Discovery |

A tectonic time machine to power future discoveries

A full plate history reconstruction from 2000 to 540 million years ago reveals a coherent global model of continent movements during key mineral-forming events.
The model integrates supercontinent cycles (Nuna, Rodinia, Pangaea) and evaluates alternative assembly scenarios, tying them to large igneous province (LIP) episodes and other geological constraints.
The reconstruction was validated with global geological datasets, establishing a basis for resource and Earth system applications through deep time.

Li, Z.-X., Liu, Y. & Ernst, R. (2024). A dynamic 2000—540 Ma Earth history: From cratonic amalgamation to the age of supercontinent cycle. Earth-Science Reviews, 238, 104336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104336.

Magnetism and Palaeomagnetism

Resource Geoscience

Geoinformatics and Geocomputing

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CFIGS · CFIGS Research Spotlight - Episode 13 (Rewinding Earth's Plates)

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Magnetic Remanence Analysis

Machine Learning & AI for Geological Materials

Tracing gold pathways and fluid pulses in ancient shear zones

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In situ biotite Rb–Sr dating defines four alteration stages, revealing a long‑lived, episodic hydrothermal system lasting at least ca. 150 million years in the Kundana–Carbine corridor.
The peak of gold mineralisation aligns with potassic–calcic–sodic alteration, while Ti‑in‑biotite thermometry records ca. 540–615 °C.
Results are consistent with mixed mantle–crustal fluid sources and episodic, hot, rapidly cooled fluid pulses in a fault‑valve setting.

Zametzer, A., Kirkland, C.L., Barham, M., Hartnady, M.I.H., Bath, A.B. & Rankenburg, K. (2022). Episodic alteration within a gold‑bearing Archean shear zone revealed by in situ biotite Rb–Sr dating. Precambrian Research, 382, 106872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106872.

Geochronology

Resource Geoscience

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CFIGS · CFIGS Research Spotlight - Episode 12 (Timing Fluid Pulses)

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Rb–Sr Geochronology

Petrochronology

Isotopic Fingerprinting

Deep, cold, and connected: How low-temperature reactions reshape massive sulphide ore deposits

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Pentlandite alters to violarite at depth, well below the weathering front, via low-temperature oxidation in massive sulphides electrically connected along faults.
Nickel is lost during pentlandite replacement, producing violarite with variable iron:nickel ratios and “freckle” textures; adjacent disseminated sulphides remain unaltered.
Sulphur isotopes record light-sulphur input, with violarite depleted in sulfur-34 relative to coexisting sulphides, consistent with bacterial sulphate reduction in meteoric fluids.

Stokes, L., Evans, K., Kirkland, C. & Walker, A. (2024). Low temperature alteration of massive sulphides below the weathering front. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 364, 44–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2023.11.008.

Geochemistry

Resource Geoscience

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CFIGS · CFIGS Research Spotlight - Episode 11 (Deep, Cold, and Connected: The Secret Life of Sulphides)

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Isotopic Fingerprinting

Ore Characterisation

Dating salt to store hydrogen: Hidden timelines in basins

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Radiometric dating reveals the Frome Rocks salt of the Canning Basin formed ca. 482 million years ago—40 million years earlier than other evaporites elsewhere in the basin.
Volcanic apatite and detrital zircon grains preserved in salt provide reliable age constraints, refining models of salt deposition.
Clear timelines help identify thick diapiric salt bodies that are more suitable for underground hydrogen storage than layered salts.

Yi, J., Kirkland, C.L., Bourdet, J., Barham, M., Danišík, M., Feitz, A., Haines, P.W., McDonald, B., Ribeiro, B.V., Frery, E. & Delle Piane, C. (2025). Taken with a grain of salt: Resolving evaporite stratigraphy through accessory mineral geochronology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 671, 119616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119616.

Geochemistry

Geochronology

Resource Geoscience

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CFIGS · CFIGS Research Spotlight - Episode 10 (Dating Salt to Store Hydrogen)

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Mineral Trace Element Analysis

O Isotope Geochemistry

U–Pb Geochronology

Plant Clues and Terrain Tools: A greener path to bauxite discovery

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Plants predict ore: Banksia grandis and other species reliably indicate bauxite presence or absence, offering a natural, low-impact exploration method.
Topography tells a story: Bauxite deposits are linked to well-drained upper hillsides, away from valleys and waterlogged terrain.
Flora + terrain = best model: Combining plant distribution with topographic data boosted model accuracy, outperforming standalone methods.

Trotter, L., Wardell-Johnson, G., Grigg, A., Luxton, S. & Robinson, T.P. (2024). Capitalising on the Floristic Survey as a Non-Destructive Line of Evidence for Mineral Potential Modelling: A Case Study of Bauxite in South-Western Australia. Land, 13(12), 1995. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13121995.

Environmental Geoscience

Geoinformatics and Geocomputing

Resource Geoscience

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CFIGS · CFIGS Research Spotlight - Episode 9 (Plants That Point to Bauxite)

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Bioclimate Envelope Modelling

Machine Learning & AI for Geological Materials

Ancient carbonatites reveal central Australia's hidden critical metal potential

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Aileron Province carbonatites formed about 830–820 million years ago during Rodinia rifting, using pre‑existing deep crustal corridors—prime pathways for melt ascent.
Isotopes of strontium, neodymium and hafnium point to a moderately depleted mantle source, with little to no recycled sediment involvement during magma generation and ascent.
The critical metal niobium is hosted by primary pyrochlore; apatite indicates alteration about 720–650 million years ago and later exhumation near 250 million years ago, with limited niobium remobilisation.

Dröllner, M., Kirkland, C.L., Olierook, H.K.H., Zametzer, A., Ribeiro, B.V., Kaempf, J., Danišík, M., Ware, B., Rankenburg, K., Kelsey, D.E., Turnbull, R., Fielding, I.O.H., Smithies, R.H., Parker, P., Wray, S., Dunn, A. & Vinnicombe, K. (2025). Multimethod geochronology and isotope geochemistry of carbonatites in the Aileron Province, central Australia. Geological Magazine, 162(e33), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756825100204.

Geochronology

Resource Geoscience

Geochemistry