shown as elliptical fields for comparison with new data from this study.
The sample selected from the Weednanna prospect con-
sists of weakly sericitized Hiltaba Suite granite containing
quartz-fluorite infillings between igneous K-feldspar crystals.
The subhedral quartz is growth zoned and contains low-salin-
ity primary H2O-CO2 inclusions (3.8–4.1 wt % NaCl equiv)
that homogenize at 268° to 298°C. Low-salinity secondary
aqueous inclusions (2.9–3.5 wt % NaCl equiv) homogenize at
144° to 180°C (Table 2, Fig. 11).
Fluid inclusion samples from the Mawson prospect contain
300 350 unstrained euhedral growth-zoned quartz intergrown in veins
with carbonate (Fig. 9d) or with chlorite (WDDH6 349.2), in-
terpreted as representing paragenetic stage 2 (Table 1). The
primary fluid inclusions in quartz at Mawson, therefore, likely
represent samples of fluids that carried and deposited gold
and bismuth. The data for Mawson indicate a dramatic
change in fluid composition during quartz formation, from
high-salinity (16–30 wt % NaCl equiv) in inner growth zones
to low-salinity (<9.5 wt % NaCl equiv) in outer growth zones,
combined with an increase in homogenization temperatures
from 88° to 172° to 149° to 220°C.
Summary of fluid inclusion results
Fluid inclusions with similar composition and homogeniza-
tion temperatures have been found in samples from all of the

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 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING 1525

prospects. They are H2O-CO2 bearing, with low to moderate
salinity (<9 wt % NaCl equiv), and have homogenization tem-
peratures of ~150° to 300°C. At the Tunkillia, Barns, and
Mawson prospects fluid inclusions of this type are found
within stage 2 mineral assemblages, whereas at Weednanna
this fluid type is found in stage 1 assemblages and at Nuckulla
Hill in stage 3 assemblages. At Tunkillia, Barns, and Weed-
nanna this low-salinity fluid is paragenetically associated with
gold mineralization.
The data for stage 2 quartz from the Mawson prospect
probably represent fluid compositions during the later stages
of gold-bismuth deposition. Here, the fluids appear to have
changed from highly saline relatively low temperature brines
to fluids of similar salinity and homogenization temperature
to those at Tunkillia, Barns, and Weednanna.
At the Nuckulla Hill prospect, two distinct fluid types post-
date gold mineralization and sericite-pyrite alteration: a low-
salinity fluid with homogenization temperatures of 110° to
322°C and a lower temperature brine associated with epi-
dote-chlorite-galena veining. Although the low-salinity fluid
appears to be similar to gold-related fluids at Barns, CO2 is
evidently much less abundant in these stage 3 fluid inclusions
at Nuckulla Hill than in stage 2 fluids at Barns. In this sense,
they are similar to the late-stage fluids at Mawson and corre-
spond to the mineralizing fluids identified in the Tunkillia
prospect.
Timing of Alteration and Mineralization
In an effort to improve age constraints on alteration and
mineralization we used 40Ar/39Ar step-heating to date alter-
ation-related minerals from Tunkillia, Nuckulla Hill, Barns,
and Weednanna. These results are summarized in Table 3 and
complement those of Budd and Fraser (2004) from Tarcoola.
40Ar/39Ar results from Tunkillia
Tunkillia is the only one of the recently discovered gold
prospects in the central Gawler craton where dating of al-
teration has been previously attempted. Phillips (1999) re-
ported a K/Ar age from sericitic alteration at Tunkillia of 1609
± 12 Ma. This date was interpreted by Ferris (2001) as ap-
proximating the time of alteration and mineralization. Cross-
cutting felsic dikes have not been dated but are inferred to be
coeval with the ~1590 Ma Gawler Range Volcanics (Ferris,
2001), providing a minimum age for mineralization.
Step-heating experiments were conducted on five sericite
samples from altered granite from Tunkillia (Fig. 12a-e). The
samples come from three different drill holes, spanning a hor-
izontal distance of ~300 m across strike and ranging in depth
from 98 to 320 m. Four of the five samples consist of aggre-
gates of intergrown sericite, in which individual laths are 10 to
50 µm long, but the aggregates have a grain size of 300 to 425
µm, representative of precursor plagioclase grains. The fifth
sample (R387440) is the same material used for K/Ar analysis
by Phillips (1999) with a grain size of 38 to 53 µm. All five sam-
ples yield relatively flat 40Ar/39Ar age spectra and define plateau
ages that range from 1567 ± 8 to 1583 ± 9 Ma (Fig. 12a-e). The
consistency in age between samples suggests that any small
proportion of relict plagioclase that may be present within the
sericite aggregates has no significant effect on the measured
ages. K/Ca ratios are greater than 10 for all steps included in
plateau age calculations and in most cases are considerably
higher, providing confidence that the sample material is domi-
nated by white mica. As the sericitic alteration of plagioclase is
the only white mica in these rocks, there is no possibility of the
ages being influenced by inherited white mica, so there are
only two possibilities for the interpretation of the 40Ar/39Ar
ages—either the ages represent the time of sericitic alteration
or they are minimum ages reflecting cooling or resetting at
some time after sericite crystallization. These two possibilities
are considered in the discussion section below.
40Ar/39Arresults from Nuckulla Hill
Fractured and brecciated granite at Nuckulla Hill contains
coarse-grained muscovite in fracture zones that most likely

TABLE 3. Summary of 40Ar/39Ar Results from Gold Prospects of the Central Gawler Craton

Depth
Prospect Sample/mineral Drill hole (meters) Rock type 40Ar/39Ar age Comments

Tunkillia 2003 369 001 sericite LED 08 98.7 Altered granite 1567 ± 8 Ma Plateau age
2003 369 002 sericite LED 08 116.4 Altered granite 1583 ± 9 Ma Plateau age
2003 369 003 sericite LED 03 320.1 Altered granite 1583 ± 8 Ma Plateau age
2003 369 004 sericite LED 03 238.2 Altered granite 1582 ± 8 Ma Plateau age
R387440 sericite LED 01 108.5 Altered granite 1578 ± 8 Ma Plateau age

Nuckulla Hill 2003 369 014 muscovite NHDDH2 119.2 Brecciated granite 1635 ± 8 Ma Plateau age
2003 369 015 sericite NHDDH2 161.3 Altered granite Discordant age spectrum No plateau

Barns 2003 369 005 sericite PDBN136 77.0 Altered granite 1580 ± 10 Ma Single step,
83% of total 39Ar
2003 369 006 sericite PDBN134 239.8 Altered granite 1568 ± 8 Ma Plateau age
2002363019I sericite PDBN134 144.9 Altered granite 1574 ± 8 Ma Plateau age

Weednanna 2003 369 008 muscovite WDDH5 164.8 Altered gneiss 1587 ± 8 Ma Plateau age
2003 369 009 muscovite WDDH5 180.8 Altered gneiss 1596 ± 8 Ma Plateau age
2003 369 007 sericite WDDH5 157.1 Altered gneiss Discordant age spectrum No plateau
2003 369 010 sericite WDDH5 181.1 Altered gneiss Discordant age spectrum No plateau
2003 369 009 biotite WDDH5 180.9 Altered gneiss No plateau Flat section 1619 ± 8 Ma,
maximum age 1673 Ma

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1526 FRASER ET AL.

1700 1700
a b
1650 1567 ± 8 Ma 1650 1583 ± 9 Ma
1600 1600

1550 1550
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)
1500 1500

1450 2003369001 sericite 1450 2003369002 sericite

1400 1400

1000 1000
K/Ca

K/Ca
100 100
10 10

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
39
Fraction Ar released 39
Fraction Ar released

1700 1700
1650
c 1583 ± 8 Ma 1650
d 1582 ± 8 Ma
1600 1600

1550 1550
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)

1500 1500

1450 1450

1400 2003369003 sericite 1400 2003369004 sericite

1000 1000
K/Ca
K/Ca

100 100
10 10

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
39
39
Fraction Ar released Fraction Ar released

1700
e
1650 1578 ± 8 Ma
1600

1550
Age (Ma)

1500

1450
R387440 sericite
1400

1000
K/Ca

100
10

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

39
Fraction Ar released

FIG. 12. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra from the Tunkillia prospect. For ease of comparison of 40Ar/39Ar ages with local magmatic
ages, in each of the age spectra, including Figures 13, 14, and 15, a gray band is plotted that represents the approximate range
of reported U-Pb zircon ages for Gawler Range Volcanics and Hiltaba Suite granites of ~1595 to 1575 Ma.

