This web service provides access to datasets produced by the mineral potential assement of iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) mineral systems in the Tennant Creek – Mt Isa region. The mineral potential assessment uses a 2D, GIS-based workflow to qualitatively map four key mineral system components: (1) Sources of metals, fluids and ligands, (2) Energy to drive fluid flow, (3) Fluid flow pathways and architecture, and (4) Deposition mechanisms, such as redox or chemical gradients. For each of these key mineral system components theoretical criteria, representing important ore-forming processes, were identified and translated into mappable proxies using a wide range of input datasets. Each of these criteria are weighted and combined using an established workflow to produce the final map of IOCG potential.

This web map service provides location information and details about commodities exported from shipping ports around Australia. This dataset has been collated by Geoscience Australia from publicly available information as a guide only.

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.

Australia remains underexplored or unexplored, boasting discovery potential in the mineral, groundwater, and energy resources hidden beneath the surface. These “greenfield” areas are key to Australia’s future prosperity and sustainability. Led by Geoscience Australia, Australia’s national government geoscience organisation, the Exploring for the Future program was a groundbreaking mission to map Australia’s mineral, energy, and groundwater systems in unparalleled scale and detail. The program has advanced our understanding of Australia’s untapped potential. Over the course of 8 years, the Exploring for the Future program provided a significant expansion of public, precompetitive geoscience data and information, equipping decision-makers with the knowledge and tools to tackle urgent challenges related to Australia’s resource prosperity, energy security, and groundwater supply.

<div>The lookbook accompanies a loan of Australian critical mineral samples provided by Geoscience Australia for display at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC, United States.&nbsp; It contains information about each of the samples, including their provenance, mineral or rock name, and the critical mineral they contain.</div>

Water, energy and mineral resources are vital for Australia’s economic prosperity and sustainable development. However, continued supply of these resources cannot be taken for granted. It is widely accepted that the frontier of exploration now lies beneath the Earth’s surface, making characterisation of the subsurface a unifying challenge. Between 2016 and 2020, the $100.5 million Exploring for the Future program focused on addressing this challenge across northern Australia in order to better define resource potential and boost investment. The program applied a multiscale systems approach to resource assessment based on characterisation of the Australian plate from the surface down to its base, underpinned by methodological advances. The unprecedented scale and diversity of new data collected have resulted in many world-first achievements and breakthrough insights through integrated systems science. Through this multi-agency effort, new continental-scale datasets are emerging to further enhance Australia’s world-leading coverage. The program has identified prospective regions for a wide range of resources and pioneered approaches to exploration undercover that can be applied elsewhere. The outcomes so far include extensive tenement uptake for minerals and energy exploration in covered terranes, and development of informed land-management policy. Here, we summarise the key scientific achievements of the program by reviewing the main themes and interrelationships of 62 contributions, which together constitute the Exploring for the Future: extended abstracts volume. <b>Citation:</b> Czarnota, K., Roach, I.C., Abbott, S.T., Haynes, M.W., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E., 2020. Exploring for the Future: advancing the search for groundwater, energy and mineral resources. 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.

Publicly available geological data in the Galilee 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. The mineral occurrences are mostly found in the overlying basins, and they are often small and of little economic significance. There are some exceptions, such as the Lilyvale vanadium deposit found in the northern Galilee region, in the overlying Eromanga Basin. The Galilee Basin has limited potential for uranium and precious metal deposits due to relative lack of suitable formation conditions, but the depth of much of the basin makes exploration and mining difficult and expensive. There are some large coal measures found in the Galilee Basin, with 17 deposits in the Galilee and overlying Eromanga basins, containing about 38 billion tonnes of black coal. An assessment of geological storage of CO2 potential suggests the Galilee Basin Betts Creek - Rewan Play is the most prospective for storing CO2, with the highest potential around the central basin region. There are no reports of natural hydrogen in the Galilee Basin.

