This geochronological study was undertaken within the scope of the Mineral Systems Drilling Program (MSDP), a program that was aimed at improving the understanding of the geology and prospectivity of the southern Gawler Ranges margin area on northern Eyre Peninsula as a means of stimulating exploration interest in this region. Prior to completion of the work herein reported there were few geochronological constraints on the pre-Mesoproterozoic basement rocks in the Mount Double area, which are represented by a range of variably metamorphosed and deformed lithologies, including granite, granitic gneiss, dolerite, amphibolite and quartzofeldspathic and pelitic metasedimentary rocks. For the study, Archean-Palaeoproterozoic basement rocks exposed in outcrop and intersected in drillholes within the Mount Double area were specifically targeted for U-Pb zircon dating. The rocks were found to fall into four main age groups. The oldest rocks dated in this study are foliated and metamorphosed peraluminous two-mica granites (augen-orthogneisses) of the Sleaford Complex. Their mineralogical and geochemical characteristics indicate that these are equivalents of the Kiana Granite of the Dutton Suite exposed on southern Eyre Peninsula. Our new and previously determined age data show that these metagranites from the Mount Double area have magmatic crystallisation ages within the range 2470–2480 Ma, confirming the correlation with the Kiana Granite. The dated metagranites contain older inherited zircons going back in age to about 3000 Ma, indicating the presence of an underlying Mesoarchean basement. A prominent 2510–2530 Ma zircon population is probably derived from a volcano-sedimentary rock succession into which the Kiana-equivalent metagranites intruded. These volcano-sedimentary rocks, which form part of the unexposed portion of the Sleaford Complex within the Mount Double area, are probably correlatives of the c. 2520 Ma Hall Bay Volcanics. A younger zircon population of about 2420–2430 Ma identified within these metagranites is interpreted to reflect metamorphic zircon growth during the Sleafordian Orogeny. One metagranite sample also yielded a c. 1716 Ma zircon population that documents thermal overprinting of these rocks during the Kimban Orogeny. Two metagranite samples of the Peter Pan Supersuite which was intersected in MSDP drillholes yielded c. 1720 Ma magmatic crystallisation ages, corroborating previous age data for 1710–1735 Ma Kimban magmatism in the study area. Circa 1720 Ma metamorphic zircon overgrowths on older zircons from Sleaford Complex orthogneisses show that Kimban Orogeny metamorphism was contemporaneous with Peter Pan Supersuite magmatism. Dark glassy cathodoluminescence rims on magmatic zircons of the two dated Peter Pan Supersuite metagranites yielded early Palaeozoic to Neoproterozoic apparent ages that indicate isotope disturbance broadly around 500 Ma, coincident with the c. 515–490 Ma Delamerian Orogeny. A feldspar-megacrystic granodiorite exposed in the Waulkinna Hill area and named the Nummee Granodiorite, yielded a c. 1690 Ma magmatic crystallisation age placing it within the age range of the Tunkillia Suite. The Nummee Granodiorite also contains a c. 1725 Ma inherited zircon population, which is most probably derived from quartzo-feldspathic volcanogenic(?) metasediments that occur as large xenoliths within the Nummee Granodiorite. A dated sample of these felsic xenoliths contains a c. 1730 Ma unimodal population of igneous zircons, which is statistically indistinguishable from the c. 1725 Ma inherited zircon population present in the Nummee Granodiorite. These metasedimentary xenoliths are the remnants of a supracrustal rock succession that was deposited contemporaneous with Peter Pan Supersuite magmatism and the Kimban Orogeny but was subsequently disrupted by the intrusion of Tunkillia Suite granitoids. The youngest rocks dated in this study are two metasandstones that form part of a stratigraphic package composed of metaconglomerates, metasandstones and calc-silicate rocks. These metasedimentary rocks, which form prominent outcrops at Mount Allalone and were intersected in drillhole MSDP13, are preserved within a graben-like structure delineated by the north-trending Allalone Fault Zone. The dated metasandstones yielded detrital zircon spectra that support correlation of this metasedimentary succession with the Corunna Conglomerate, which was deposited c. 1650 Ma. The complex detrital zircon spectra of the dated metasandstones are dominated by c. 1690 Ma and c. 1715–1730 Ma age populations, suggesting that largely they were sourced locally from Tunkillia Suite and Peter Pan Supersuite rocks. A minor age cluster at c. 1770 Ma may be linked to granite magmatism documented from the Spencer Domain. Single grain ages at c. 1825–1845 Ma may be sourced from meta-igneous rocks of the Bosanquet Formation/Donington Suite, or may reflect sedimentary recycling of Hutchison Group metasediments. Another age cluster at c. 2470 Ma indicates local contribution from the Kiana Granite, and scattered ages between c. 2500–2690 Ma are consistent with detrital input from slightly older components of the Sleaford Complex. Furthermore, grains with ages between c. 2960–3135 Ma again support the presence of a Mesoarchean basement in the study area.