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 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING
represents relict igneous grains (Fig. 6c). This coarse-grained
muscovite is deformed and has ragged margins that appear to
have been partially recrystallized to fine-grained sericite mats
that define a foliation. Coarse-grained muscovite from this
rock (sample 2003369014) was separated from the fine-
grained sericite that surrounds it on the basis of grain size and
yielded a relatively flat age spectrum with a plateau age of
~1635 Ma (Fig. 13a), significantly older than the sericite
40Ar/39Ar ages from Tunkillia reported above.
As at Tunkillia, the granite hosting mineralization at Nuck-
ulla Hill also contains sericitically altered plagioclase. How-
ever at Nuckulla Hill this sericite alteration is intimately in-
tergrown with chlorite, making it difficult to separate pure
sericite. One sample of this sericite (2003369015) yielded
variable K/Ca ratios throughout the step-heating experiment
(Fig. 13b), indicating that the sample material was not pure.
The age spectrum is discordant and shows generally decreas-
ing ages in a range between ~1610 and ~1460 Ma. This is at-
tributed to the presence of chlorite, and no geologic meaning
is attached to the ages from this sample.
Neither result presented here bears directly on the age of
gold mineralization at Nuckulla Hill. The age from deformed
relict igneous muscovite (~1635 Ma) must postdate crystal-
lization of the host granite, consistent with the inference from
field observations that the host granite is part of the Tunkillia
Suite at ~1680 Ma. Deformation and the development of a
sericite foliation which overprints the relict igneous mus-
covite is no older than ~1635 Ma, and this is interpreted as a
maximum age for Au-related sericite alteration.
40Ar/39Ar
results from Barns
Tunkillia Suite granitoid at Barns is altered to sericite in
spatial association with gold mineralization (Figs. 6d, Fig. 7).
The samples selected for 40Ar/39Ar dating from the Barns
prospect were sericitically altered plagioclase grains (Fig. 6d),
similar to those described from Tunkillia. The sericitic alter-
ation is restricted to plagioclase, with K-feldspar being unal-
tered apart from fracturing and minor dusting of hematite.
Three samples of sericite from Barns each yielded relatively
flat 40Ar/39Ar age spectra with plateau ages ranging from 1568
1700
a 1635 ± 8 Ma
1650
1600
1550
Age (Ma)
1500
1450 2003369014 muscovite
1400
1000
K/Ca
100
10
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6
39
Fraction Ar released
FIG. 13. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra for muscovite and sericite from the Nuckulla Hill prospect.
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± 8 to 1580 ± 10 Ma (Fig. 14). The step-heating experiment
for sample 2003369005 was compromised by an error in the
heating schedule, resulting in over 80 percent of the gas being
released in a single step. However, the consistency in appar-
ent age from this step with subsequent heating steps from this
sample, as well as with the plateau ages from samples
2003369006 and 2002363019I, give us confidence that this is
a geologically meaningful age. Consequently, we have taken
the apparent age of the largest step (1580 ± 10 Ma) as a good
approximation of the plateau age of sample 2003369005. The
K/Ca ratios for samples 2003369005 and 2003369006 are
around 1,000 for most steps included in plateau calculations.
The K/Ca ratios from sample 2002363019I are considerably
lower, ranging between 10 and 100 over most of the gas re-
lease, but the interpreted ages from all three samples are in-
distinguishable within uncertainty. As at Tunkillia, there is no
evidence of any white mica at Barns that predates sericitic al-
teration, and therefore the 40Ar/39Ar ages from sericite must
represent either the time of sericitic alteration or a cooling or
isotopic resetting age.
40Ar/39Ar
results from Weednanna
Two samples of coarse, euhedral muscovite (Fig. 9e) have
been analyzed from Weednanna. This muscovite occurs to-
gether with chlorite after biotite and magnetite and is inter-
preted to be part of the stage 1 assemblage. Both muscovite
samples (2003369008 and 2003369009) yielded relatively flat
age spectra with plateau ages of 1587 ± 8 and 1596 ± 8 Ma,
respectively (Fig. 15). These ages overlap within uncertainty
and are interpreted to reflect the time of muscovite crystal-
lization during stage 1.
Biotite from sample 2003369009 appears to be predomi-
nantly metasomatic in origin, although we cannot rule out the
presence of relict metamorphic biotite. Biotite from this rock
yielded a discordant age spectrum in which no plateau age
can be identified (Fig. 15e). Approximately 95 percent of the
gas yielded apparent ages older than 1590 Ma, consisting of a
relatively flat section in which four consecutive steps give a
weighted mean age of 1619 ± 8 Ma, followed by a hump
shape over the final 35 percent of gas in which ages reach a
1700
b
1650
1600
1550
Age (Ma)
1500
1450
1400 2003369015 sericite
1000
K/Ca
100
10
0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
39
Fraction Ar released
1527
1528 FRASER ET AL.

1700 1700
a b
1650 1650
1580 ± 10 Ma 1568 ± 8 Ma
1600 1600

1550 1550
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)
1500 1500

1450 2003369005 sericite 1450 2003369006 sericite

1400 1400

1000 1000

K/Ca
K/Ca

100 100
10 10

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Fraction 39Ar released Fraction 39Ar released

1700
c
1650 1574 ± 8 Ma
1600

1550
Age (Ma)

1500

1450 2002363019I sericite

1400

1000
K/Ca

100
10

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Fraction 39Ar released

FIG. 14. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra for sericite from the Barns prospect.

maximum of 1673 Ma before dropping slightly over the final
10 percent of gas. There is no clear correlation of apparent
age with K/Ca that might help distinguish ages from chemi-
cally distinct material, but it is possible that this age spectrum
results from a combination of metamorphic and metasomatic
biotite. We have no constraints on the timing of metamor-
phism prior to metasomatism in this region, although else-
where in the Gawler craton Hutchison Group sedimentary
rocks were metamorphosed during the Kimban orogeny be-
tween ~1730 and 1700 Ma. Given the discordant nature of this
age spectrum, and the possibility of a mixture between meta-
morphic and metasomatic biotite, little confidence is placed in
the geologic meaning of ages from this sample, although it is
noteworthy that ages older than ~1590 Ma are preserved.
Two samples of stage 2 sericitically altered plagioclase
(2003369007 and 2003369010) from Weednanna have been
dated (Fig. 15c, d). In the case of sample 2003369007, al-
though the age spectrum does not satisfy the statistical
plateau criteria of isoplot (Ludwig, 2001), seven consecutive
steps comprising ~77 percent of the gas released yielded ages
between 1582 and 1600 Ma, with a weighted mean age of
1590 ± 7 Ma (MSWD = 3). Although these data exhibit excess
scatter, the weighted mean age is consistent with the ages ob-
tained from the two muscovite samples described above.
Sample 20003369010 yielded a discordant age spectrum that
is distinctly saddle shaped. Saddle-shaped age spectra are
commonly interpreted as the result of incorporation of excess
argon within fluid inclusions, mineral defects, or in lattice va-
cancies within the host mineral (e.g., McDougall and Harri-
son, 1999). The saddle shape of the central part of the age
spectrum from sample 2003369010 correlates with a drop in
the associated K/Ca ratio (Fig. 15d), suggesting that gas was
derived from different chemical reservoirs with different ap-
parent ages. Due to the likelihood of excess argon, the sug-
gestion of impurity in the mineral separate as revealed by the
covariation of age and K/Ca, and the discordant nature of the
age spectrum, we do not place any geologic interpretation on
data from this sample.

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1700 1700
a b 1596 ± 8 Ma
1650 1587 ± 8 Ma 1650

1600 1600

1550 1550
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)
1500 1500

1450 1450 2003369009 muscovite

2003369008 muscovite
1400 1400

1000 1000

K/Ca
K/Ca

100 100
10 10

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
39 39
Fraction Ar released Fraction Ar released

1700 1700
c d
1650 No plateau 1650

1600 1600

1550 1550
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)
1500 1500

1450 1450
2003369007 sericite 2003369010 sericite
1400 1400

1000 1000
K/Ca

K/Ca

100 100
10 10

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Fraction 39Ar released Fraction 39Ar released

1700
1650
e
1600

1550
Age (Ma)

1500

1450
2003369009 biotite
1400

1000
K/Ca

100
10

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Fraction 39Ar released

FIG. 15. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra for muscovite, sericite, and biotite from the Weednanna prospect.

