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Statements of existing knowledge are compiled for known mineral, coal, hydrocarbon and carbon capture and storage (CCS) resources and reserves in the Galilee Basin region. This data guide illustrates the current understanding of the distribution of these key resource types within the Galilee Basin region based on trusted information sources. It provides important contextual information on the Galilee Basin and where additional details on discovered resources can be found. The Galilee Basin region contains 6 known metallic mineral deposits, with most of these containing the critical mineral vanadium. There are 17 coal deposits found in the basin containing thermal and metallurgical coal. The primary form of coal in the deposits is thermal coal. The Galilee Basin hosts large coal tonnages, with known black coal resources of approximately 33 billion tonnes. The Galilee Basin and overlying basins are known to contain significant hydrocarbon resources. The majority of the known hydrocarbon resources are found in the Julia Creek oil shale deposits located in the Eromanga Basin above the Galilee Basin. Moderate coal seam gas (CSG) resources have also been identified in the basin; however, conventional gas resources are more limited. At this time, there are no active or planned Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects in the basin.
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Publicly available geology data are compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, environmental and regulatory decisions in the Cooper Basin region. This data guide gives examples of how these data can be used and supports the data package that provides the existing knowledge of the key geological intervals of the Cooper Basin and the overlying Eromanga and Lake Eyre basins. The key geological intervals identified by the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) Program for resource assessment and groundwater system characterisation are termed play intervals and hydrostratigraphic intervals respectively. The Cooper Basin includes 7 plays, which are consolidated into 1 hydrostratigraphic interval. Overlying the Cooper Basin are 9 play intervals of the Eromanga Basin, which are consolidated into 7 hydrostratigraphic intervals and 1 Cenozoic play interval and 1 hydrostratigraphic interval for the Lake Eyre Basin. The geological groups and formations included in the play and hydrostratigraphic intervals are summarised in the stratigraphic charts of Wainman et al. (2023). Gross depositional, depth structure and thickness maps are provided with 3D model and cross-sections summarising the geology of the Cooper Basin and the overlying basins. The mapped depths and thicknesses of the key intervals are used to inform resource assessments and provide the framework for assigning groundwater data to hydrostratigraphic intervals.
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Publicly available baseline surface water data are compiled to provide a common information base for resource development and regulatory decisions in the Galilee Basin region. This data guide captures existing knowledge of the catchments and watercourses overlying the Galilee Basin, including streamflow quality and quantity, inundation, and climatological data. The Galilee Basin straddles the Great Dividing Range and encompasses the headwaters of 9 major river basins, with the largest area underlying Cooper Creek, Diamantina River and Flinders River catchments. The Galilee Basin geological boundary also intersects parts of the catchment of the Burdekin River, Fitzroy River, Warrego River, Bulloo River, Paroo River and Condamine-Balonne rivers. The data on the catchments overlying the Galilee Basin have been summarised at a point in time to inform decisions on resource development activities. Key data sources are the Water Monitoring Information Portal (Queensland Government), Water Data Online (Bureau of Meteorology), DEA Water Observations (Geoscience Australia) and Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network.
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Publicly available baseline ecology data are compiled to provide a common information base for environment, resource development and regulatory decisions in the north Bowen Basin region. This data guide captures existing knowledge of the ecosystems and environmental assets overlying the north Bowen Basin. The land overlying the north Bowen Basin is dominated by the Brigalow Belt North and South Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) bioregions. The data on the ecosystems and environmental assets overlying the North Bowen Basin have been summarised in July 2021 to inform decisions on resource development activities. Key data sources are broad vegetation groups - pre-clearing and 2019 remnant - Queensland series (Queensland Government), Field Environmental Data, Australian Wetlands Database and Heritage places and lists (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water), and the Atlas of Living Australia.
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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.
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Publicly available data was compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, environmental and regulatory decisions in the Adavale Basin. This data guide gives an example of how these data can be used to create the components of a workflow to identify conventional hydrocarbon resource (oil and gas) opportunities. The data guide is designed to support the data package that provide insights on conventional oil and gas resources in the Adavale Basin. The conventional hydrocarbon assessment for the Adavale Basin includes 8 geological intervals, termed plays. These intervals have been defined by Wainman et al. (2023). The assessment captures data from well completion reports and government data sources (e.g. Queensland Petroleum Exploration Database (QPED) from the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) Open Data Portal) to inform the 5 components required for conventional hydrocarbons to be present. Thirty-nine boreholes in the Adavale Basin were assessed with data used to map out gross depositional environments and their geological properties relevant for conventional hydrocarbon assessments. From these datasets, the following properties have been evaluated and mapped across the basin: reservoir presence, reservoir effectiveness, top seal, trap and charge. The data are compiled at a point in time to inform decisions on resource development activities. The data guide outlines the play-based workflow for assessing conventional hydrocarbon resource prospectivity. Each of the elements required for a prospective conventional hydrocarbon system are explained and mapped. These data were then merged and spatially multiplied to show the relative assessment of conventional hydrocarbon prospectivity across the basin, at both play interval and basin scale. As an example of assessments contained within the data package, this data guide showcases the conventional hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Lissoy-Bury Play interval.
