Field Trips

The number of places available is limited for the following events.
Preference will be given to SEG 2015 Conference registrants.

Pre-Conference Field Trips

FT01 - Deposits of the Gold-Rich Ordovician Alkalic Porphyry and Epithermal Province, Macquarie Arc, New South Wales

FT02 - Archean World-Class Gold and Nickel Camps from the Kalgoorlie Terrane (Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia)

FT03 - VHMS and Granite-Related Ore Deposits of Western Tasmania

Post-Conference Field Trips

FT04 - Introduction to the Olympic Dam Supergiant Iron Oxide Copper Gold Deposit, South Australia

FT05 - Porphyry and Epithermal Systems of the Sunda Banda Arc, Indonesia

FT06 - Active and Extinct Epithermal Environments of the North Island, New Zealand

Field Trip Details

FT01 - Deposits of the Gold-Rich Ordovician Alkalic Porphyry and Epithermal Province, Macquarie Arc, New South Wales

Date: September 23-25, 2015

Location: Departing from and returning to Orange, NSW, Australia

Leaders: Anthony Harris, Nathan Fox

The Macquarie Arc is richly endowed in world-class porphyry copper-gold mineralization and related deposit styles. In this field trip, key examples of these occurrences will be examined, including Cadia, and several other key systems. The special tectonic framework that gave rise to these very gold rich systems will be a focus of the trip, including the evolution and accretion of the arc during ~50 million years of subduction-related development along the boundary between east Gondwana and the paleo-Pacific plate.

Flights/Airfare: Not included in cost of trip.

Attendee Maximum: 20     Only 3 spaces left as of July 20, 2015


FT02 - Archean World-Class Gold and Nickel Camps from the Kalgoorlie Terrane (Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia)

Date: September 22-25, 2015

Location: Departing from and returning to Kalgoorlie, WA, Australia

Leaders: Cam McCuaig, Marco Fiorentini, Nicolas Thebaud

This excursion, based out of Kalgoorlie, will examine the structural and stratigraphic setting of a world-class orogenic gold and komatiite-hosted nickel camp in Western Australia. Visit key regional outcrops and deposits and get an insight into the deposit, camp, and regional architecture of a major Australian mineralized district discovered about 120 years ago and still producing today. Mines to be visited include the St Ives gold mine, a komatiite-hosted deposit in the Kambalda-Widgiemooltha area, as well as the Kalgoorlie Super Pit, the largest open pit gold mine in Australia with a global endowment that exceeds 70 Moz of gold.

Flights/Airfare: Not included in cost of trip.

Attendee Maximum: 18


FT03 - VHMS and Granite-Related Ore Deposits of Western Tasmania

Date: September 22-27, 2015

Location: Departing from and returning to Wrest Point Hotel | Hobart, TAS, Australia

Leaders: Andrew McNeill, Bruce Gemmell, Ralph Bottrill (co-leader)

Western Tasmania has undergone two major metallogenic episodes that have resulted in the occurrence of many significant base metal and tin deposits within a small (~250-km-long) region. The major geologic feature that hosts the copper, gold, and base metal deposits is the Cambrian submarine Mt Read Volcanic belt, whereas the tin deposits mainly formed where a Devonian granite belt intruded basement carbonate sequences, producing proximal and distal skarns. The field trip to this area will provide the opportunity to visit several of the well studied Cambrian VHMS and Devonian granite-related deposits (including the Mt Lyell Cu-Au field, Renison (Sn), Rosebery-Hercules (Pb-Zn) and Henty (Au)) as well as some of the less well known deposits (Avebury (Ni), Kara (Fe-W) of the district.

The field trip charge covers accommodation on all nights away from Hobart, and includes breakfast and lunch. Dinner is only covered on the last night. Please note, the accommodation currently assumes that participants will be placed in dual occupancy rooms, and if this arrangement is not satisfactory participants should modify their booking personally and pay an extra charge to the accommodation for a different room style.

Flights/Airfare: Not included in cost of trip.