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1530
Based on the muscovite data in samples 2003369008 and
2003369009, stage 1 alteration is interpreted to have occurred
at ~1590 Ma, closely followed by stage 2 sericitic alteration in
association with Au mineralization.
Discussion of Age Constraints for Alteration
All the available isotopic age constraints for central Gawler
craton gold province prospects are plotted in Figure 16, in-
cluding constraints from the Tarcoola goldfield from Budd
and Fraser (2004). U-Pb zircon ages of ~1680 to ~1690 Ma
from the host rocks of the Tunkillia and Barns prospects pro-
vide maximum ages for mineralization. At Tarcoola, a U-Pb
zircon age of 1656 ± 7 Ma from a volcanic unit within miner-
alized sedimentary rocks also provides a maximum age con-
straint for mineralization (Fanning, 1997). At Nuckulla Hill, a
40Ar/39Ar age of ~1635 Ma from relict igneous muscovite is
also interpreted as a maximum age for crosscutting sericitic
alteration.
The spatial association between gold mineralizaton and
sericitic alteration at each of the prospects Tarcoola, Tunkil-
lia, Nuckulla Hill, Barns, and Weednanna, suggests that
sericitic alteration was synchronous with gold mineralization.
Sericitic alteration has yielded 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages lying
within the range 1570 to 1590 Ma for five samples from the
Tunkillia prospect and three samples from the Barns
prospect. The same style of sericitic alteration at Tarcoola has
produced four plateau ages in the same range (Budd and
Fraser, 2004). Together these 12 ages define a weighted mean
Tarcoola
host volcanic
Fanning, 1990
host granite
Budd unpublished data
Budd & Fraser, 2004
Tunkillia
host granodiorite
Ferris, 2001
Nuckulla Hill
Barns
host granodiorite
Weednanna
1750 1700 1650
Age (Ma)
FIG. 16. Summary of age constraints for gold prospects of the central Gawler craton. All data from Tunkillia, Nuckulla
Hill, Barns, and Weednanna are from this study, with the exception of the U-Pb zircon age for the host granodiorite from
Tunkillia, which comes from Ferris (2001). Ages from Tarcoola come from Budd and Fraser (2004), Fanning (1997) and A.
R. Budd (unpub. data), as shown.
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FRASER ET AL.
age of 1580 ± 4 Ma but with significant scatter as indicated by
an MSWD of 3.2. If the two youngest ages (sample
2003369001 from Tunkillia, and sample 2003369006 from
Barns) are excluded, the remaining ten samples give a
weighted mean age of 1581 ± 3 Ma (95% confidence, MSWD
= 1.6). These data show that 40Ar/39Ar ages of sericitic alter-
ation are relatively reproducible from multiple samples from
a single prospect and across the three prospects of Tarcoola,
Tunkillia, and Barns. In all of these sericite samples there is
no preexisting white mica, and thus the 40Ar/39Ar ages cannot
be interpreted as inherited ages. Provided that sericitic alter-
ation occurred in a single episode, and we have no textural ev-
idence to suggest otherwise, the 40Ar/39Ar ages must therefore
be either minimum or crystallization ages. At Tarcoola, ig-
neous hornblende from a mineralized mafic dike has given a
40Ar/39Ar age of 1582 ± 5 Ma, indistinguishable from 40Ar/39Ar
sericite ages (Budd and Fraser, 2004). The hornblende age
has been interpreted as an intrusive age and therefore a max-
imum age for the crosscutting mineralization. As they are in-
distinguishable from the maximum age constraint from the
mafic dike the sericite ages at Tarcoola appear to be good es-
timates for the time of sericitic alteration.
At the Tunkillia and Barns prospects the maximum age of
mineralization is constrained by the age of the host granitoids
of ~1690 Ma. This constraint, together with the sericite ages
of ~1580 Ma, indicates that alteration and mineralization
might have occurred at any time between ~1690 and ~1580
Ma. We note that in several samples the preservation of
U-Pb zircon
40
Ar/39Ar hornblende
40
Ar/39Ar sericite
40
Ar/39Ar muscovite
40Ar/39Ar biotite
granite
1600 1550 1500
1530
 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING
randomly oriented, fine-grained sericite intergrowths that re-
tain the outline of preexisting plagioclase grains (Figs. 4b, 6d)
suggests that these textures have not been pervasively de-
formed or recrystallized since sericite alteration. At least at
the thin-section scale, any overprinting event after sericitic al-
teration must have been primarily thermal, rather than defor-
mational or metasomatic. Thus, if sericitic alteration occurred
prior to ~1580 Ma, the measured 40Ar/39Ar ages must be the
result of thermal resetting or regional cooling. At Tunkillia
and Barns there are no known intrusive rocks of ~1580 Ma in
the immediate vicinity of the prospects that could have
caused isotopic resetting of the sericite. It is possible that the
Gawler Range Volcanics originally extended farther west than
the current outcrop and may have covered the region of the
central Gawler craton gold province. Temperatures immedi-
ately below the Gawler Range Volcanics could have exceeded
the closure temperature for white mica, or alternatively, the
~1580 Ma 40Ar/39Ar age may represent cooling from >300°C
during exhumation. However, the pre-1580 Ma ages for mus-
covite from Nuckulla Hill and biotite from Weednanna would
not have been preserved if widespread isotopic resetting had
occurred. The preservation of these ages supports the inter-
pretation of the ~1580 Ma sericite ages as representing the
time of sericitic alteration (and mineralization) rather than
isotopic resetting.
In summary, we interpret the available data to indicate that
gold mineralization took place at ~1580 Ma at Tarcoola,
Tunkillia, and Barns. There are strong indications that an
early phase of fluid alteration occurred at the Weednanna
prospect at ~1590 Ma, associated with gold mineralization. At
Nuckulla Hill no direct age constraints for alteration exist, but
a maximum age of ~1635 Ma is provided by relict igneous
muscovite that is deformed and crosscut by a sericitic defor-
mation fabric.
As noted earlier, systematic uncertainties in 40Ar/39Ar dating
expand the uncertainty of a typical plateau age in this study
from ±8 to ±25 Ma (2σ). Therefore, sericite ages of ~1580 Ma
are indistinguishable from U-Pb zircon ages from the Gawler
Range Volcanics and Hiltaba Suite granitoids.
Discussion and Conclusions
Numerous similarities have been found between the Au
prospects of Tarcoola, Tunkillia, Nuckulla Hill, Barns, and
Weednanna.
1. Gold occurs as disseminated and veinlet-hosted miner-
alization. Massive thick quartz veins are uncommon hosts to
gold mineralization, except in the Tarcoola Blocks area.
2. Host rocks to mineralization are principally granitoids
(Tunkillia, Nuckulla Hill, Barns, Tarcoola), although carbona-
ceous metasedimentary rocks of the Tarcoola Formation host
part of the mineralization at Tarcoola, and the Weednanna
prospect is hosted in metasomatized gneisses.
3. Hydrothermal alteration is characteristically zoned around
the gold mineralization, with intense sericite-pyrite alteration
and quartz veining proximal to gold mineralization, and chlorite
± epidote ± hematite alteration distal from mineralization.
4. Sericitic alteration and mineralization was structurally
controlled by brittle to brittle-ductile deformation, although
in some cases alteration appears to have continued after
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1531
deformation on a local scale. Mineralizing fluids in at least
some of these prospects appear to have been focussed by the
large-scale Yarlbrinda shear zone that separates crustal do-
mains with different Nd isotope signatures.
5. Gold is associated with pyrite, and minor to trace galena,
sphalerite, and chalcopyrite.
6. Late-stage (post-gold mineralization?) undeformed veins
containing quartz, prehnite, galena, and carbonate, and even
later epithermal-style veins, are present in several of the
prospects.
7. Iron oxides are very low in abundance in mineralized
zones and, if present, occur as hematite. Magnetite in host
granitoids is hematized, sulfidized, or removed within proxi-
mal sericitic alteration zones.
8. Multiple fluids were present in some systems, but one
key fluid type occurs in each of the gold prospects: a low- to
moderate-salinity (up to 10 wt % NaCl equiv) fluid with ho-
mogenization temperatures mostly in the range of ~150° to
300°C and commonly containing CO2 or associated with CO2-
rich inclusions.
This combination of features has similarities to both oro-
genic gold (Groves et al., 1998) and intrusion-related gold
(Lang and Baker, 2001) deposits. However, it may be prema-
ture to classify the prospects of the central Gawler craton gold
province. Sillitoe and Thompson (1998) and Lang and Baker
(2001) have commented on the difficulty in distinguishing
orogenic- from intrusion-related gold, even in cases where
deposit descriptions are relatively comprehensive. In the case
of the central Gawler craton gold province, a great deal more
detailed work is required at the regional and prospect scale to
understand the origin and evolution of the metal-bearing flu-
ids, the relative importance of structural and chemical con-
trols on gold deposition, and the importance of magmatic ac-
tivity. Although the 40Ar/39Ar age constraints for alteration and
mineralization presented here are indistinguishable from ex-
isting U-Pb ages for regionally extensive magmas of the
Hiltaba Suite and Gawler Range Volcanics, at the prospect
scale a genetic link between magmatism and mineralization
has not been demonstrated. A possible exception is at Tar-
coola, where mutually crosscutting relationships between
gold mineralization and diorite dikes have been reported
(Budd and Fraser, 2004). In this case, an illuminating com-
parison might be made with recent work on Mesozoic gold
deposits in the Jiaodong gold province of eastern China (Li et
al., 2003), where mineralization has been shown to have been
coeval with mafic dike emplacement but to postdate spatially
related granodiorite intrusions by ~5 m.y. Any such detailed
timing relationships in the central Gawler craton gold
province are not resolvable with the current geochonological
data.
Despite the similarities noted above, the intensity of defor-
mation is highly variable in the different prospects. Mylonites
and cataclasites occur at Nuckulla Hill and Tunkillia, within
the Yarlbrinda shear zone, whereas only weakly foliated host
rocks occur at Barns and Tarcoola. The abundance of base
metal sulfides relative to pyrite varies from high at Tarcoola
and Tunkillia to lower at Nuckulla Hill and Barns. Addition-
ally, a saline brine as well as a low- to moderate-salinity fluid
is present at the Nuckulla Hill and Mawson prospects, but no
1532 FRASER ET AL.
brine has been identified at Tarcoola, Tunkillia, or Barns. The
Weednanna Au and Mawson Au-Cu prospects also show
some affinities with the Fe oxide-rich alteration systems in
the Olympic Cu-Au province (e.g., Skirrow et al., 2002). At
Weednanna, the sericite-chlorite alteration that overprints bi-
otite and magnetite-calc-silicate alteration assemblages is su-
perficially similar to the sericite and chlorite alteration else-
where in the central Gawler gold province. On the other
hand, base metal contents and bismuth concentrations are
significantly higher at Weednanna, and the early magnetite-,
pyrrhotite- and calc-silicate-rich early alteration assemblages
contrast with the Fe oxide-poor, relatively oxidized (pyrite-ru-
tile ± hematite) proximal alteration zones in the other gold
prospects.
The Mesoproterozoic tectonic setting of the central Gawler
craton is uncertain. The regional metamorphic and deforma-
tional history and the kinematic history and tectonic signifi-
cance of the Yarlbrinda shear zone are all poorly constrained,
largely due to paucity of outcrop. Most ideas about the tec-
tonic setting of the central Gawler craton have been based on
characteristics of Hiltaba Suite and Gawler Range Volcanics
magmatism. Blissett et al. (1993) and Creaser (1995) re-
garded magmatism in the central Gawler craton at ~1590 Ma
as anorogenic and favored a model similar to that of Hofmann
(1989) in which the presence of a large, long-lived supercon-
tinent had an insulating effect on the mantle, eventually re-
sulting in mantle upwelling and intrusion of mafic magmas
into the lower crust, followed by large volumes of crustal
melting. In contrast, Ferris et al. (2002) proposed the gener-
ation of Hiltaba Suite magmas in a continental extensional en-
vironment related to a hypothetical northeast-dipping sub-
duction zone located south of the Nuyts domain (Fig. 1).
Giles et al. (2004) proposed that in the Mesoproterozoic the
Gawler craton was rotated ~50° counterclockwise relative to
its current orientation and was positioned adjacent to the
eastern margin of the North Australian craton. This model in-
volves a convergent margin to the southwest of the Gawler
craton in present-day coordinates, during the period ~1.8 to
1.6 Ga, and is thus broadly consistent with the subduction
zone model of Ferris et al. (2002). Until a more rigorous study
of the deposits of the central Gawler craton gold province can
be carried out, the possibility of a subduction-related envi-
ronment, typically associated with orogenic gold deposits, as
opposed to some other tectonic setting, cannot be evaluated
on the basis of metallogeny.
A key result of this study is that sericitic alteration and gold
mineralization were broadly coeval throughout the central
Gawler craton gold province at ~1580 Ma, and that similar
gold mineralizing systems were active at similar times over a
broad region of the central Gawler craton, supporting the
concept of a central Gawler craton gold province, as proposed
by Budd et al. (1998), Drown (2003), and Ferris and Schwarz
(2003). The scale of this metallogenic event is a positive indi-
cator for the potential of the province.
Acknowledgments
This work was conducted as part of a National Geoscience
Accord agreement between Geoscience Australia, Depart-
ment of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia
(PIRSA), and the University of Adelaide. Helix Resources,
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1532
Adelaide Resources, Aquila Resources, and Equinox Re-
sources provided access to drill core for sampling, facilitated
by Brian Logan and staff at the PIRSA core library. Gary Fer-
ris (PIRSA) provided advice as well as samples and thin sec-
tions from the Tunkillia prospect. We thank Terry Mernagh
for assistance in mineral identification, using the Raman spec-
troscope at Geoscience Australia. Kevin Cassidy and Terry
Mernagh provided constructive criticism of an earlier draft of
the manuscript. Reviews by Sandra Occhipinti and Elizabeth
Ronacher, and editorial comments by Mark Hannington sig-
nificantly improved the final manuscript. GLF, RGS, and OH
publish with the permission of the chief executive officer,
Geoscience Australia.
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1534 FRASER ET AL.

