The Recent Discovery of The Largest Gold Deposit on Earth

China is claiming the discovery of the largest gold deposit ever found, buried deep beneath the Wangu goldfields in Hunan Province. Described in headlines as a “supergiant” gold discovery, the deposit is being promoted with extraordinary figures despite still being in an early exploration phase. This article breaks down the real geology behind the Wangu goldfield, explaining how ancient subduction processes created deep orogenic gold systems similar to Victoria’s goldfields, why the gold itself is geologically young, and how surface workings failed to reveal the true scale of mineralisation. We explore what deep drilling up to two kilometres actually means for mining costs, why much of the gold is refractory and locked in sulfides, and why calling this the largest gold discovery in the world at this stage is scientifically irresponsible. This is a grounded, geology-driven look at hype versus reality in modern gold exploration.

This Volcano Is Waking Up After 700,000 Years of Silence

Taftan Volcano in southeastern Iran is showing signs of unrest after nearly 700,000 years of dormancy, with satellite data revealing ground uplift and renewed volcanic activity beneath the summit. This article explores why Taftan is waking up, how the Makran subduction zone continues to fuel the system, and what these changes tell us about long-dormant volcanoes that still sit above active plate boundaries.

Why Mega Tsunamis Keep Happening in Greenland

Mega tsunamis in Greenland are no longer rare geological anomalies. In recent years, massive landslides collapsing into narrow fjords have generated waves hundreds of metres high, including the 200-metre Dickson Fjord tsunami that caused the Earth to vibrate for days. This article explores how and why these Greenland mega tsunamis occurred, what damage they caused, and why warming temperatures, melting glaciers, and destabilised slopes mean similar events are likely to become more common in the Arctic and beyond.

The Mega Tsunami That Smashed Hawaii

Hidden high above sea level on the cliffs of Molokaʻi and the slopes of Lānaʻi is evidence of one of the largest waves Earth has ever produced. Long before humans reached Hawaiʻi, a catastrophic volcanic island collapse triggered a prehistoric mega tsunami that sent ocean water hundreds of metres inland. Coral fragments, marine fossils, and massive boulder deposits found far above any modern shoreline reveal a disaster far more powerful than earthquake tsunamis recorded in human history. This article explores the geological evidence, the source of the wave, how high it reached, when it occurred, and whether a Hawaiian mega tsunami of this scale could ever happen again.

One of Earth's Youngest Impact Craters: The Henbury Craters

Around 5,000 years ago, a meteorite struck central Australia, carving the Henbury crater field into ancient Proterozoic rock south of Alice Springs. This rare and remarkably young meteorite impact site preserves multiple craters formed when an iron meteorite fragmented before hitting the ground within human history. The Henbury craters offer one of the clearest examples on Earth of a recent asteroid impact, combining geological evidence, preserved meteorite fragments, and Indigenous oral traditions that describe fire falling from the sky. Today, Henbury stands as one of the youngest confirmed meteorite impact sites on the planet and a powerful reminder that Earth remains vulnerable to objects from space.

Australia’s Most Overlooked Geological Oddity: Jarnem Keep

Hidden in the far north of Australia is one of the continent’s most overlooked geological oddities. Near Jarnem in the Northern Territory, a field of sandstone pinnacles and dome-shaped rock formations rises from the landscape, forming what looks like a ruined stone city carved by design. These formations are not man-made and are not related to Australia’s famous limestone Pinnacles or the Bungle Bungles, despite their visual similarity.

Formed from Devonian to Early Carboniferous sandstones more than 300 million years ago, the Jarnem Keep landscape represents the remains of an ancient sandstone surface that once stretched across northern Australia. Over millions of years, deep chemical weathering weakened the rock before erosion stripped away vast volumes of stone, leaving behind isolated towers, ridges and domes. This landscape is defined by erosion and loss rather than construction, making it one of Australia’s most unusual geological environments.

