Magnetic and Gravity Modelling of the Renison Tin Mine, Tasmania

Tin mineralisation occurs at Renison Bell, near Zeehan in Tasmania, as a group of cassiterite-bearing massive pyrrhotite bodies in Cambrian sedimentary rocks. Mineralising fluids from the underlying Pine Hill Granite have replaced carbonate rocks with massive sulphides and cassiterite. The discrete blocks of massive pyrrhotite have high density and high magnetic susceptibility contrasts with the comparatively barren country rock. They are strongly remanently magnetised and are excellent geophysical targets.

A detailed geophysical model of the mine was created from a database comprising 1:2500 scale geological mapping and geological logs of approximately 4000 drill-cores. The model comprises 93 parallel cross-sections, each 1.5 km long, spaced 20 m apart. Each cross-section is comprised of up to 150 polygons which represent all known individual rock types and ore bodies. The magnetic response of the model was computed and the residual between the model and the observed response, measured by a low-level helicopter magnetic survey, revealed several anomalies unaccounted for by the model. Drill testing of these anomalies led to the discovery of several hitherto unknown massive sulphide occurrences.

Surface gravity data of the mine and surrounding district were enhanced by applying digital terrain corrections. The corrected Bouguer anomaly revealed a hitherto unknown positive anomaly associated with the ore zones of the Renison mine. The gravity anomaly of the model was also computed. Unfortunately, the limited resolution of the observed data prevented the delineation of ore targets.

The terrain-corrected Bouguer gravity data were also used to model the shape of the underlying non-magnetic Pine Hill Granite. A computer inversion method was implemented to build a 3-D block model of the granite. Results agreed with previous conventional 3-D modelling techniques but yielded improved resolution of the granite form.

The project involved development of new computer software to build and edit the large and complex 3-D geophysical model of the mine, and to compute the model’s magnetic and gravity responses. Software was also developed to build and compute the gravity response of a 3D block model of the underlying granite.