APPENDIX 1
U-Pb Zircon Data from the Barns and Weednanna Prospects

207Pb/206Pb Discordance
Analysis 206Pb
c (%) U (ppm) Th (ppm) 232Th/238U 238U/206Pb ± (%) 207Pb*/206Pb* ± (%) Age (Ma) ±1σ (Ma) (%)

Barns granodiorite 2002363019J Drill hole PDBN134 226.6–227.36 m

503.1 0.39 159 86 0.56 3.29 2.4 0.1021 0.8 1663 14 –3

504.1 0.46 861 60 0.07 3.24 2.4 0.1047 0.3 1709 6 –1
505.1 0.14 201 122 0.62 3.38 2.3 0.1028 0.5 1676 10 0
507.1 0.11 218 102 0.49 3.56 2.3 0.1031 0.5 1681 10 5
509.1 0.41 608 409 0.69 3.49 2.3 0.1042 0.4 1700 7 5
510.1 0.11 231 141 0.63 3.43 2.3 0.1039 0.5 1695 8 3
511.1 0.41 263 205 0.81 3.27 2.3 0.1031 1.1 1681 20 –2
513.1 0.11 308 194 0.65 3.61 2.4 0.1052 0.6 1718 11 8
514.1 0.24 99 51 0.53 3.32 2.4 0.1040 0.8 1696 14 0
515.1 0.22 138 83 0.62 3.19 2.4 0.1043 0.5 1703 9 –3
516.1 0.36 150 79 0.55 3.37 2.4 0.1023 0.8 1666 14 –1
518.1 0.16 224 122 0.56 3.49 2.3 0.1037 0.5 1691 9 4
520.1 0.18 157 83 0.55 3.21 2.4 0.1045 0.5 1706 10 –3
521.1 0.12 178 117 0.68 3.56 2.3 0.1032 0.5 1682 9 5
522.1 0.08 348 158 0.47 3.67 2.3 0.1040 0.4 1697 6 8
523.1 0.13 188 96 0.52 3.39 2.3 0.1031 0.5 1681 9 1
524.1 0.09 300 196 0.68 3.45 2.3 0.1036 0.4 1689 7 3
525.1 0.33 338 277 0.85 3.29 2.3 0.1033 0.5 1685 9 –2
526.1 0.35 301 166 0.57 3.54 2.4 0.1039 0.8 1695 14 5
527.1 0.20 206 112 0.56 3.51 2.3 0.1031 0.5 1681 9 4
528.1 0.07 346 228 0.68 3.37 2.4 0.1041 0.3 1698 6 1
529.1 0.19 262 154 0.61 3.40 2.4 0.1036 0.6 1689 11 2
530.1 0.17 314 185 0.61 3.64 2.3 0.1041 0.4 1699 8 8
501.1 2.90 547 387 0.73 3.53 2.5 0.1113 1.8 1821 33 13
502.1 0.37 70 33 0.49 3.37 2.6 0.1006 1.2 1635 22 –2
506.1 1.02 509 250 0.51 3.73 2.5 0.1056 0.8 1725 15 13
508.1 0.70 230 117 0.53 3.28 2.5 0.1010 0.9 1643 17 –4
512.1 0.64 591 377 0.66 3.07 2.5 0.1028 0.7 1676 12 –8
517.1 1.90 240 99 0.43 3.00 2.5 0.0982 2.4 1591 44 –14
519.1 –1.38 341 223 0.68 3.29 2.5 0.1179 1.1 1924 20 13

