All commercially produced hydrogen worldwide is presently stored in salt caverns. Through the Exploring for the Future program, Geoscience Australia is identifying and mapping salt deposits in Australia that may be suitable for hydrogen storage. The only known thick salt accumulations in eastern Australia are found in the Boree Salt of the Adavale Basin in central Queensland, and represent potentially strategic assets for underground hydrogen storage. The Boree Salt consists predominantly of halite that is up to 555 m thick in some wells. In 2021, Geoscience Australia contracted Intrepid Geophysics to develop a 3D geological model of the Adavale Basin, using well data and 2D seismic interpretation and focussing on the Boree Salt deposit. The 3D model has identified three main salt bodies that may be suitable for salt cavern construction and hydrogen storage. Further work and data acquisition are required to fully assess the suitability of these salt bodies for hydrogen storage. Disclaimer Geoscience Australia has tried to make the information in this product as accurate as possible. However, it does not guarantee that the information is totally accurate or complete. Therefore, you should not solely rely on this information when making a commercial decision. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

Large-scale storage of commercially produced hydrogen worldwide is presently stored in salt caverns. Through the Exploring for the Future program, Geoscience Australia is identifying and mapping salt deposits in Australia that may be suitable for hydrogen storage. The Boree Salt in the Adavale Basin of central Queensland is the only known thick salt accumulation in eastern Australia, and represent potentially strategic assets for underground hydrogen storage. The Boree Salt consists predominantly of halite and can be up to 555 m thick in some wells. Geoscience Australia contracted CSIRO to conduct rock mechanics and petrophysical laboratory analyses on four Boree Salt whole cores from Boree 1 and Bury 1 wells. Four plugs extracted from the cores were tested to determine dry bulk density, grain density, gas porosity, permeability, Poisson's ratio and Young's Modulus, while two plugs underwent ultra-low permeability tests. Triaxial tests were carried out on the four samples at confining pressures of 10, 20, 30 and 40 MPa. The average dry bulk density and grain density were found to be 2.15 g/cm3 and 2.17 g/cm3, respectively. The average gas and total porosity were determined to be 0.98% and 1.0%, respectively, while the average permeability of the two samples from Boree 1 is 0.85 µD. The triaxial test results showed that the average Poisson's ratio was 0.188, and Young's modulus was 16.1 GPa. Further tests, such as the creep test, in-situ seal capacity test, and leaching tests, are required to determine the suitability of the Boree Salt for underground hydrogen storage. Disclaimer: Geoscience Australia has tried to make the information in this product as accurate as possible. However, it does not guarantee that the information is totally accurate or complete. Therefore, you should not solely rely on this information when making a commercial decision. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.