<div>A PowerPoint presentation given by Chief of Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division Dr Andrew Heap at NT Resources Week 2023. </div><div><br></div><div>This presentation had the theme of 'Precompetitive geoscience - Uncovering our critical minerals potential.'</div>

<div>The Exploring for the Future program, led by Geoscience Australia, was a $225 million Australian Government investment over 8 years, focused on revealing Australia’s mineral, energy, and groundwater potential by characterising geology.&nbsp;&nbsp;This report provides an overview of activities, results, achievements and impacts from the Exploring for the Future program, with a particular focus on the last four years (2020-2024). &nbsp;</div>

CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (CO₂-EOR) is a proven technology that can extend the life of oil fields, permanently store CO₂, and improve the recovery of oil and condensate over time. Although CO₂-EOR has been used successfully for decades, particularly in the United States, it has not gained traction in Australia to date. In this study, we assemble and evaluate data relevant to CO₂-EOR for Australia’s key oil and condensate producing basins, and develop a national-scale, integrated basin ranking that shows which regions have the best overall conditions for CO₂-EOR. The primary goals of our study are to determine whether Australia’s major hydrocarbon provinces exhibit suitable geological and oil characteristics for successful CO₂-EOR activities and to rank the potential of these basins for CO₂-EOR. Each basin is assessed based on the key parameters that contribute to a successful CO₂-EOR prospect: oil properties (API gravity), pressure, temperature, reservoir properties (porosity, permeability, heterogeneity), availability of CO₂ for EOR operations, and infrastructure to support EOR operations. The top three ranked basins are the onshore Bowen-Surat, Cooper-Eromanga and offshore Gippsland Basins, which are all in relatively close proximity to the large east coast energy/oil markets. A significant factor that differentiates these three basins from the others considered in this study is their relatively good access to CO₂ and well-developed infrastructure. The next three most suitable basins are located offshore on the Northwest Shelf (Browse, Carnarvon, and Bonaparte Basins). While these three basins have mostly favourable oil properties and reservoir conditions, the sparse CO₂ sources and large distances involved lead to lower scores overall. The Canning and Amadeus Basins rank the lowest among the basins assessed, being relatively immature and remote hydrocarbon provinces, and lacking the required volumes of CO₂ or infrastructure to economically implement CO₂-EOR. In addition to ranking the basins for successful implementation of CO₂-EOR, we also provide some quantification of the potential recoverable oil in the various basins. These estimates used the oil and condensate reserve numbers that are available from national databases combined with application of internationally observed tertiary recovery factors. Additionally, we estimate the potential mass of CO₂ that would be required to produce these potential recoverable oil and condensate resources. In the large oil- and condensate-bearing basins, such as the Carnarvon and Gippsland Basins, some scenarios require over a billion tonnes of CO₂ to unlock the full residual resource, which points to CO₂ being the limiting factor for full-scale CO₂-EOR development. Even taking a conservative view of the available resources and potential extent of CO₂-EOR implementation, sourcing sufficient amounts of CO₂ for large-scale deployment of the technology presents a significant challenge. <b>Citation:</b> Tenthorey, E., Kalinowski, A., Wintle, E., Bagheri, M., Easton, L., Mathews, E., McKenna, J., Taggart, I. 2022. Screening Australia’s Basins for CO2-Enhanced Oil Recovery (December 6, 2022). <i>Proceedings of the 16th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-16) 23-24 Oct 2022</i>, Available at SSRN: <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=4294743">https://ssrn.com/abstract=4294743</a> or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4294743">http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4294743</a>

<div>The 2024 Critical Minerals in Ores (CMiO) Database factsheet contains information about the purpose of the CMiO, provides links to access the CMiO, two case studies on critical mineral abundance in deposits and a link to the user guide and submission template to provide data to the CMiO. This factsheet is an is an updated version of the Kelley 2020 USGS factsheet (https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20203035). The CMiO was produced through the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI), a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA), the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2021 and is periodically updated. Note: A copy of the updated factsheet will not be available until the end of 2024.

<div>The Woomera Prohibited Area coexistence framework, underpinned by the Woomera Prohibited Area Rule 2014, aims to balance the priorities of the Australian Defence Force with the priorities of non-defence users. in 2010, and again in 2018, the Australian Government undertook reviews of the Woomera Prohibited Area in order to assess the mineral and petroleum resources in the area.  </div><div><br></div><div>The most recent report, <em>Woomera Prohibited Area Resource Prospectivity and Economic Assessment (October 2023)</em>, was commissioned by the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining and prepared by Scyne Advisory in order to provide a resource prospectivity analysis and an economic assessment based on modelled resource prospectivity.  </div><div><br></div><div>This professional opinion is an evaluation of the validity of the minerals, energy and groundwater assessment methodology of the 2023 Scyne Advisory report. Access to this document must be sought from: • Branch Head, Mineral Systems Branch • Branch Head, Advice Investment Attraction and Analysis • Chief of Division, Minerals Energy and Groundwater </div>

