Publicly available geological data in the Cooper Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This web service summarises mineral potential in the Cooper Basin region.

Publicly available geological data in the Cooper Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This web service summarises mineral potential in the Cooper Basin region.

<div>The soil gas database table contains publicly available results from Geoscience Australia's organic geochemistry (ORGCHEM) schema and supporting oracle databases for gas analyses undertaken by Geoscience Australia's laboratory on soil samples taken from shallow (down to 1 m below the surface) percussion holes. Data includes the percussion hole field site location, sample depth, analytical methods and other relevant metadata, as well as the molecular and isotopic compositions of the soil gas with air included in the reported results. Acquisition of the molecular compounds are by gas chromatography (GC) and the isotopic ratios by gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). The concentrations of argon (Ar), carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen (N₂) and oxygen (O₂) are given in mole percent (mol%). The concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), helium (He), hydrogen (H₂) and methane (C₁, CH₄) are given in parts per million (ppm). Compound concentrations that are below detection limit (BDL) are reported as the value -99999. The stable carbon (¹³C/¹²C) and nitrogen (¹⁵N/¹⁴N) isotopic ratios are presented in parts per mil (‰) and in delta notation as δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N, respectively.</div><div><br></div><div>Determining the individual sources and migration pathways of the components of natural gases found in the near surface are useful in basin analysis with derived information being used to support exploration for energy resources (petroleum and hydrogen) and helium in Australian provinces. These data are collated from Geoscience Australia records with the results being delivered in the Soil Gas web services on the Geoscience Australia Data Discovery portal at https://portal.ga.gov.au which will be periodically updated.</div>

Publicly available geological data in the Cooper Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This data guide also contains assessment of the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage and minerals in the basin region. Geochemical analysis of gas samples from petroleum in the basin shows various concentrations of natural hydrogen. However, the generation mechanism of the observed natural hydrogen concentration is still unknown. The mineral occurrences are all found in the overlying basins and are small and of little economic significance. The Cooper Basin has some potential for base metal and uranium deposits due to somewhat suitable formation conditions, but the depth of the basin makes exploration and mining difficult and expensive. This also applies to coal, where there are no identified occurrences or resources in the Cooper Basin. However, if some were identified, the depth of the basin would probably make extraction uneconomic, with the potential exception of coal seam gas extraction. CO2 geological storage assessment in the overlying Eromanga Basin suggests that most areas over the Cooper Basin (except over the Weena Trough in the south-west) are prospective for geological storage CO2.

Statements of existing knowledge are compiled for known mineral, coal, hydrocarbon and carbon capture and storage (CCS) resources and reserves in the north Bowen Basin. This data guide illustrates the current understanding of the distribution of these key resource types within the north Bowen Basin region based on trusted information sources. It provides important contextual information on the north Bowen Basin and where additional details on discovered resources can be found. The north Bowen Basin contains 17 metallic mineral deposits, with the majority containing gold. The basin also contains 152 thermal and metallurgical coal deposits. Most coal deposits contain metallurgical coal. This basin contains most of Queensland’s metallurgical coal resources, although many of the deposits supply a mix of thermal and metallurgical coal (Blake et al., 2018). The north Bowen Basin hosts very large coal tonnages, with known black coal resources of approximately 47 billion tonnes. Significant hydrocarbon resources are known to exist in the basin, the majority being coal seam gas (CSG). The basin contains more limited reserves and resources of conventional oil and gas and oil shale. At this time, there are no active or planned CCS projects in the basin.

Publicly available geological data in the Galilee Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This web service summarises mineral potential in the Galilee Basin region.

Publicly available geological data in the Galilee Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This data guide also contains assessment of the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage and minerals in the basin region. The mineral occurrences are mostly found in the overlying basins, and they are often small and of little economic significance. There are some exceptions, such as the Lilyvale vanadium deposit found in the northern Galilee region, in the overlying Eromanga Basin. The Galilee Basin has limited potential for uranium and precious metal deposits due to relative lack of suitable formation conditions, but the depth of much of the basin makes exploration and mining difficult and expensive. There are some large coal measures found in the Galilee Basin, with 17 deposits in the Galilee and overlying Eromanga basins, containing about 38 billion tonnes of black coal. An assessment of geological storage of CO2 potential suggests the Galilee Basin Betts Creek - Rewan Play is the most prospective for storing CO2, with the highest potential around the central basin region. There are no reports of natural hydrogen in the Galilee Basin.

