Resource estimates for individual mineral deposits reported by companies using the Joint Ore Reserves Committee Code are compiled in Geoscience Australia's national mineral resources database and used in estimating national resource inventories which are reported in categories of the National Mineral Resources classification system. The national inventory provides a long term national perspective of potentially mineable resources and the results are published online in 'Australia's Identified Mineral Resources'. Analyses of resource trends show that growth in Australia's resources have generally been strongly influenced by: - discoveries of new deposits, and extensions of resources at known deposits, - advances in metallurgical techniques and mining methods which have stimulated the exploration and development of new ore types and low grade deposits previously considered uneconomic, - availability of cheaper energy, - increases in prices of mineral commodities driven largely by the massive demand from China. From the early 1970s, Australia's iron ore mines have been based on large resources of direct shipping hematite ores in the Hamersley Basin. From 2003, Australia's Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR) of iron ore grew to record levels as increased demand for iron ore generated renewed interest in magnetite ores. As a result, large increases in magnetite resources were recorded as development of large magnetite deposits in the Pilbara (Sino Iron project) and mid-west regions of WA (eg Karara deposit) commenced. Trends in Australia's EDR of black coal, gold and other major commodities are discussed.

Australia's mineral resources are an important component of its wealth, and a long term perspective of what is likely to be available for mining is a prerequisite for formulating sound policies on resources and land-access. The national resource stocks are quantified in the annual online publication: Australia's Identified Mineral Resources: http://www.australianminesatlas.gov.au/aimr/index.jsp, which provides Geoscience Australia's assessments based on its national mineral resource classification system. This paper summarises Australia's national classification system for Identified Mineral Resources. Estimating global stocks of mineral and energy commodities is becoming increasingly important. This requires mapping of categories between the various the mineral and energy classification systems in use, and rationalising these systems where feasible. This paper also outlines how Australia's national system correlates with other mineral and energy resource classification systems.

Australia's Identified Mineral Resources is an annual national assessment that takes a long-term view of Australian mineral resources likely to be available for mining. The assessment also includes evaluations of long-term trends in mineral resources, world rankings, summaries of significant exploration results and brief reviews of mining industry developments. This entry is for the revised (minor edits - 2014) version of AIMR 2012 GeoCat #75326

Promotional flyer describing the GA programme in national unconventional hydrocarbon prospectivity and resource assessment commenced in 2011 by the Onshore (Unconventional) Hydrocarbons Section, Basin Resources Group, Energy Division.

Over the past 10 years, Australia has maintained 65-85% self-sufficiency in oil and better than 100% suffiency in gas. This has generated significant societal benefits in terms of employment, balance of payments, and revenue. However the decline of the super-giant Gippsland fields, discovery of smaller oil pools on the Northwest Shelf, and the increasing reliance on condensate to sustain our liquids supply sharpens the focus on Australia's need to increase exporation and discover more oil. Australia is competing in the global market place for exploration funds but as it is relatively under-explored there is a need to simulate interest through access to pre-competitive data and information. Public access to exploration and production data is a key plank in Australian promotion of petroleum exploration acreage. Access results from legislation that initially subsidised exploration in return for lodgement and public availability of exploration and production (E&P) data. Today publicly available E&P data ranges from digital seismic tapes, to core and cuttings samples from wells, and access to relational databases, including organic geochemistry, biostratigraphy, and shows information. Seismic information is being progressively consolidated to high density media. Under the Commonwealth Government?s Spatial Information and Data Access Policy, announced in 2001, company data is publicly available at the cost of transfer, after a relatively brief confidentiality period. In addition, pre-competitive regional studies relating to petroleum prospectivity, undertaken by Government, and databases and spatial information is free over the Internet, further reducing the cost of exploration. In cooperation with the Australian States and the Northern Territory, we are working towards jointly presenting Australian opportunities through the Geoscience Portal (http://www.geoscience.gov.au) and a virtual one stop data repository. The challenge now is to translate data availability to increased exploration uptake, through client information, and through ever-improving on-line access.

This report deals with the results of 25,000 ft. of boring over an area of 15 sq. miles. Twenty-six coal seams were identified and named. Total reserves of all seams with band-free thickness greater than 4.0 ft. are 200,000,000 tons. Net open-cut reserves (to 9:1 ratio) of 7,500,000 tons over an area of 400 acres were tested and defined on four seams. All work in the Howick Area was done in the period March, 1952, to June, 1953.

The preliminary results of the 2002 Bonaparte Basin assessment indicate that there is a mean expectation of finding 334 million barrels of oil, 2.96 TCF of gas, and 116 million barrels of condensate in the next ten to fifteen years. This assessment represents a fall of some 41% from the 1998 oil assessment but an increase of 30% in the amount of gas. This is mainly due to the methodology attempting to model the expectation for the next ten to fifteen years rather than modelling the ultimate potential.

A medium term forecast of undiscovered hydrocarbon resources for the Bonaparte Basin has been generated by Geoscience Australia and reveals that there is the potential to discover 56 gigalitres (350 million barrels) of oil, 82 billion cubic metres (2.9 trillion cubic feet) of gas, and 18 gigalitres (115 million barrels) of condensate in the next ten to fifteen years.

Assessments of the uranium and geothermal energy prospectivity of east-central South Australia have been undertaken using a GIS-based geological systems approach. For uranium, sandstone-hosted (including both roll-front and palaeochannel varieties), iron oxide copper-gold-uranium, unconformity-related and sediment-hosted copper-uranium mineral systems were considered. For geothermal energy, both hot rock and hot sedimentary aquifer systems were considered.

Wells Limestone, situated 8 miles from Canberra in A.C.T., is a lens of massive limestone in a formation largely consisting of shales of Silurian age. The gently undulating topography and the low relief of the area of outcrop itself do not provide an attractive quarry site, although the stone seems very suitable for use as aggregate. Soil interpretation from shallow bores indicate considerable extensions of the deposit beyond the outcrop. 'Indicated' and 'inferred' reserves of limestone [have] been calculated, although further proving of reserves should be done before it is decided to establish a crushing plant at the deposit.