Barns mafic dike 2003362502 Drill hole PDBN134 143.0–144.38 m

210.1 0.17 221 141 0.66 3.36 2.3 0.1026 0.5 1672 9 –1
413.1 0.14 235 99 0.44 3.61 2.3 0.1040 0.5 1696 9 7
412.1 0.13 311 217 0.72 3.49 2.3 0.1037 0.4 1691 7 4
403.1 0.17 327 132 0.42 3.40 2.4 0.1049 0.4 1712 8 3
410.1 0.34 379 204 0.55 3.40 2.4 0.1029 0.5 1676 10 1
414.1 0.09 482 242 0.52 3.56 2.3 0.1031 0.4 1681 7 5
208.1 0.06 859 326 0.39 3.20 2.3 0.1053 0.2 1719 4 –2
213.1 0.03 1223 32 0.03 3.62 2.3 0.1046 0.2 1707 3 8
207.1 0.04 1340 117 0.09 3.38 2.3 0.1041 0.2 1699 3 2
205.1 0.11 1418 57 0.04 3.42 2.3 0.1045 0.2 1706 4 3
405.1 0.07 1577 171 0.11 3.42 2.3 0.1035 0.2 1688 3 2
406.1 0.09 1678 148 0.09 3.77 2.3 0.1035 0.2 1687 3 10
204.1 0.03 1687 53 0.03 3.49 2.3 0.1044 0.2 1703 3 5
411.1 0.46 1882 126 0.07 3.44 2.4 0.1047 0.2 1708 4 4
209.1 0.16 2115 259 0.13 3.51 2.3 0.1035 0.2 1688 4 4
206.1 0.15 2412 995 0.43 3.50 2.3 0.1037 0.2 1692 3 4
201.1 0.36 2086 1021 0.51 5.00 2.6 0.0965 0.4 1558 7 33
202.1 9.99 1642 574 0.36 4.21 2.8 0.1038 8.8 1693 163 23
203.1 0.32 1800 527 0.30 4.10 2.5 0.1018 0.3 1657 5 18
211.1 0.77 1633 60 0.04 4.31 2.5 0.0988 0.6 1602 10 19
212.1 0.64 2741 1642 0.62 5.95 2.5 0.0881 0.6 1384 11 38
214.1 0.51 1803 190 0.11 3.53 2.5 0.1024 0.4 1669 7 4
401.1 1.72 317 205 0.67 5.10 2.8 0.1121 2.6 1834 47 59
402.1 0.20 1251 820 0.68 4.26 2.5 0.1012 0.3 1647 6 21
404.1 2.78 193 90 0.48 3.93 2.5 0.1066 2.1 1743 39 19
406.1 0.09 1678 148 0.09 3.77 2.5 0.1035 0.2 1687 3 11
407.1 1.09 248 73 0.30 3.20 2.6 0.0934 2.2 1495 41 –15
408.1 0.51 575 255 0.46 3.60 2.5 0.1141 0.5 1865 10 18
409.1 2.27 255 153 0.62 3.00 2.7 0.1030 2.2 1679 40 –10

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1534

 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING 1535

APPENDIX 1 (Cont.)

207Pb/206Pb Discordance
Analysis 206Pb
c (%) U (ppm) Th (ppm) 232Th/238U 238U/206Pb ± (%) 207Pb*/206Pb* ± (%) Age (Ma) ±1σ (Ma) (%)

Barns mafic dike 2003362500 Drill hole PDBN134 179.0–180.2 m

308.1 0.17 166 115 0.72 3.29 2.4 0.1031 0.6 1681 11 –2
301.1 0.18 334 185 0.57 3.55 2.4 0.1032 0.5 1682 10 5
302.1 0.14 274 149 0.56 3.35 2.3 0.1036 0.4 1690 8 0
303.1 0.09 334 216 0.67 3.39 2.3 0.1043 0.5 1703 9 2
305.1 0.16 254 133 0.54 3.48 2.4 0.1054 0.5 1722 9 5
306.1 0.12 309 114 0.38 3.36 2.4 0.1056 0.4 1725 7 3
307.1 0.14 555 343 0.64 3.35 2.3 0.1057 0.4 1726 7 2
304.1 0.68 305 234 0.79 3.50 2.5 0.1014 0.8 1649 15 2

Weednanna granite 2003362501 Drill hole WDDH5 450.9–456.4 m

101.1 0.11 286 179 0.65 3.62 2.3 0.0979 0.4 1585 8 1
102.1 0.05 317 188 0.61 3.77 2.3 0.0981 0.4 1588 7 4
104.1 0.08 395 227 0.59 3.64 2.4 0.0985 0.4 1595 7 2
105.1 0.15 261 127 0.50 3.73 2.3 0.0980 0.5 1586 9 3
107.1 0.11 244 135 0.57 3.71 2.3 0.0982 0.6 1589 11 3
108.1 0.21 177 133 0.78 3.74 2.3 0.0977 0.6 1580 12 3
109.1 0.06 299 154 0.53 3.59 2.4 0.0982 0.4 1590 8 0
110.1 0.08 437 236 0.56 3.68 2.3 0.0986 0.4 1597 7 3
111.1 0.11 171 147 0.89 3.74 2.3 0.0974 0.5 1574 10 3
112.1 0.12 146 80 0.57 3.69 2.4 0.0982 0.8 1589 16 3
121.1 0.08 427 238 0.58 3.45 3.3 0.0980 0.4 1587 7 –3
121.2 0.11 289 186 0.67 3.55 3.3 0.0978 0.5 1583 10 –1
123.1 0.09 234 172 0.76 3.85 3.3 0.0978 0.6 1583 11 6
124.1 0.11 290 162 0.58 3.48 3.3 0.0982 0.4 1590 8 –2
125.1 0.13 248 164 0.68 3.52 3.3 0.0980 0.6 1586 11 –2
126.1 0.18 196 164 0.87 3.49 3.3 0.0976 0.7 1579 13 –3
127.1 0.08 334 193 0.60 3.56 3.3 0.0986 0.4 1597 8 0
128.1 0.18 233 131 0.58 3.47 3.3 0.0972 0.6 1572 10 –4
129.1 0.10 343 213 0.64 3.55 3.3 0.0983 0.4 1592 8 0
130.1 0.10 156 107 0.71 3.47 3.3 0.0980 0.7 1587 12 –3
131.1 -0.11 364 86 0.24 3.52 3.3 0.1004 0.4 1631 8 1
132.1 0.14 187 89 0.49 3.70 3.3 0.0981 0.6 1589 12 3
134.1 0.17 275 92 0.35 3.63 3.3 0.0962 0.7 1551 13 –1
103.1 0.14 246 154 0.65 4.71 2.62 0.0961 0.5 1550 10 25
106.1 0.75 378 172 0.47 4.88 2.51 0.1002 0.9 1628 16 36
122.1 0.10 418 351 0.87 3.75 2.6 0.1099 0.4 1784 7 15
131.1 -0.11 364 86 0.24 3.52 2.6 0.0995 0.4 1631 8 1
133.1 0.04 600 90 0.16 3.70 2.6 0.1090 0.6 1777 12 13
136.1 0.39 158 97 0.64 4.04 2.6 0.0992 0.7 1545 22 8

Notes: Pbc = common Pb; data in italics have not been included in age calculations due either to discordance greater than 10% or common 206Pb greater
than 0.5%; 207Pb*/206Pb* indicates the ratio of radiogenic Pb isotopes, after correction for common Pb

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1535

1536 FRASER ET AL.

APPENDIX 2
40Ar/39Ar Data from Central Gawler Craton Gold Prospects

Temperature (°C) 36Ar mol 37Ar mol 39Ar mol 40Ar mol %40Ar* 40Ar*/39Ar
K
39Ar (%) Age (Ma) ±1σ (Ma) K/Ca

