This GA Professional Opinion report is one of a series of 4 reports being undertaken by the GA Groundwater Group under the National Collaboration Framework Project Agreement with the Office of Water Science (in DSEWPaC). The St Vincent Basin in South Australia is a priority coal-bearing sedimentary basin that is not currently slated for Bioregional Assessment.

The Nelson, Zeehan and Apollo regions are three of eleven Broad Areas of Interest identified as possible areas for the establishment of Marine Protected Areas by Environment Australia (with statutory and policy responsibility for MPAs), the National Oceans Office (with responsibility for regional marine plans) and other stakeholders. An assessment of the petroleum prospectivity of the Nelson, Zeehan and Apollo regions was undertaken by Geoscience Australia in order to identify areas with the potential to generate and host hydrocarbon accumulations. The assessment used a risk-based approach whereby factors that controlled the sourcing and trapping of hydrocarbons were assessed based on the likeihood of their presence or absence within a particular region. The level of knowledge and confidence in the risk assessment was also incorporated into the ranking of petroleum prospectivity. These factors were considered along with other geological risks to formulate a classification scheme. This scheme has been applied to Nelson 1B, Zeehan 1C and Apollo 1D BAOIs.

The Attorney-General's Department (AGD) has supported Geoscience Australia (GA) to develop inundation models for four Victorian communities with the view of enhancing the tsunami planning and preparation capacity of the Victorian State Government. The four communities chosen were Lakes Entrance, Port Fairy, Portland, and Warrnambool. These locations were selected in collaboration with the Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) and the Australian Government, based on an initial review of low lying coastal communities, and an Australia wide nearshore tsunami hazard assessment [1]. Several tsunamigenic events were selected for modelling from the scenario database that was calculated as part of the national offshore probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA) [2]. The events selected are hypothetical and are based on the current understanding of the tsunami hazard. Only earthquake sources are considered, which account for the majority of tsunami. The suite of events includes 'worst-case' or 1 in 10000 year hazard events, as well as a more frequent (1 in 100 and 1 in 500 year hazard) events. Source zones considered are the Puysegur Trench (all cases), the New Hebrides Trench and the Kermadec Trench (Lakes Entrance only), and the Java Trench and the South Sandwich Islands Trench (Port Fairy, Portland, and Warrnambool only). Based on the probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment [2], these source zones are considered as they make the most significant contributions to the offshore tsunami hazard for the study sites.

The information within this document and associated DVD is intended to assist emergency managers in tsunami planning and preparation activities. The Attorney General's Department (AGD) has supported Geoscience Australia (GA) in developing a range of products to support the understanding of tsunami hazard through the Australian Tsunami Warning System Project. The work reported here is intended to further build the capacity of the QLD State Government in developing inundation models for prioritised locations. Internally stored data /nas/cds/internal/hazard_events/sudden_onset_hazards/tsunami_inundation/gold_coast/gold_coast_tsunami_scenario_2009

Not available

Legacy product - no abstract available

May River #1 well was drilled by West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd about 48 km east of Derby on the Lennard Shelf, to investigate facies and obtain biostratigraphic data from pollution of the Devonian Reef Complex (Johnson & Brownhill 1967). It penetrated Triassic (Blina Shale), Permian (Liveranga, Noonkanbah, Poole, and Grant Formations), and Lower Carboniferous (Anderson Formation) strata (Fig. 1), before the first core was taken in the Lower Carboniferous Laurel Formation. We have no access to palaeontological data above this level, so this summary deals only with the Carboniferous and Devonian parts of the section. Palynological samples from the well were analysed and reported on by Balme (1967), and conodonts were retrieved from one of the cores (Seddon 1970). We summarise and updatE the information from these reports, based on other published and unpublished sources. No samples have been re-examined. Each level yielding palaeontological information is listed below, with formation name and age specified where this information is available. Where several horizons contain datable fossils indicating the same age, the name of the formation and the age based on fossil content are given beside the lowest level. Depths have been converted to the nearest metre, with the original depth in feet in parentheses. Stage names for the various geological periods conform to usage in the 'Australian Phanerozoic Timescales' series published by the Bureau of Mineral Resources (preliminary editions, 1989-1990). Throughout, 'E', 'M', and 'L' are abbreviations for Early, Middle and Late subdivisions of units of geological time.

The Broken Hill Managed Aquifer Recharge (BHMAR) project is part of a larger strategic effort aimed at securing Broken Hill's water supply and identifying significant water-saving measures for the Darling River system. The project builds on an earlier scoping study (the Broken Hill Groundwater Assessment (BHGA) Project), which investigated the potential for Broken Hill to source most of its water requirements from groundwater (Lewis et al., 2008). The project is funded by the Australian Government and managed through the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA). The project builds on an earlier scoping study (the Broken Hill Groundwater Assessment (BHGA) Project), which investigated the potential for Broken Hill to source most of its water requirements from groundwater (Lewis et al., 2008). The BHGA Project identified a work plan for the BHMAR Project that involves 5 phases: - Phase 1: A risk assessment / AEM technology selection exercise. - Phase 2: Acquire and interpret baseline hydrological and geological data. - Phase 3: Assess feasibility of extraction and storage options for groundwater. - Phase 4: Implement and test preferred groundwater extraction and storage option at a small operational scale. - Phase 5: Construct and operate groundwater extraction/storage option. This interim report summarises the findings of Phase 2 of the BHMAR Project.

Mimosa 1 well was drilled by West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd (WAPET) to a total depth of 4117 m. The well was sited about 113 km southeast of Derby, and 32 km south of WAPET Blackstone 1. From the well completion report (Osborne & O'Shaughnessy, 1973) Mimosa 1 was drilled to evaluate the reservoir potential of a predicted Middle to Late Devonian carbonate bank (Pillara Formation) below a suspected unconformity marked by a deep seismic reflector at 2743 m. It was concluded from the drilling results that the predicted unconformity was penetrated at 2376 m, the sequence below this depth consisted of basinal shales, silts and sands of Frasnian age, and the Pillara objective was not reached. New palaeontological evidence presented here requires a major revision of this interpretation.

At the invitation of Newercrest Mines Limited I visited the Telfer Gold Mine from Tuesday July 12, returning on Thursday morning July 13th. Whilst at the site, I visited the open pit accompanied by Don Thompson, and with Don, Nick Langsford and Campbell Mackey visited sites of the Mount Crofton Granite at Mount Crofton, Minyari Granite at Minyari Hills, and the Wilkie Granite some 15 kms east of the Telfer mine. I also examined granite core in holes ORC 1-6. These notes describe my thoughts on the sites that I visited, and also give some recommendations for some potential future work. I have prepared these notes at the request of Nick Langsford and they contain information that is essentially off the top of my head. Please note that they are not meant to be comprehensive and that I have not had time to validate anything that is within them. I prepared these at the Newcrest Office in Perth on Thursday afternoon of July l3th and that I did some minor refinements to them back at AGSO on July 17th.