The Exploring for the Future Program facilitated the acquisition of major geoscience datasets in northern Australia, where rocks are mostly under cover and the basin evolution, mineral, energy and groundwater resource potential are, in places, poorly constrained. In an effort to support sustainable, regional economic development and build stronger communities in these frontier areas, integration of new and legacy data within a consistent platform could enhance the recognition of cross-disciplinary synergies in sub-surface resource investigations. Here we present a case study in the South-Nicholson Basin, located in a poorly exposed area between the prospective Mt Isa Province and the McArthur Basin. Both regions host major base metal deposits, contain units prospective for energy resources, and hold significant groundwater resources in the overlying Georgina Basin. In this study, we interpret a subset of new regional-scale data, which include ~1 900 km of deep seismic reflection data and 60 000 line kilometres of AusAEM1 airborne electromagnetic survey, supplemented with legacy information. This interpretation refines a semi-continental geological framework, as input to national coverage databases and informs decision-making for exploration and groundwater resource management. This study provides a 3D chronostratigraphic cover model down to the Paleoproterozoic basement. We mapped the depth to the base of intervals corresponding to geological eras, as well as deeper pre-Neoproterozoic superbasin boundaries to refine the cover model. The depth estimates, based on the compilation, interpretation and integration of geological and geophysical datasets, inform the basement architecture controls on evolution of the basin, with several key outcomes: 1) expanded mapped size of the South Nicholson Basin, potentially, increasing prospectivity for hydrocarbons and basin-hosted mineralisation, 2) improved stratigraphic unit correlations across the region, 3) identification of major crustal structures, some of which are associated with mineralisation and springs, and 4) improved basin architecture definition, supporting future investigation of groundwater resources.

Zircon and xenotime U–Pb SHRIMP geochronology was conducted on samples from the South Nicholson Basin, and western Mount Isa Orogen. These samples were collected from outcrop and core from the Northern Territory and Queensland. The age data indicate the South Nicholson Basin was deposited after ca 1483 Ma but deposition most likely had ceased by ca 1266 Ma; the latter age likely represents post-diagenetic fluid flow in the area, based on U–Pb xenotime data. Geochronology presented here provides the first direct age data confirming the South Nicholson Group is broadly contemporaneous with the Roper Group of the McArthur Basin, which has identified facies with high hydrocarbon prospectivity. In addition, geochronology on the Paleoproterozoic McNamara Group provides new age constraints that have implications for the regional stratigraphy. The data obtained in this geochronological study allow for a comprehensive revision of the existing stratigraphic framework, new correlations and enhances commodity prospectivity in central northern Australia.

This record presents nine new Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe (SHRIMP) U–Pb zircon results obtained under the auspices of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) Programme, a four year, federally funded initiative to better understand the mineral, energy and groundwater potential of northern Australia. The results presented here are derived from eight sedimentary samples and one probable tuffaceous sample together belonging to the Mount Isa Province, South Nicholson Basin and Georgina Basin.

The energy component of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program aimed to improve our understanding of the petroleum resource potential of northern Australia. The sediments of the Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson Basin and the Paleoproterozoic Isa Superbasin on the northern Lawn Hill Platfrom (nLHP) are primary targets of the EFTF program, as they are known to contain highly prospective organic-rich units with the potential to host unconventional gas plays. A defining feature of shale gas plays is that they require technological intervention to increase bulk rock permeability and achieve commercial flow rates. The Egilabria prospect, intersecting nLHP sediments in northwest Queensland, flowed gas to surface from a fracture-stimulated lateral well, demonstrating a technical success. Elsewhere in the region, shale gas prospectivity is limited by a lack of well data. Shale rock brittleness in the nLHP part of the Isa Superbasin was analysed in two studies under the EFTF program. These studies showed that shale brittleness ranges from ductile to brittle; zones of brittle shales were present in all supersequences. Shale brittleness is controlled by increasing quartz and decreasing clay content, with carbonate content proving insignificant. Organic-rich target zones in the Lawn and River supersequences are demonstrated to be brittle and favourable for fracture stimulation. <b>Citation:</b> Bailey, A.H.E., Jarrett, A.J.M., Wang, L., Champion, D.C., Hall, L.S. and Henson, P., 2020. Shale brittleness in the Isa Superbasin on the northern Lawn Hill Platform. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.