2003369001 Sericite, Tunkillia J = 0.014081

650 3.73E-16 5.93E-16 2.22E-14 2.20E-12 95 94.02 5.36 1521 3 20
700 6.24E-17 6.49E-16 2.40E-14 2.36E-12 99.2 97.82 11.15 1562 3 19
750 3.50E-17 1.46E-17 3.51E-14 3.46E-12 99.7 98.29 19.62 1567 2 1267
780 4.62E-17 1.46E-17 3.44E-14 3.40E-12 99.6 98.40 27.94 1569 4 1244
820 2.77E-17 2.82E-16 3.44E-14 3.39E-12 99.7 98.30 36.25 1568 3 64
860 6.18E-17 1.31E-18 4.86E-14 4.81E-12 99.6 98.59 47.98 1571 3 19531
900 5.36E-17 1.46E-17 5.05E-14 4.97E-12 99.7 97.97 60.19 1564 3 1818
940 5.49E-17 1.47E-17 5.19E-14 5.11E-12 99.7 98.16 72.71 1566 4 1862
970 6.60E-17 1.47E-17 3.66E-14 3.63E-12 99.4 98.78 81.55 1573 5 1312
1010 7.09E-17 1.47E-17 3.57E-14 3.54E-12 99.4 98.66 90.16 1571 6 1279
1050 7.88E-17 1.47E-17 2.56E-14 2.56E-12 99.1 99.32 96.33 1578 3 917
1120 1.08E-16 1.47E-17 1.11E-14 1.13E-12 97.2 99.56 99.00 1581 6 395
1200 6.97E-17 1.47E-17 4.12E-15 4.12E-13 95 94.96 100.00 1532 13 147

Total 1.11E-15 1.66E-15 4.14E-13 4.10E-11 98.16 1566 4

2003369002 Sericite, Tunkillia J = 0.014086

650 4.89E-17 2.78E-15 7.87E-15 6.74E-13 97.9 83.83 2.8 1407 5 1
700 3.48E-17 2.76E-15 7.36E-15 7.15E-13 98.6 95.80 5.3 1541 6 1
750 3.42E-17 1.96E-15 1.02E-14 1.02E-12 99 99.01 8.9 1575 6 3
780 2.77E-17 8.20E-16 9.71E-15 9.80E-13 99.1 100.06 12.3 1586 5 6
820 3.89E-17 8.33E-16 2.92E-14 2.92E-12 99.6 99.78 22.6 1584 2 18
860 3.74E-17 1.45E-17 4.06E-14 4.08E-12 99.7 100.06 36.8 1587 4 1473
900 7.69E-17 1.59E-17 5.61E-14 5.60E-12 99.6 99.30 56.5 1578 3 1862
940 2.71E-17 1.59E-17 4.17E-14 4.17E-12 99.8 99.61 71.2 1582 3 1383
980 5.77E-17 3.41E-16 3.93E-14 3.93E-12 99.5 99.54 85.0 1581 3 61
1020 5.28E-17 1.59E-17 2.48E-14 2.49E-12 99.3 99.71 93.7 1583 5 820
1060 7.10E-17 1.59E-17 1.39E-14 1.42E-12 98.5 100.64 98.6 1593 8 461
1200 6.01E-17 1.14E-15 4.12E-15 4.47E-13 96 104.27 100.0 1630 12 2

Total 5.67E-16 1.07E-14 2.85E-13 2.84E-11 99.21 1577 4

2003369003 Sericite, Tunkillia J = 0.014090

650 8.95E-17 5.28E-16 3.74E-15 3.33E-13 92 81.82 2.5 1383 9 4
700 2.63E-17 2.93E-16 3.94E-15 3.80E-13 97.9 94.43 5.2 1526 7 7
750 3.46E-17 2.25E-16 6.25E-15 6.39E-13 98.4 100.59 9.5 1592 8 15
790 1.49E-17 9.44E-18 8.48E-15 8.61E-13 99.5 100.89 15.2 1596 10 474
830 2.39E-17 1.56E-16 1.25E-14 1.26E-12 99.4 100.32 23.7 1589 5 42
870 2.80E-17 3.90E-17 1.71E-14 1.71E-12 99.5 99.81 35.3 1584 3 230
910 2.49E-17 3.59E-16 2.29E-14 2.29E-12 99.6 99.64 50.8 1582 1 34
950 2.83E-17 4.90E-16 2.59E-14 2.59E-12 99.6 99.81 68.4 1584 3 28
990 3.71E-17 8.02E-17 1.70E-14 1.71E-12 99.3 99.94 80.0 1586 4 112
1050 5.83E-17 4.88E-16 1.60E-14 1.60E-12 98.9 99.12 90.8 1577 10 17
1120 7.13E-17 5.29E-16 5.20E-15 5.37E-13 96.1 99.26 94.3 1578 5 5
1300 1.83E-16 6.60E-16 8.35E-15 9.09E-13 94 102.31 100.0 1610 5 7

Total 6.20E-16 3.86E-15 1.47E-13 1.48E-11 99.38 1580 5

2003369004 Sericite, Tunkillia J = 0.014096

650 4.84E-16 7.03E-15 8.41E-15 8.34E-13 82.9 82.28 3.5 1389 6 1
700 4.73E-17 5.66E-15 9.13E-15 8.83E-13 98.5 95.33 7.2 1537 6 1
740 3.88E-17 2.76E-16 1.19E-14 1.20E-12 99 99.55 12.2 1582 5 23
780 4.86E-17 1.59E-16 1.75E-14 1.75E-12 99.2 99.46 19.4 1581 2 58
820 4.66E-17 5.05E-16 2.49E-14 2.50E-12 99.4 99.93 29.7 1586 8 26
860 4.54E-17 4.07E-17 3.13E-14 3.17E-12 99.5 100.69 42.6 1594 7 405
890 2.31E-17 3.05E-16 2.83E-14 2.83E-12 99.7 99.50 54.3 1581 9 49
920 4.40E-17 1.91E-16 3.00E-14 2.98E-12 99.5 99.10 66.7 1577 12 83
960 4.83E-17 1.38E-16 3.25E-14 3.27E-12 99.5 99.93 80.1 1586 12 124
1000 5.46E-17 3.64E-16 2.15E-14 2.14E-12 99.2 98.73 89.0 1573 3 31
1070 7.13E-17 3.83E-16 1.21E-14 1.20E-12 98.2 97.85 94.0 1564 3 17
1200 1.54E-16 1.42E-15 1.46E-14 1.49E-12 96.9 98.82 100.0 1574 2 5

Total 1.11E-15 1.65E-14 2.42E-13 2.42E-11 98.76 1573 7

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1536

 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING 1537

APPENDIX 2 (Cont.)

Temperature (°C) 36Ar mol 37Ar mol 39Ar mol 40Ar mol %40Ar* 40Ar*/39Ar
K
39Ar (%) Age (Ma) ±1σ (Ma) K/Ca

R387440 Sericite, Tunkillia J = 0.014097

650 4.54E-17 4.58E-15 1.41E-14 1.36E-12 99 95.61 3.5 1540 2 2
700 4.26E-17 4.14E-15 1.52E-14 1.52E-12 99.2 99.41 7.3 1581 4 2
750 3.58E-17 9.08E-16 1.88E-14 1.91E-12 99.4 100.77 11.9 1595 3 11
780 1.98E-17 1.31E-16 1.34E-14 1.34E-12 99.5 99.61 15.2 1583 7 54
820 3.04E-17 2.70E-16 2.38E-14 2.38E-12 99.6 99.31 21.1 1579 4 46
860 3.33E-17 7.76E-18 3.64E-14 3.63E-12 99.7 99.51 30.1 1582 5 2463
900 4.17E-17 1.28E-16 4.70E-14 4.66E-12 99.7 98.89 41.7 1575 2 192
940 3.95E-17 1.44E-17 6.34E-14 6.31E-12 99.8 99.23 57.4 1579 3 2320
970 3.78E-17 1.44E-17 5.21E-14 5.17E-12 99.8 98.97 70.3 1576 3 1905
1000 4.81E-17 1.44E-17 4.27E-14 4.25E-12 99.6 99.32 80.9 1579 3 1560
1040 5.62E-17 1.18E-16 4.80E-14 4.79E-12 99.6 99.31 92.8 1579 4 215
1090 7.12E-17 2.53E-16 2.92E-14 2.93E-12 99.3 99.47 100.0 1581 4 61

