Critical minerals are necessary to all of the key energy technologies of the future, including solar, wind, energy storage, and electric vehicles.
[www.csis.org]


Minex-CRC - MGPalaeo Affiliate Member

How Can MGPalaeo Help?

Gaining an accurate picture of the cover sediment and a better understanding of the sub-surface geology will be crucial for the ongoing success of exploration in the minerals industry.

MGPalaeo has many years of experience working with a range of mineral companies over a diverse portfolio across Australia, including uranium, nickel, gold, iron ore, base metals, minerals sands, and more.

MGPalaeo’s biostratigraphic and sedimentological services can help via:

  • Targeting, characterizing, and prioritizing key areas for exploration by providing stratigraphic control
  • Determining the age of sediments/palaeochannels
  • Mapping the distribution of key lithological formations
  • Ascertaining the thickness and stratigraphic relationships of cover sediments
  • Improved understanding of depositional environments.

Our on-site laboratory is also available to provide high quality sample preparations from a wide range of sample types, with highly skilled staff on hand to answer any questions you may have. We can work with you to ensure you get the analyses you need, when you need them.

As minerals become increasingly vital to our shift to a low carbon society, and exploration focuses on discovering new mineral deposits hidden beneath the surface, MGPalaeo is ideally positioned to help provide answers.

Contact us to discuss how we can aid your exploration program.

MGPalaeo The Importance of Good Samples

‘There are few, if any, remaining major, new mineral deposits that are exposed at the Earth’s surface still to be found in Australia. The technical challenge of cost-effectively finding major, new mineral deposits hidden beneath a veneer of regolith or sediments, much of it only a few hundred metres thick, has not yet been met.’

[From https://minexcrc.com.au/about-minex-crc/what-is-minex-crc/]

What Can Be Sampled For Palynology?

Palynomorphs (spores, pollen, dinocysts, etc) are microscopic and settle more readily in low energy environments. As such, it is always best to target dark-coloured mudstones or siltstones first for palynology.

But don’t let sandstones discourage you; unless the sands are very clean, you should still have good microfossil recovery. In some cases, palynological results from sandy lithologies are even better than the encompassing mudstones. A general rule of thumb is that as grain size increases, the volume of material collected for sampling should likewise increase.

Lignite, peat, and coals can also be worth sampling, too. When it comes to dating coals or even coal seam correlations, it is the lithology directly above or below a coal that is generally sampled, while the coal itself is avoided. But we often find that a good suite of palynomorphs can be extracted directly from coals, thereby allowing far more accurate age determinations and correlations.

For more information on palynological sampling, please click here.