<p>This Record presents the results of 26 new zircon U-Pb isotopic analyses, conducted on Geoscience Australia’s Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe (SHRIMP2e), under the Commonwealth Government’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, a $100.5 million, four year, initiative to better understand the mineral, energy and groundwater potential across northern Australia. <p>These new data, determined on sedimentary and volcanic rocks, were collected from across the South Nicholson region, located in the north-eastern Northern Territory. The South Nicholson region is geographically located between two highly prospective geological provinces, the greater McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory and the Mount Isa Province in Queensland, regions noted for their hydrocarbon potential and world-class base-metal endowment. <p>The South Nicholson region has been sparsely investigated by modern geological investigations, and, as such, these new SHRIMP U-Pb data, in concert with other complementary EFTF geochronological, geochemical and geophysical datasets from the region (e.g. Anderson et al., 2019; Carr et al., 2019; Ley-Cooper and Brodie, 2019; Jarrett et al., 2019) will place important geological constraints on the geological evolution, the timing of deposition, sedimentary processes, basin architecture and evolution of the South Nicholson region and, arguably most significantly, provide new improved lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic correlations with the adjacent highly prospective Proterozoic Basins. <p>Such geological correlations are critical for reducing exploration risk, improve resource prospectivity and enabling targeted ‘greenfield’ resource exploration activities, a tangible key objective under the Exploring for the Future initiative.

This web service provides access to satellite imagery products for the identification of potential groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in the South Nicholson - Georgina region.

This web service provides access to satellite imagery products for the identification of potential groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in the South Nicholson - Georgina region.

NDI Carrara 1 is a deep stratigraphic drill hole completed in 2020 as part of the MinEx CRC National Drilling Initiative (NDI) in collaboration with Geoscience Australia and the Northern Territory Geological Survey. It is the first test of the Carrara Sub-Basin, a depocentre newly discovered in the South Nicholson region based on interpretation from seismic surveys (L210 in 2017 and L212 in 2019) recently acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program. The drill hole intersected approximately 1120 m of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks unconformably overlain by 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin carbonates. Continuous cores recovered from 283 m to a total depth of 1750 m provide samples of the highest quality for a comprehensive geochemical program designed to inform on the energy and mineral prospectivity of the Carrara Sub-basin. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) contents from Rock-Eval pyrolysis of the Cambrian and Proterozoic sections demonstrate the potential for several thick black shales as source rocks and unconventional plays. Evidence for retained hydrocarbons included bituminous oil stains in centimetre-scale vugs within the Cambrian Georgina Basin and several oil bleeds within the Proterozoic section. The latter also contains surface gas with up to 2% methane concentrations measured within carbonaceous mudstones. Geochemical analyses of hydrocarbon shows highlight the occurrence of several petroleum systems operating in this frontier region. The results at NDI Carrara 1 offer the promise of a new exciting resource province in northern Australia.

The Exploring for the Future program is an initiative by the Australian Government dedicated to boosting investment in resource exploration in Australia. As part of the Exploring for the Future program, this study aims to improve our understanding of the petroleum resource potential of northern Australia. The physical properties of organic matter in sedimentary rocks changes composition in an irreversible and often sequential manner after burial, diagenesis, catagenesis and metagenesis with increasing thermal maturity. Characterising these changes and identifying the thermal maturity of sedimentary rocks is essential for calculating thermal models needed in a petroleum systems analysis. This study presents organic petrology on 15 Proterozoic aged shales from the Velkerri and Barney Creek formations in the McArthur Basin and the Mullera Formation, Riversleigh Siltstone, Lawn Hill and Termite Range formations in the South Nicholson region. Qualitative maceral analysis of the 15 samples are described in addition to bitumen reflectance measurements. These samples were analysed at the Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria in June 2020. The results of this study can be used to improve our understanding of the thermal maturity and hydrocarbon prospectivity of Proterozoic aged sedimentary basins in northern Australia.

Following the publication of Geoscience Australia record 2014/09: Petroleum geology inventory of Australia's offshore frontier basins by Totterdell et. al, (2014), the onshore petroleum section embarked upon a similar project for onshore Australian basins. The purpose of this project is to provide a thorough basis for whole of basin information to advise the Australia Government and other stakeholders, such as the petroleum industry, regarding the exploration status and prospectivity of onshore Australian basins. Eight onshore Australian basins have been selected for this volume and these include: the McArthur, South Nicholson, Georgina, Amadeus, Warburton, Wiso, Galilee and Cooper basins. This record provides a comprehensive whole of basin inventory of the geology, petroleum systems, exploration status and data coverage for these eight onshore Australian basins. It draws on precompetitive work programs by Geoscience Australia as well as publicly available exploration results and geoscience literature. Furthermore, the record provides an assessment of issues and unanswered questions and recommends future work directions to meet these unknowns.