Total 5.02E-16 1.06E-14 4.04E-13 4.02E-11 99.19 1578 3

2003369014 Muscovite, Nuckulla Hill J = 0.014135

650 2.25E-17 4.45E-18 2.30E-15 2.18E-13 96.9 92.26 1.4 1506 8 272
700 1.68E-17 2.10E-16 2.19E-15 2.31E-13 97.8 103.40 2.7 1625 5 5
750 1.88E-17 4.45E-18 2.85E-15 2.99E-13 98.1 103.03 4.4 1621 5 337
790 1.46E-17 4.45E-18 3.29E-15 3.45E-13 98.7 103.68 6.4 1628 4 389
820 2.30E-17 4.46E-18 4.05E-15 4.23E-13 98.4 102.68 8.8 1618 5 478
850 2.44E-17 4.46E-18 6.62E-15 6.89E-13 98.9 103.03 12.8 1621 5 781
875 1.62E-17 4.49E-18 8.83E-15 9.20E-13 99.5 103.62 18.1 1627 7 1035
900 2.35E-17 4.49E-18 1.38E-14 1.43E-12 99.5 103.46 26.4 1626 9 1613
950 2.25E-17 2.34E-16 1.31E-14 1.37E-12 99.5 104.17 34.2 1633 3 29
980 2.56E-17 1.18E-17 1.87E-14 1.96E-12 99.6 104.28 45.4 1634 3 840
1010 3.96E-17 1.18E-17 1.72E-14 1.80E-12 99.3 103.98 55.7 1631 5 769
1040 4.59E-17 1.18E-17 1.80E-14 1.91E-12 99.3 105.34 66.6 1645 5 806
1070 4.58E-17 4.81E-17 1.89E-14 1.99E-12 99.3 104.60 77.9 1638 3 207
1100 5.17E-17 1.18E-17 2.08E-14 2.20E-12 99.3 105.17 90.4 1643 3 926
1250 1.25E-16 1.66E-16 1.60E-14 1.72E-12 97.8 105.29 100.0 1645 3 51

Total 5.16E-16 7.37E-16 1.67E-13 1.75E-11 104.20 1633 5

2003369015 Sericite, Nuckulla Hill J = 0.014139

650 1.57E-16 1.67E-16 3.50E-14 3.31E-12 98.6 93.41 13.5 1519 11 110
720 2.15E-17 2.35E-17 3.16E-15 3.19E-13 98 99.08 14.7 1580 11 71
760 1.74E-17 3.03E-18 8.09E-15 8.30E-13 99.4 101.88 17.8 1610 6 1406
790 3.16E-17 1.27E-17 1.41E-14 1.42E-12 99.3 99.65 23.2 1586 3 585
830 2.71E-17 3.80E-16 1.58E-14 1.58E-12 99.5 99.31 29.3 1583 4 22
860 3.48E-17 1.27E-17 1.54E-14 1.53E-12 99.3 98.96 35.2 1579 3 633
890 2.59E-17 2.51E-16 1.70E-14 1.68E-12 99.5 98.49 41.8 1574 3 36
920 4.04E-17 9.24E-18 2.47E-14 2.44E-12 99.5 98.45 51.3 1573 7 1404
950 4.47E-17 4.31E-16 2.64E-14 2.59E-12 99.5 97.31 61.4 1561 4 32
980 3.65E-17 6.00E-16 1.38E-14 1.33E-12 99.2 95.66 66.8 1543 8 12
1010 4.14E-17 2.85E-16 1.80E-14 1.74E-12 99.3 95.66 73.7 1543 3 33
1040 4.37E-17 1.28E-17 2.42E-14 2.35E-12 99.4 96.68 83.0 1554 3 1000
1070 3.63E-17 6.63E-17 1.96E-14 1.90E-12 99.4 96.64 90.5 1554 2 155
1100 5.01E-17 9.37E-16 8.83E-15 8.41E-13 98.2 93.59 93.9 1521 7 5
1250 1.11E-16 6.33E-16 1.58E-14 1.44E-12 97.7 88.93 100.0 1469 3 13

Total 7.20E-16 3.83E-15 2.60E-13 2.53E-11 96.53 1553 5

2003369005 Sericite, Barns J = 0.014103

650 1.44E-15 4.39E-18 8.07E-15 1.12E-12 61.8 85.44 1.4 1427 11 971
700 1.16E-16 9.13E-18 8.34E-15 8.32E-13 95.9 95.63 2.9 1540 5 481
1000 6.11E-16 1.20E-16 4.67E-13 4.65E-11 99.6 99.27 86.2 1579 4 2053
1030 2.01E-16 1.89E-17 3.29E-14 3.34E-12 98.2 99.77 92.1 1585 4 917
1060 4.93E-17 1.72E-17 2.89E-14 2.91E-12 99.5 100.23 97.3 1590 3 885
1100 7.97E-17 1.72E-17 1.38E-14 1.40E-12 98.3 99.19 99.8 1579 4 424
1150 1.13E-16 1.72E-17 6.43E-16 8.80E-14 62 84.82 99.9 1419 52 20
1300 3.08E-16 1.72E-17 7.74E-16 1.82E-13 49.9 117.05 100.0 1759 108 24

Total 2.92E-15 2.21E-16 5.60E-13 5.64E-11 99.10 1578 4

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1537

1538 FRASER ET AL.

APPENDIX 2 (Cont.)

Temperature (°C) 36Ar mol 37Ar mol 39Ar mol 40Ar mol %40Ar* 40Ar*/39Ar
K
39Ar (%) Age (Ma) ±1σ (Ma) K/Ca

2003369006 Sericite, Barns J = 0.014107

650 1.19E-16 1.64E-16 4.50E-15 3.98E-13 91.1 80.50 2.0 1369 8 14
700 3.31E-17 1.55E-16 5.80E-15 4.63E-13 97.9 78.15 4.6 1341 21 20
740 4.03E-17 3.99E-16 7.74E-15 6.41E-13 98.1 81.35 8.1 1379 6 10
790 5.51E-17 1.25E-15 1.25E-14 1.08E-12 98.5 85.49 13.8 1427 6 5
830 4.70E-17 9.34E-16 2.29E-14 2.22E-12 99.3 96.12 24.1 1546 6 13
870 4.14E-17 2.08E-16 3.27E-14 3.20E-12 99.6 97.58 38.8 1562 8 83
900 4.33E-17 9.88E-18 2.74E-14 2.69E-12 99.5 97.92 51.1 1565 5 1456
925 4.29E-17 9.89E-18 1.94E-14 1.92E-12 99.3 98.21 59.8 1568 9 1031
950 6.24E-17 9.89E-18 1.53E-14 1.52E-12 98.8 98.28 66.7 1569 4 813
980 5.01E-17 9.90E-18 1.73E-14 1.71E-12 99.1 97.97 74.5 1566 4 917
1010 7.09E-17 1.05E-16 2.12E-14 2.11E-12 99 98.34 84.1 1570 7 106
1050 7.32E-17 3.85E-17 3.54E-14 3.54E-12 99.4 99.19 100.0 1579 6 483

Total 6.79E-16 3.30E-15 2.22E-13 2.15E-11 95.84 1543 7

2002363019I Sericite, Barns J = 0.014112

650 2.17E-16 2.58E-15 5.83E-15 5.21E-13 87.7 78.47 1.9 1345 5 1
700 3.73E-17 5.06E-16 6.17E-15 6.07E-13 98.2 96.72 3.9 1553 8 6
740 2.70E-17 5.81E-16 8.62E-15 8.51E-13 99 97.72 6.6 1564 6 8
790 1.94E-17 1.18E-15 1.56E-14 1.53E-12 99.6 97.96 11.6 1566 5 7
830 3.33E-17 1.39E-15 2.15E-14 2.10E-12 99.5 97.35 18.5 1560 2 8
870 4.79E-17 1.39E-15 3.12E-14 3.07E-12 99.5 97.87 28.5 1565 3 12
900 1.75E-17 4.94E-16 2.45E-14 2.42E-12 99.8 98.52 36.4 1572 3 26
940 5.07E-17 5.59E-16 4.72E-14 4.66E-12 99.6 98.20 51.5 1569 5 44
980 8.82E-17 7.46E-16 5.84E-14 5.79E-12 99.5 98.69 70.2 1574 4 41
1010 6.42E-17 1.53E-15 4.44E-14 4.42E-12 99.5 99.06 84.5 1578 4 15
1050 5.87E-17 7.54E-16 3.62E-14 3.62E-12 99.5 99.37 96.1 1581 4 25
1120 9.75E-17 2.11E-16 1.12E-14 1.12E-12 97.4 97.61 99.7 1562 8 28
1300 2.07E-16 4.22E-16 9.55E-16 1.56E-13 60.9 99.47 100.0 1582 46 1