Today, Jarnem Keep stands as a rare example of a landform shaped by subtraction, where the spaces between the pinnacles tell as much of the geological story as the rocks themselves. It is a hidden geological landmark that reveals how climate, erosion and time can quietly erase entire landscapes while leaving behind only their strongest remnants.

The Strangest Volcanic Rock in Victoria: Icelandite

One small hill in central Victoria erupted something no other location in the state ever has—a rare volcanic rock known as icelandite. In a region dominated by basaltic lava flows, this unique eruption broke the rules of Victorian volcanism and left behind a geological mystery. Formed between 8.3 and 5 million years ago, the Spring Hill icelandite tells a story of deep mantle anomalies, crustal interaction, and volcanic chemistry found nowhere else in Australia. This blog dives into what makes this eruption so special, how it happened, and why the rock it produced is the rarest of its kind in Victoria.

The Lost Gold Reef in The Otways: Wangerrip

Hidden deep within southern Australia lies one of the most unusual gold discoveries ever recorded. Known as the Wangerrip gold reef, this lost deposit appears on official geological maps as a major occurrence, yet it has no recorded production, no defined ore body, and no confirmed modern location. Discovered briefly in the late nineteenth century and then lost to time, the Wangerrip Reef stands as a geological anomaly that challenges everything we think we know about how and where gold forms in Australia. Hosted in rocks hundreds of millions of years younger than Victoria’s famous goldfields, this rare gold vein formed through a completely different tectonic process during the breakup of Gondwana, making it one of the strangest and rarest gold occurrences in the state.

Victoria's Hidden Grand Canyon: The Bass Canyon

Hidden beneath the calm surface of Bass Strait lies one of Australia’s most extraordinary geological features: the Bass Canyon, a massive underwater system stretching more than 160 kilometres and plunging over 3000 metres deep just off the Victorian coastline. This blog post uncovers the canyon’s incredible formation story, from cool-water carbonate sediments and ancient mass-wasting events to the powerful Bass Cascade, a cold underwater density current that helped carve this enormous chasm into the continental slope. Explore the science, geology and deep-time history behind Victoria’s hidden Grand Canyon and discover why this submerged giant is one of the country’s most awe-inspiring yet overlooked natural wonders.

The Forgotten Beach Gold Rush in New South Wales

Australia is known for its legendary goldfields, but few people realise New South Wales once hosted a genuine beach gold rush. Hidden behind the dunes near Evans Head, a fossilised ancient shoreline produced thousands of ounces of ultra-fine gold during the 1890s. This rare coastal placer formed when heavy minerals and gold from the New England highlands were reworked by shifting sea levels and storm-driven waves into a narrow, cemented strandline now buried beneath metres of sand. Forgotten for more than a century, this lost auriferous beach reveals one of the most unusual geological and mining stories in Australian history.

The Massive Australian Cave System You Never Hear About

Hidden beneath the remote landscapes of the Northern Territory lies Bullita Cave, Australia’s longest and least-known cave system. This enormous 123-kilometre underground labyrinth stretches through ancient Proterozoic dolostone in the Judbarra and Gregory Karst region. Its maze-like passages, shallow depth and astonishing density make it one of the most unusual cave networks on Earth. Bullita formed through the combined power of monsoonal flooding, rapid vertical infiltration and the erosion of a critical shale layer, producing a sprawling subterranean world that most people have never even heard of. This article explores the geology, hydrology and evolutionary history of Australia’s largest cave system and reveals why this hidden underworld is unlike anything else in the country.

The Only Place on Earth You Can Find This Rock

Hidden in the remote Kennedy Range region of Western Australia lies one of Earth’s rarest gemstone materials: Mookaite. This striking, multicoloured silicified radiolarite formed on the floor of an ancient Cretaceous sea and occurs only in a tiny area near Mooka Creek. In this article, we explore how microscopic marine fossils were transformed into one of Australia’s most distinctive gemstones, why it formed in only one locality, and what makes Mookaite a geological outlier unlike anything found anywhere else on the planet.