Publicly available geological data in the Galilee Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This web service summarises mineral potential in the Galilee Basin region.

Statements of existing knowledge are compiled for known mineral, coal, hydrocarbon and carbon capture and storage (CCS) resources and reserves in the Adavale Basin. This data guide illustrates the current understanding of the distribution of these key resource types within the Adavale Basin region based on trusted information sources. It provides important contextual information on the Adavale Basin and where additional details on discovered resources can be found. So far, mineral deposits have not been found in the Adavale Basin. There are no coal deposits found in the basin itself, but 6 large coal deposits exist in the overlying basins in the Adavale Basin region. Historically, some small conventional gas resources have been found in the basin. Currently, there are no commercial reserves or available resources identified in the Adavale Basin itself. There are no active or planned carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the Adavale basin.

<b>Organic Geochemistry (ORGCHEM) Schema. Australian Source Rock and Fluid Atlas</b> The databases tables held within Geoscience Australia's Oracle Organic Geochemistry (ORGCHEM) Schema, together with other supporting Oracle databases (e.g., Borehole database (BOREHOLE), Australian Stratigraphic Units Database (ASUD), and the Reservoir, Facies and Shows (RESFACS) database), underpin the Australian Source Rock and Fluid Atlas web services and publications. These products provide information in an Australia-wide geological context on organic geochemistry, organic petrology and stable isotope data related primarily to sedimentary rocks and energy (petroleum and hydrogen) sample-based datasets used for the discovery and evaluation of sediment-hosted resources. The sample data provide the spatial distribution of source rocks and their derived petroleum fluids (natural gas and crude oil) taken from boreholes and field sites in onshore and offshore Australian provinces. Sample depth, stratigraphy, analytical methods, and other relevant metadata are also supplied with the analytical results. Sedimentary rocks that contain organic matter are referred to as source rocks (e.g., organic-rich shale, oil shale and coal) and the organic matter within the rock matrix that is insoluble in organic solvents is named kerogen. The data in the ORGCHEM schema are produced by a wide range of destructive analytical techniques conducted on samples submitted by industry under legislative requirements, as well as on samples collected by research projects undertaken by Geoscience Australia, state and territory geological organisations and scientific institutions including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and universities. Data entered into the database tables are commonly sourced from both the basic and interpretive volumes of well completion reports (WCR) provided by the petroleum well operator to either the state and territory governments or, for offshore wells, to the Commonwealth Government under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act (OPGGSA) 2006 and previous Petroleum (submerged Lands) Act (PSLA) 1967. Data are also sourced from analyses conducted by Geoscience Australia’s laboratory and its predecessor organisations, the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) and the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR). Other open file data from company announcements and reports, scientific publications and university theses are captured. The ORGCHEM database was created in 1990 by the BMR in response to industry requests for organic geochemistry data, featuring pyrolysis, vitrinite reflectance and carbon isotopic data (Boreham, 1990). Funding from the Australian Petroleum Cooperative Research Centre (1991–2003) enabled the organic geochemical data to be made publicly available at no cost via the petroleum wells web page from 2002 and included BOREHOLE, ORGCHEM and the Reservoir, Facies and Shows (RESFACS) databases. Investment by the Australian Government in Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program facilitated technological upgrades and established the current web services (Edwards et al., 2020). The extensive scope of the ORGCHEM schema has led to the development of numerous database tables and web services tailored to visualise the various datasets related to sedimentary rocks, in particular source rocks, crude oils and natural gases within the petroleum systems framework. These web services offer pathways to access the wealth of information contained within the ORGCHEM schema. Web services that facilitate the characterisation of source rocks (and kerogen) comprise data generated from programmed pyrolysis (e.g., Hawk, Rock-Eval, Source Rock Analyser), pyrolysis-gas chromatography (Py-GC) and kinetics analyses, and organic petrological studies (e.g., quantitation