<div>In response to the acquisition of national-scale airborne electromagnetic surveys and the development of a national depth estimates database, a new workflow has been established to interpret airborne electromagnetic conductivity sections. This workflow allows for high quantities of high quality interpretation-specific metadata to be attributed to each interpretation line or point. The conductivity sections are interpreted in 2D space, and are registered in 3D space using code developed at Geoscience Australia. This code also verifies stratigraphic unit information against the national Australian Stratigraphic Units Database, and extracts interpretation geometry and geological data, such as depth estimates compiled in the Estimates of Geological and Geophysical Surfaces database. Interpretations made using this workflow are spatially consistent and contain large amounts of useful stratigraphic unit information. These interpretations are made freely-accessible as 1) text files and 3D objects through an electronic catalogue, 2) as point data through a point database accessible via a data portal, and 3) available for 3D visualisation and interrogation through a 3D data portal. These precompetitive data support the construction of national 3D geological architecture models, including cover and basement surface models, and resource prospectivity models. These models are in turn used to inform academia, industry and governments on decision-making, land use, environmental management, hazard mapping, and resource exploration.</div>

<div>Two new programs at Geoscience Australia are providing trusted, high-quality science to support decision making and the Australian resources industry. </div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The Trusted Environmental and Geological Information program will provide baseline pre-competitive data in the Cooper, Adavale, north Bowen and Galilee basin regions. A repository of information is being developed in collaboration with CSIRO, including new geological and environmental assessments, to accelerate development in the sectors of petroleum, mineral, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, while simultaneously providing opportunities to understand the potential hazards, risk and impacts of these resources being developed.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The Data Driven Discoveries program is combining new and old data to better understand the under-explored Adavale Basin in central-western Queensland. The program will undertake chemical composition analyses to support the correlation of geological layers, collate and reprocess historical seismic data, acquire new seismic reflection data, and undertake stratigraphic research drilling to provide a more detailed understanding of basin architecture and the resource potential of the Adavale Basin. </div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>An overview of the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information and Data Driven Discoveries programs will be provided, including initial results and planned acquisition. This will show how these complementary programs will contribute to streamlined regulation and approval processes, the low emissions agenda, and responsible resource development in key basin regions across Australia.</div> This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA) QLD Symposium 9 September (https://pesa.com.au/events/pesa-qld-2022-symposium/)

<div>A keynote talk talk given at Uncover Curnamona 2022 by Angela O'Rourke outlining the rationale, work program and new data acquisition for Geoscience Australia's Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian Project within Exploring for the Future</div> This presentation was given to the 2022 Uncover Curnamona 2022 Conference 31 May - 2 June:<br>(https://www.gsa.org.au/common/Uploaded%20files/Events/Uncover%20Curnamona%202021/UC2022_short_program_A4_web%20(003).pdf)

<div>This study was commissioned by Geoscience Australia (GA) to produce a report on seal capacity of select samples from the deep stratigraphic hole NDI Carrara 1, located in the Proterozoic Carrara Sub-basin in the Northern Territory. Plugs were taken from depths of interest and analysed via mercury injection capillary pressure testing. Results were provided as two reports, Part A and Part B and demonstrate that the analysed samples are capable of sealing very large columns of both methane and carbon dioxide.</div>

<div>Geoscience Australia’s Onshore Basin Inventories program provides a whole-of-basin inventory of geology, energy systems, exploration status and data coverage of onshore Australian basins. Volume 1 of the inventory covers the McArthur, South Nicholson, Georgina, Wiso, Amadeus, Warburton, Cooper and Galilee basins and Volume 2 expands this list to include the Officer, Perth and onshore Canning basins. These reports provide a single point of reference and create a standardised national inventory of onshore basins. In addition to summarising the current state of knowledge within each basin, the onshore basin inventory identifies critical science questions and key exploration uncertainties that may help inform future work program planning and aid in decision making for both government and industry organisations. Under Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, six new onshore basin inventory reports will be delivered. </div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>These reports will be supported by selected value-add products that aim to address identified data gaps and evolve regional understanding of basin evolution and prospectivity. Petroleum system modelling is being undertaken in selected basins to highlight the hydrocarbon potential in underexplored provinces, and seismic reprocessing and regional geochemical studies are underway to increase the impact of existing datasets. The inventories are supported by the ongoing development of the nationwide source rock and fluids atlas, accessed through Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future Data Discovery Portal, which continues to improve the veracity of petroleum system modelling in Australian onshore basins.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>In summarising avenues for further work, the Onshore Basin Inventories program has provided scientific and strategic direction for pre-competitive data acquisition under the EFTF work program. Here, we provide an overview of the current status of the Onshore Basin Inventories, with emphasis on its utility in shaping EFTF data acquisition and analysis, as well as new gap-filling data acquisition</div> This Abstract was submitted/presented at the 2023 Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference (AEGC) 13-18 March (https://2023.aegc.com.au/)