Total 9.65E-16 1.23E-14 3.12E-13 3.09E-11 98.04 1567 4

2003369007 Sericite, Weednanna J = 0.014115

650 5.25E-17 8.77E-18 1.30E-14 1.15E-12 98.6 87.51 5.9 1451 4 775
700 3.43E-17 8.77E-18 1.13E-14 1.16E-12 99.1 101.83 11.0 1607 4 676
750 3.09E-17 8.77E-18 1.89E-14 1.93E-12 99.5 102.01 19.6 1609 2 1130
790 3.02E-17 9.27E-17 2.25E-14 2.28E-12 99.6 100.67 29.8 1595 4 128
830 3.82E-17 1.04E-16 2.39E-14 2.42E-12 99.5 100.55 40.7 1594 4 122
870 4.02E-17 8.79E-18 2.42E-14 2.46E-12 99.5 101.16 51.7 1600 5 1449
910 4.73E-17 8.79E-18 2.49E-14 2.52E-12 99.4 100.34 63.0 1592 5 1493
960 4.74E-17 8.80E-18 3.28E-14 3.29E-12 99.5 99.93 77.9 1587 7 1961
1020 6.44E-17 1.59E-16 3.02E-14 3.03E-12 99.3 99.50 91.7 1583 4 100
1080 5.26E-17 5.58E-16 1.15E-14 1.16E-12 98.6 99.38 96.9 1582 3 11
1150 9.75E-17 9.01E-16 4.24E-15 4.31E-13 93.3 94.84 98.9 1533 9 2
1300 1.44E-15 1.10E-15 2.52E-15 6.68E-13 36.2 95.69 100.0 1542 24 1

Total 1.98E-15 2.97E-15 2.20E-13 2.25E-11 99.56 1583 5

2003369010 Sericite, Weednanna J = 0.014131

650 3.68E-16 8.62E-18 1.56E-14 1.72E-12 93.7 103.41 14.9 1625 3 952
700 4.83E-17 8.63E-18 9.45E-15 1.06E-12 98.6 110.15 23.9 1693 2 578
750 3.67E-17 2.01E-16 1.18E-14 1.27E-12 99.1 107.18 35.1 1664 2 31
780 2.53E-17 9.59E-17 9.19E-15 9.86E-13 99.2 106.44 43.9 1656 6 51
820 4.29E-17 2.15E-16 1.21E-14 1.28E-12 99 105.22 55.4 1644 5 29
860 5.10E-17 6.30E-17 1.28E-14 1.39E-12 98.9 107.49 67.6 1667 3 106
900 5.81E-17 8.73E-18 1.26E-14 1.40E-12 98.7 109.81 79.6 1690 3 758
950 7.12E-17 2.43E-16 1.30E-14 1.50E-12 98.6 113.37 92.0 1725 4 28
1000 6.34E-17 8.73E-18 5.39E-15 6.61E-13 97.1 119.16 97.2 1781 8 325
1100 5.41E-17 1.06E-15 2.41E-15 3.10E-13 94.9 121.92 99.5 1807 6 1
1250 1.41E-16 1.77E-15 5.74E-16 1.15E-13 64 128.49 100.0 1868 53 0

Total 9.59E-16 3.68E-15 1.05E-13 1.17E-11 108.79 1680 4

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1538

 GOLD IN THE CENTRAL GAWLER CRATON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: GEOLOGY, ALTERATION, FLUIDS AND TIMING 1539

APPENDIX 2 (Cont.)

Temperature (°C) 36Ar mol 37Ar mol 39Ar mol 40Ar mol %40Ar* 40Ar*/39Ar
K
39Ar (%) Age (Ma) ±1σ (Ma) K/Ca

2003369008 Muscovite, Weednanna J = 0.014118

650 1.69E-16 1.03E-17 3.82E-15 3.79E-13 86.8 86.02 1.3 1434 8 196
700 4.80E-17 2.47E-17 3.86E-15 3.80E-13 96.2 94.80 2.6 1532 5 82
750 1.11E-17 4.80E-17 6.04E-15 5.93E-13 99.4 97.58 4.6 1562 6 66
790 4.85E-17 1.03E-17 8.05E-15 8.02E-13 98.2 97.83 7.4 1565 6 413
830 3.55E-17 1.03E-17 1.51E-14 1.52E-12 99.3 99.89 12.5 1587 3 775
860 5.45E-17 1.03E-17 2.57E-14 2.59E-12 99.3 100.47 21.1 1593 7 1314
890 5.15E-17 1.03E-17 2.85E-14 2.86E-12 99.4 99.89 30.8 1587 6 1460
920 5.06E-17 1.06E-17 2.26E-14 2.28E-12 99.3 100.20 38.4 1590 6 1119
950 4.93E-17 1.03E-17 1.77E-14 1.78E-12 99.2 99.53 44.4 1583 4 909
980 4.97E-17 1.03E-17 1.64E-14 1.65E-12 99.1 99.60 49.9 1584 3 840
1020 5.71E-17 1.03E-17 2.40E-14 2.42E-12 99.3 100.04 58.1 1589 5 1227
1050 6.88E-17 1.03E-17 3.26E-14 3.29E-12 99.4 100.29 69.1 1591 6 1667
1080 1.02E-16 5.26E-16 4.36E-14 4.34E-12 99.3 98.94 83.8 1577 9 44
1130 1.27E-16 4.26E-17 4.79E-14 4.83E-12 99.2 100.05 100.0 1589 4 592

Total 9.23E-16 7.44E-16 2.96E-13 2.97E-11 99.52 1583 6

2003369009 Muscovite, Weednanna J = 0.014125

650 1.57E-16 4.35E-18 1.45E-15 1.86E-13 75 96.35 1.3 1550 16 175
700 2.32E-17 4.80E-17 1.86E-15 1.98E-13 96.5 103.04 2.9 1621 5 20
750 2.60E-17 4.35E-18 3.46E-15 3.61E-13 97.8 102.19 5.9 1612 5 418
790 2.17E-17 4.36E-18 4.39E-15 4.52E-13 98.6 101.62 9.8 1606 4 529
830 3.05E-17 4.36E-18 9.68E-15 9.93E-13 99.1 101.63 18.2 1606 6 1168
860 3.01E-17 4.36E-18 1.12E-14 1.14E-12 99.2 100.40 28.0 1593 10 1355
880 2.81E-17 4.37E-18 9.21E-15 9.40E-13 99.1 101.10 36.1 1600 9 1111
900 2.94E-17 4.37E-18 7.69E-15 7.81E-13 98.9 100.40 42.8 1593 11 926
920 3.07E-17 2.93E-17 6.70E-15 6.79E-13 98.6 99.90 48.7 1588 6 121
950 2.10E-17 4.42E-18 6.11E-15 6.21E-13 99 100.62 54.0 1595 3 730
980 3.17E-17 2.71E-17 8.17E-15 8.27E-13 98.8 100.08 61.2 1590 6 158
1010 3.23E-17 1.78E-17 1.03E-14 1.05E-12 99.1 100.42 70.2 1593 10 306
1040 3.17E-17 4.42E-18 1.38E-14 1.39E-12 99.3 100.01 82.3 1589 7 1637
1100 1.83E-16 1.62E-17 2.03E-14 2.10E-12 97.4 100.91 100.0 1598 2 658

Total 6.76E-16 1.78E-16 1.14E-13 1.17E-11 100.66 1596 7

2003369009 Biotite, Weednanna J = 0.014121

550 7.36E-17 1.29E-17 1.82E-15 8.56E-14 74.5 34.97 1.5 724 21 75
600 2.68E-16 1.29E-17 4.52E-15 3.44E-13 76.9 58.57 5.3 1087 11 185
650 6.28E-16 1.48E-16 8.77E-15 1.08E-12 82.7 101.50 12.5 1604 4 31
680 1.45E-16 1.30E-17 1.09E-14 1.17E-12 96.3 102.94 21.6 1619 3 442
710 5.04E-17 1.30E-17 1.55E-14 1.62E-12 99.1 103.49 34.5 1625 8 625
740 4.35E-17 1.86E-16 2.07E-14 2.13E-12 99.4 102.17 51.6 1611 6 58
770 4.15E-17 1.30E-17 1.68E-14 1.75E-12 99.3 103.28 65.5 1623 5 676
800 4.23E-17 1.30E-17 8.42E-15 8.95E-13 98.6 104.77 72.5 1638 5 340
830 2.95E-17 1.30E-17 5.77E-15 6.19E-13 98.6 105.81 77.3 1649 7 233
880 4.66E-17 1.30E-17 6.05E-15 6.57E-13 97.9 106.24 82.3 1653 10 244
930 5.57E-17 1.30E-17 8.44E-15 9.29E-13 98.2 108.17 89.3 1673 5 340
980 5.39E-17 9.31E-17 8.39E-15 9.08E-13 98.2 106.39 96.3 1655 5 47
1030 3.82E-17 1.32E-17 3.94E-15 4.27E-13 97.3 105.26 99.5 1643 9 157
1080 3.96E-17 5.98E-16 5.03E-16 5.93E-14 80.4 94.80 100.0 1533 32 0

Total 1.60E-15 1.85E-15 1.21E-13 1.27E-11 101.21 1601 6

Notes: %40Ar* is the percentage of radiogenic 40Ar; 40Ar*/39ArK is the ratio of radiogenic 40Ar to potassium-derived nucleogenic 39Ar

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1539

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1540