Overview of the Deep Crustal Seismic surveys conducted by Geoscience Australia and funded through the Onshore Energy Security Program since it's commencement in 2006 to September 2009.

Australia has a rich uranium endowment. Amongst other favourable geological conditions for the formation of uranium deposits, such as the presence of intracratonic sedimentary basins, Australia is host to widespread uranium-rich felsic igneous rocks spanning a wide range of geological time. Many known uranium deposits have an empirical spatial relationship with such rocks. While formation of some mineral systems is closely associated with the emplacement of uranium-rich felsic magmas (e.g., the super-giant Olympic Dam deposit), most other systems have resulted from subsequent low temperature processes occurring in spatial proximity to these rocks. Approximately 91% of Australia's initial in-ground resources of uranium occur in two main types of deposits: iron-oxide breccia complex deposits (~ 75%) and unconformity-related deposits (~ 16%). Other significant resources are associated with sandstone- (~ 5%) and calcrete-hosted (~ 1%) deposits. By comparison, uranium deposits associated with orthomagmatic and magmatic-hydrothermal uranium systems are rare. Given the paucity of modern exploration and the favourable geological conditions with Australia, there remains significant potential for undiscovered uranium deposits. This paper discusses mineral potential of magmatic- and basin-related uranium systems.

Data gathered in the field during the sample collection phase of the National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) has been used to compile the Preliminary Soil pH map of Australia. The map, which was completed in late 2009, offers a first-order estimate of where acid or alkaline soil conditions are likely to be expected. It provides fundamental datasets that can be used for mineral exploration and resource potential evaluation, environmental monitoring, landuse policy development, and geomedical studies into the health of humans, animals and plants.

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Catchment outlet sediments (0-10 cm depth, sieved to <2 mm) collected at a very low density over most of the Australian continent have been analysed using the Mobile Metal Ion (MMI®) partial extraction technique. Of the 54 elements analysed, eight are generally regarded as essential nutrients for plant growth: Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, P and Zn. For these, 'bioavailability', defined here as the ratio of the partial digest concentration to the total concentration, has been investigated. This estimation of 'bioavailability' gives results comparable with standard agricultural measurements. Average 'bioavailability' ranges from 15.0% for Ca to 0.1% for Fe. Smoothed (kriged) colour contour maps for continental Australia have been produced for these eight nutrients and interpreted in terms of lithology (e.g., presence of carbonates in the MMI® Ca map), mineralization (e.g., well known and possibly less known mineral districts in the Cu, P and Zn maps), environmental processes (e.g., salinity in K map, weathering and acid generation in Fe map) and agricultural practices (e.g., application of fertilizers in P and Zn maps). This first application of a partial extraction technique at the scale of a continent has yielded meaningful, coherent and interpretable results.

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The Frome airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey is the largest of three regional AEM surveys flown under the 5-year Onshore Energy Security Program (OESP) by Geoscience Australia (GA). The aim of the survey is to reduce risk and stimulate exploration investment for uranium by providing reliable pre-competitive data. The Frome AEM survey was flown between 22 May and 2 November 2010, is approximately 95 450 km2 in area and collected 32 317 line km of new data at an average flying height of 100 m. The Frome AEM survey covers the Marree (pt), Callabonna (pt), Copley (pt), Frome (pt), Parachilna (pt), Curnamona, Olary and Chowilla (pt) 1:250 000 standard map sheets in South Australia and was flown largely at 2.5 km line spacing, with the northern portion flown at 5 km line spacing. GA partnered with, the Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia and an industry consortium. The survey results indicate a depth of investigation (DOI - depth of reliable signal penetration) of up to 400 m in areas of thin cover and resistive basement (e.g., Adelaidean rocks in the Olary Ranges). In Cenozoic - Mesozoic sediments in the Frome Embayment and the Murray Basin the DOI is up to 100-150 m. A range of under-cover features are revealed, including (but not limited to): extensions to known palaeovalley networks in the Frome Embayment; the under-cover extent of the Benagerie Ridge; regional faults in the Frome Embayment and Murray Basin; folded and faulted Neoproterozoic rocks in the Adelaide Fold Belt; Cenozoic - Mesozoic stratigraphy in the Frome Embayment; neotectonic offsets in the Lake Eyre Basin; conductive Neoproterozoic rocks associated with copper-gold mineralisation; and, coal-bearing structures in the Leigh Creek area, as well as groundwater features.

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No abstract available

In late 2006, the Australian Government announced its Energy Security Initiative, allowing Geoscience Australia to initiate a major program of onshore and offshore activities. The ambitious National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) project was launched in January 2007 as part of this program because until then Australia lacked a complete geochemical data coverage. Such a dataset informs on the concentrations and distributions of chemical elements in the near-surface environment. This pre-competitive knowledge, used in combination with other datasets, can contribute to making exploration for energy and mineral resources more cost-effective and less risky by helping target more detailed activities. As a spin-off, the multi-element dataset can also have applications in the fields of natural resources management, land-use decision-making and geohealth, for instance. During precursor pilot projects carried out between 2003 and 2006 in the Riverina, Gawler and Thomson regions, various sampling media, grain-size fractions and analytical methods were tested. In particular, it emerged that catchment outlet sediments from either overbank or floodplain settings or from similar low-lying settings were an ideal sampling medium that could be found across Australia. These sediments are, by their very nature, well-mixed composites of contributions from the dominant rock and soil types found within a catchment. Further, being deposited during times of receding floods, they are typically fine-grained, a beneficial property that enhances the geochemical signal-to-noise ratio. The data from the pilot projects indicated that even surface catchment outlet sediments could reflect geochemical signatures from basement and mineralisation, even when covered by thick transported overburden. .../...