A map showing the distribution of selected mines and mineral depsosits for a range of commodities. It also shows the distribution of petroleum resources in basic form. The map base is the Radiometric Map of the Australian Region

This report deals with the results of 25,000 ft. of boring over an area of 15 sq. miles. Twenty-six coal seams were identified and named. Total reserves of all seams with band-free thickness greater than 4.0 ft. are 200,000,000 tons. Net open-cut reserves (to 9:1 ratio) of 7,500,000 tons over an area of 400 acres were tested and defined on four seams. All work in the Howick Area was done in the period March, 1952, to June, 1953.

Energy drives the modern world and underpins our current way of life. The industrial age was fuelled by access to reliable high grade energy sources, such as coal and oil, which drove global economic expansion and modernisation. There is a strong correlation between energy consumption levels and GDP. Australia is a large consumer of energy (5.87 Tonnes of oil equivalent per person annually), ranking twentieth on total consumption, and 16th on a per-capita basis. Australia is well endowed with traditional energy resources, e.g., coal, gas, uranium, and is a large energy producer (8th in the world). Australia also benefits from energy exports. Energy, therefore, strongly contributes to the nation's wealth and living standards, but increasingly it is recognised that these are dependent on access to cheap energy. Environmental concerns and the for the need energy security will drive a switch to other more sustainable energy types, preferably from indigenous energy sources. Although the Australia continent is ideally situated to make use of many alternate energies, e.g., our hot and arid nature makes solar an ideal potential renewable energy source, such sources will not provide all of our needs and will not contribute to peak energy loads. Fortuitously, Australia is endowed with above average concentrations of the radioactive elements (K, U and Th) in many of our rocks. Australia has ~38% of the world's current uranium reserves. The energy generated by the naturally-occurring break down of radioactive elements is immense, and this energy can be captured either by fission of U (and Th?) in nuclear reactors, or by the use of geothermal energy. Combined, both sources have the ability to meet base and peak load power requirements, and the potential to underpin Australia's energy requirements well into the future.

Extended review of mineralexploration in Australia in 2010.

Presentation to minerals industry representatives at the Geological Survey of Western Australia, 4 May 2010

A national dataset with more than 73,000 mineral occurrences providing information on the name, lat/long, map sheet name and number, commodities of interest and source reference for each occurrence.

Australia's Identified Mineral Resources is an annual nation-wide assessment of Australia's ore reserves and mineral resources.

In 2002, Australia's economic demonstrated resources (EDR) of bauxite, diamond, gold, iron and manganese ore, lithium, tin, tungsten and uranium increased, while those of black coal, ilmenite, tantalum, cadmium, zinc and vanadium decreased. EDR of brown coal, cobalt, lead, magnesite, rutile, zircon, nickel, niobium, phosphate, shale oil and silver remained at levels similar to those reported in 2002. The reductions in EDR were due mainly to production, with low commodity prices a subsidiary factor. Australia's EDR of base metals (zinc, lead, silver) nickel, mineral sands and uranium remain the world's largest, while bauxite, black coal, brown coal, cobalt, copper, gold, iron ore, lithium, manganese ore, rare earth oxides and gem/near gem diamond rank in the top six worldwide. Strong growth in gold prices in 2002 contributed to an increase in its EDR. The duration of gold's EDR (20 years at current production rates), however, signals the need for ongoing successful exploration in the short and medium term for this commodity, which is currently Australia's third largest export commodity. Similarly, there is a need for significant new discoveries of base metals to produce these commodities at current output levels beyond the next 20 to 25 years. Australian mineral exploration expenditure fell by 6% to $640.5 million in 2001-02, the lowest financial year current dollar amount since 1992-93. Spending for the calendar year, however, rose by $13.8 million (2%) to $678.2 million. A world survey of exploration budgets for 2002 by the Metals Economics Group saw Australia displaced by Canada as the world's leading exploration destination. In response to the low levels of exploration expenditure, industry and governments initiated studies to examine the economic implications of the downturn and ways at building industry recovery, including policy measures that may facilitate future mineral exploration activity in Australia.

The Frome airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey is the last and largest (in line kilometres and area) of the three AEM surveys flown under the Onshore Energy Security Program at Geoscience Australia. The survey covered about 95 000 km2 (about six 1:250 000 map sheets) and covered the Frome Embayment, northern Murray Basin and the flanks of the Eromanga Basin in South Australia. Survey data are providing new insights into the stratigraphy of the Frome Embayment and Murray Basin, and will add to our knowledge of the sources and sinks of sandstone related uranium mineral systems, as well as base metals, gold and copper, in this highly prospective area, as well as ground water resources. This seminar will present highlights of the survey and demonstrate AEM data integrated with other data sets to develop 3D models to explorable depths, lowering exploration risk.

A review of mineral exploration trends and activities in Australia in 2010