of maceral groups and organoclasts, vitrinite reflectance measurements) using reflected light microscopy. Collectively, these data are used to establish the occurrence of source rocks and the post-burial thermal history of sedimentary basins to evaluate the potential for hydrocarbon generation. Other web services provide data to characterise source rock extracts (i.e., solvent extracted organic matter), fluid inclusions and petroleum (e.g., natural gas, crude oil, bitumen) through the reporting of their bulk properties (e.g., API gravity, elemental composition) and molecular composition using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Also reported are the stable isotope ratios of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur using gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS) and noble gas isotope abundances using ultimate high-resolution variable multicollection mass spectrometry. The stable isotopes of carbon, oxygen and strontium are also reported for sedimentary rocks containing carbonate either within the mineral matrix or in cements. Interpretation of these data enables the characterisation of petroleum source rocks and identification of their derived petroleum fluids, which comprise two key elements of petroleum systems analysis. Understanding a fluid’s physical properties and molecular composition are prerequisites for field development. The composition of petroleum determines its economic value and hence why the concentration of hydrocarbons (methane, wet gases, light and heavy oil) and hydrogen, helium and argon are important relative to those of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide for gases, and heterocyclic compounds (nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur) found in the asphaltene, resin and polar fractions of crude oils. The web services and tools in the Geoscience Australia Data Discovery Portal (https://portal.ga.gov.au/), and specifically in the Source Rock and Fluid Atlas Persona (https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/sra), allow the users to search, filter and select data based on various criteria, such as basin, formation, sample type, analysis type, and specific geochemical parameters. The web map services (WMS) and web feature services (WFS) enable the user to download data in a variety of formats (csv, Json, kml and shape file). The Source Rock and Fluid Atlas supports national resource assessments. The focus of the atlas is on the exploration and development of energy resources (i.e., petroleum and hydrogen) and the evaluation of resource commodities (i.e., helium and graphite). Some data held in the ORGCHEM tables are used for enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture, storage and utilisation projects. The objective of the atlas is to empower people to deliver Earth science excellence through data and digital capability. It benefits users who are interested in the exploration and development of Australia's energy resources by: • Providing a comprehensive and reliable source of information on the organic geochemistry of Australian source rocks • Enhancing the understanding of the spatial distribution, quality, and maturity of petroleum source rocks. • Facilitating the mapping of total petroleum and hydrogen systems and the assessment of the petroleum and hydrogen resource potential and prospectivity of Australian basins. • Facilitating the mapping of gases (e.g., methane, helium, carbon dioxide) within the geosphere as part of the transition to clean energy. • Enabling the integration and comparison of data from diverse sources and various acquisition methods, such as geological, geochemical, geophysical and geospatial data. • Providing data for integration into enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture, storage and utilisation projects. • Improving the accessibility and usability of data through user-friendly and interactive web-based interfaces. • Promoting the dissemination and sharing of data among Government, industry and community stakeholders. <b>References</b> Australian Petroleum Cooperative Research Centre (APCRC) 1991-2003. Australian Petroleum CRC (1991 - 2003), viewed 6 May 2024, https://www.eoas.info/bib/ASBS00862.htm and https://www.eoas.info/biogs/A001918b.htm#pub-resources Boreham, C. 1990. ORGCHEM Organic geochemical database. BMR Research Newsletter 13. Record 13:10-10. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/90326 Edwards, D.S., MacFarlane, S., Grosjean, E., Buckler, T., Boreham, C.J., Henson, P., Cherukoori, R., Tracey-Patte, T., van der Wielen, S.E., Ray, J., Raymond, O. 2020. Australian source rocks, fluids and petroleum systems – a new integrated geoscience data discovery portal for maximising data potential. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/133751. <b>Citation</b> Edwards, D., Buckler, T. 2024. Organic Geochemistry (ORGCHEM) Schema. Australian Source Rock and Fluid Atlas. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/149422