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Publicly available baseline surface water data are compiled to provide a common information base for resource development and regulatory decisions in the Adavale Basin region. This data guide captures existing knowledge of the catchments and watercourses overlying the Adavale Basin, including streamflow quality and quantity, inundation, and climatological data. The Adavale Basin underlies 3 main surface water catchments that contribute to Cooper Creek, including the Barcoo, Bulloo and Warrego rivers. The Adavale Basin geological boundary also intersects the upper parts of the Paroo River catchment and a small part of the Condamine-Balonne catchment. The data on the catchments overlying the Adavale Basin have been summarised at a point in time to inform decisions on resource development activities. Key data sources are the Water Monitoring Information Portal (Queensland Government), Water Data Online (Bureau of Meteorology), DEA Water Observations (Geoscience Australia) and Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network.
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Publicly available groundwater data have been compiled to provide a common information base to inform environmental, resource development and regulatory decisions in the Galilee Basin region. This data guide gives examples of how these data can be used. The data package included with this data guide captures existing knowledge of Galilee Basin aquifers and their properties, including salinity, water levels, resource size, potential aquifer yield and surface water - groundwater interactions. The methods used to derive these data for all Galilee Basin aquifers in the Galilee Basin region are outlined in the associated metadata files. These are described in groundwater conceptual models (Hostetler et al., 2023). The Galilee Basin includes 3 broadly defined aquifer intervals: from deepest to shallowest, these are the Joe Joe Group, Betts Creek beds and Clematis aquifers. Compiled data have been assigned to these intervals and used to characterise groundwater systems at the basin scale. The data were compiled for a point-in-time to inform decisions on potential resource developments in the Basin. The available historical groundwater data can be used to assess the potential effects on groundwater. The data can also be used for other purposes, such as exploring unallocated groundwater resource potential. Data to January 2022 were used for this compilation.
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Publicly available geology data are compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, environmental and regulatory decisions in the Adavale Basin region. This data guide gives examples of how these data can be used and supports the data package that provides the existing knowledge of the key geological intervals of the Adavale Basin and the overlying Galilee, Eromanga and Lake Eyre basins. The key geological intervals identified by the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) Program for resource assessment and groundwater system characterisation are termed play intervals and hydrostratigraphic intervals respectively. The Adavale Basin includes 8 plays, which are consolidated into 1 hydrostratigraphic interval. Overlying the Adavale Basin are 5 play intervals of the Galilee Basin, which are consolidated into 3 hydrostratigraphic intervals; 9 play intervals of the Eromanga Basin, which are consolidated into 7 hydrostratigraphic intervals; and 1 Cenozoic play interval and 1 hydrostratigraphic interval for the Lake Eyre and other Cenozoic basins. The geological groups and formations included in the plays and hydrostratigraphic intervals are summarised in the stratigraphic charts of Wainman et al. (2023a). Gross depositional, depth structure and thickness maps are provided with 3D model and cross-sections summarising the geology of the Adavale Basin and the overlying basins. The mapped depths and thicknesses of the key intervals are used to inform resource assessments and provide the framework for assigning groundwater data to hydrostratigraphic intervals.
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Publicly available baseline ecology data are compiled to provide a common information base for environmental, resource development and regulatory decisions in the Adavale Basin region. This data guide captures existing knowledge of the ecosystems and environmental assets overlying the Adavale Basin. The land overlying the Adavale Basin is dominated by Mulga and Mitchell Grass Downs Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) bioregions, with small areas of Brigalow Belt South and Desert Uplands bioregions. The data on the ecosystems and environmental assets overlying the Adavale Basin have been summarised in July 2021 to inform decisions on resource development activities. Key data sources are broad vegetation groups - pre-clearing and 2019 remnant - Queensland series (Queensland Government), Field Environmental Data, Australian Wetlands Database and Heritage places and lists (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water), and the Atlas of Living Australia.