<p>Iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) mineral systems are a desirable undercover exploration target due to their large alteration footprint and potentially high metal content. To assist in understanding the potential for IOCG mineral systems beneath cover in the Tennant Creek to Mount Isa region as part of Exploring for the Future, a predictive mineral potential assessment has been undertaken using a knowledge-based, mineral systems approach.<p>This mineral potential assessment uses a 2D, GIS-based workflow to qualitatively map four key mineral system components: (1) Sources of metals, fluids and ligands, (2) Energy to drive fluid flow, (3) Fluid flow pathways and architecture, and (4) Deposition mechanisms, such as redox or chemical gradients. For each of these key mineral system components theoretical criteria, representing important ore-forming processes, were identified and translated into mappable proxies using a wide range of input datasets. Each of these criteria are weighted and combined using an established workflow to produce the final map of IOCG potential, all of which is well documented in the accompanying IOCG Assessment Criteria Table.<p>Two assessments have been undertaken. The first is a comprehensive assessment containing all available geospatial information and is highly reliant on the level of geological knowledge. As such, it preferentially highlights mineral potential in well-understood areas, such as outcropping regions and performs less well in covered areas, where there is a greater likelihood of data gaps. The second assessment utilises only datasets which can be mapped consistently across the assessment area. As such, these are predominately based on geophysical data and are more consistent in assessing exposed and covered areas. However, far fewer criteria are included in this assessment.<p>Both assessment highlight new areas of interest in underexplored regions, of particular interest a SW-NE corridor to the East of Tennant Creek of moderate/high potential in the Barkly region. This corridor extends to an area of moderate potential in the Murphy Inlier region near the Gulf of Carpentaria on the NT/QLD border.

This web service provides access to datasets produced by the mineral potential assement of iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) mineral systems in the Tennant Creek – Mt Isa region. The mineral potential assessment uses a 2D, GIS-based workflow to qualitatively map four key mineral system components: (1) Sources of metals, fluids and ligands, (2) Energy to drive fluid flow, (3) Fluid flow pathways and architecture, and (4) Deposition mechanisms, such as redox or chemical gradients. For each of these key mineral system components theoretical criteria, representing important ore-forming processes, were identified and translated into mappable proxies using a wide range of input datasets. Each of these criteria are weighted and combined using an established workflow to produce the final map of IOCG potential.

Following the successful outcomes of the Tennant Creek-Mt Isa (TISA) mineral potential assessment (Murr et al., 2019; Skirrow et al., 2019), the methodology has been expanded to encompass the entire North Australian Craton (NAC). Like its predecessor, this assessment uses a knowledge-based, data-rich mineral systems approach to predict the potential for iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) mineralisation. With their high metal yield and large alteration footprint, IOCG mineral systems remain an attractive target in directing exploration efforts towards undercover regions. This mineral potential assessment uses a 2D GIS-based workflow to map four key mineral system components: (1) Sources of metals, fluids and ligands, (2) Energy to drive fluid flow, (3) Fluid flow pathways and architecture, and (4) Deposition mechanisms, such as redox or chemical gradients. For each of these key mineral system components, theoretical criteria representing important ore-forming processes were identified and translated into mappable proxies using a wide range of input datasets. Each of these criterion are weighted and combined using an established workflow to produce a models of IOCG potential. Metadata and selection rational are documented in the accompanying NAC IOCG Assessment Criteria Table. Two scenarios were modelled for this assessment. The first is a comprehensive assessment, targeting pre-Neoproterozoic mineral systems (>1500 Ma), using a combination of interpreted, geological and geophysical datasets. As geological interpretations are subjective to the geological knowledge of the interpreter, well-documented areas, such as shallow pre-Neoproterozoic basement, have a greater density of data. This increase in data density can create an inherent bias in the modelled result towards previously explored shallow terrains. The second assessment utilises only datasets which can be mapped consistently across the assessment area. As such, these are predominately based on geophysical data and are more consistent in assessing exposed and covered areas. However, far fewer criteria are included in this assessment, and observations are reflective of only the modern geological environment. Both assessments highlight existing mineral fields in WA, NT and QLD, and suggest that these regions extend under cover. Furthermore, regions not previously known for IOCG mineralisation display a high modelled potential, offering exploration prospects in previously unknown or discounted areas.