Attendee Maximum: 18


FT04 - Introduction to the Olympic Dam Supergiant Iron Oxide Copper Gold Deposit, South Australia

BHP Billiton logo

Date: October 1-3, 2015

Location: Departing from and returning to Adelaide, SA, Australia

Leader: Kathy Ehrig

The Mesoproterozoic Olympic Dam deposit is Earth's largest known iron oxide copper-gold deposit. This trip will visit the Olympic Dam surface geological operations, and through a combination of lectures and inspections of the vast on-site core library, the current understanding of the geology and genesis of the deposit will be discussed. Major features to examine will be the different types of breccia and hydrothermal features, the recent recognition of larger proportions of altered mafic intrusive rocks in the breccias, and the nature of clastic sediment domains. Participants will also have an opportunity to examine details of other prospects in the area, including Wirrda Well and Acropolis. All trip participants will be guests of BHP-Billiton and will need to abide by the occupational health and safety requirements of the operation while on site.

Flights/Airfare: Please arrange your airfare to fit with the following flights into and out of Olympic Dam from Adelaide. The spots on the aircraft have been block-booked. We will need to provide your name and some personal details to the carrier 1(one) week before the flights. The flights that you need to connect with are:

Adelaide to Olympic Dam: Thursday, October 1, 2015 | Flight QF2616 | Depart: 4:00pm; Arrive: 5:30pm
Olympic Dam to Adelaide: Saturday, October 3, 2015 | Flight QF2607 | Depart: 9:00am; Arrive: 10:30am

You do not need to make your own booking on these flights, you just need to present yourself at the departure lounge at the time of travel once you have been notified of acceptance on the field trip. You do need to make your own way to and from Adelaide at your own cost.

Attendee Maximum: 30


FT05 - Porphyry and Epithermal Systems of the Sunda Banda Arc, Indonesia

Date: October 1-8, 2015

Location: Departing from and returning to Bali, Indonesia

Leaders: David Cooke, Adi Maryono, Iryanto Rompo

This field trip will introduce participants to the geology and mineralization that characterizes the Sunda-Banda arc. It will include site visits to giant porphyry Cu-Au deposits (Batu Hijau, Tumpangpitu), modern hydrothermal systems on an active volcano (Mt Ijen), and exploration projects on Lombok and Sumbawa. In addition to site visits, participants will have the opportunity to spend one day learning and applying the Anaconda mapping method inside the Batu Hijau open pit.

The trip itinerary has been altered to now include an early morning visit to the Mt Ijen 'Blue Fire' display.

Flights/Airfare: Not included in cost of trip.   Attention: Major itinerary update to flight information. (July 6, 2015)

Attendee Maximum: 17


FT06 - Active and Extinct Epithermal Environments of the North Island, New Zealand

Date: October 2-7, 2015

Location: Departing from and returning to Auckland, New Zealand

Leaders: Stuart Simmons, Tony Christie

This excursion provides an overview of the volcanic-tectonic setting, hydrology, fluid chemistry, alteration and mineralization of sub-aerial hydrothermal systems and their epithermal ore-forming environments. Unique is the opportunity to observe precious-metal transport and deposition in the Champagne Pool, and to see the interplay of magmatic and hydrothermal processes. The itinerary includes visits to hot spring areas and steamfields in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, Tongariro National Park, and epithermal Au-Ag deposits in the Coromandel peninsula.

The first two days include stops at the Karangahake gorge and Waihi in the Coromandel goldfields to view the world class Martha Hill deposit and to gain a 3D understanding of mineralization and alteration. The next two days are based out of Rotorua, with visits to the Orakeikorako, Waimangu, and Waiotapu thermal areas, the Broadlands-Ohaaki and Wairakei steam-fields, and the Ohakuri epithermal Au-Ag prospect. The last two days focus on the geology and hydrothermal activity of Taupo and Tongariro volcanic centers, providing spectacular views of a large rhyolitic caldera and tall andesitic stratacones.

Flights/Airfare: Not included in cost of trip.

Attendee Maximum: 35