<div>The Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin is an underexplored frontier basin straddling the Northern Territory and Western Australia and is a region of focus for the second phase of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program (2020–2024). Hydrocarbon exploration in the Birrindudu Basin has been limited and a thorough assessment of the basin's petroleum potential is lacking due to the absence of data in the region. To fill this data gap, a comprehensive analytical program including organic petrology, programmed pyrolysis and oil fluid inclusion analysis was undertaken on cores from six drill holes to improve the understanding of the basin’s source rock potential and assess petroleum migration. Organic petrological analyses reveal that the primary maceral identified in the cores is alginite mainly originating from filamentous cyanobacteria, while bitumen is the most common unstructured secondary organic matter. New reflectance data based on alginite and bitumen reflectance indicate the sampled sections have reached a thermal maturity suitable for hydrocarbon generation. Oil inclusion analyses provide evidence for oil generation and migration, and hence elements of a petroleum system are present in the basin. Presented at the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) Conference & Exhibition (https://energyproducersconference.au/conference/)

<div>Geoscience Australia’s Onshore Basin Inventories project delivers a single point of reference and creates a standardised national basin inventory that provides a whole-of-basin catalogue of geology, petroleum systems, exploration status and data coverage of hydrocarbon-prone onshore Australian sedimentary basins. In addition to summarising the current state of knowledge within each basin, the onshore basin inventory reports identify critical science questions and key exploration uncertainties that may help inform future work program planning and decision making for both government and industry. 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. Under Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, several new onshore basin inventory reports are being delivered. Upcoming releases include the Adavale Basin of southern Queensland, and a compilation report addressing Australia’s poorly understood Mesoproterozoic basins. These are supported by value-add products that address identified data gaps and evolve regional understanding of basin evolution and prospectivity, including petroleum systems modelling, seismic reprocessing and regional geochemical studies. The Onshore Basin Inventories project continues to provide scientific and strategic direction for pre-competitive data acquisition under the EFTF work program, guiding program planning and shaping post-acquisition analysis programs.</div>

<div><strong>Output Type: </strong>Exploring for the Future Extended Abstract</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Short Abstract: </strong>As part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, Geoscience Australia acquired new 2D seismic reflection data across the northwestern Northern Territory (NT). Identified as an area of little knowledge during the Birrindudu Basin Inventory activity the Northwest Northern Territory Seismic Survey was acquired between August and September 2023 by Geoscience Australia and co-funded by the Northern Territory Government. The survey crosses the Proterozoic rocks of the Birrindudu Basin that are thought to be age equivalent to those within the McArthur Basin and Mount Isa Province to the east, which contain some of the world’s largest sediment-hosted base metals deposits, including McArthur River and Century and Mt Isa Pb-Zn-Cu mines. Further, additional complimentary studies provide evidence for an effective petroleum system in the Birrindudu Basin, demonstrated by the occurrence of live oil bleeds in the drill hole 99VRNTGSDD1 and good source rocks were identified mostly in the Paleoproterozoic Limbunya Group. However, many data gaps exist and much of the prospectivity for hydrocarbons in the Birrindudu Basin is inferred from the presence of equivalent-aged rocks in the highly prospective Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic McArthur Basin. To address data gaps, this new regional 2D seismic data was acquired and combined with a comprehensive sampling and analytical program on newly collected drill core samples, to assess the basin’s resource potential. The Northwest Northern Territory Seismic Survey has increased the seismic coverage of the Birrindudu Basin by ~900 km, and links to surveys in both the Beetaloo Sub-basin and Tanami. Interpretation of these deep seismic lines in combination with newly acquired data from drill cores and legacy 2D seismic lines will substantially improve the knowledge of mineral and energy systems in the northwestern Northern Territory.</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Citation: </strong>Henson, P., Anderson, J.R., Southby, C., Carson, C., Costelloe, R.D., Jorgensen, D., Grosjean, E. & Carr, L.K., 2024. Northwest Northern Territory Seismic Survey - resource studies and results. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://doi.org/10.26186/149332</div>

<div>Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential.</div><div><br></div><div>The Paleo to Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin is an underexplored frontier basin located in northwestern Northern Territory and northeastern Western Australia. The Birrindudu Basin is a region of focus for the second phase of the EFTF program (2020–2024) as it contains strata of similar age to the prospective McArthur Basin, South Nicholson region and Mount Isa Province, but remains comparatively poorly understood.</div><div><br></div><div>Geoscience Australia have undertaken (via the service provider, FIT, Schlumberger) Fluid Inclusion Petrography and Microthermometry analysis of samples for the drillhole 99VRNTGSDD1, Birrindudu Basin, located in the northwest Northern Territory (Company reference number MT#F1230005c).</div><div><br></div><div>This eCat Record accompanies the report containing the results of fluid inclusion stratigraphy on this drillhole (eCat record 148973).</div>

<div>Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential.</div><div><br></div><div>The Paleo to Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin is an underexplored frontier basin located in northwestern Northern Territory and northeastern Western Australia. The Birrindudu Basin is a region of focus for the second phase of the EFTF program (2020–2024) as it contains strata of similar age to the prospective McArthur Basin, South Nicholson region and Mount Isa Province, but remains comparatively poorly understood.</div><div><br></div><div>Geoscience Australia have undertaken (via the service provider, FIT, Schlumberger) Fluid Inclusion Petrography and Microthermometry analysis of samples for the drillhole WLMB001B, Birrindudu Basin, located in the northwest Northern Territory (Company reference number MT#FI230004a).</div><div><br></div><div>This eCat Record accompanies the report containing the results of fluid inclusion stratigraphy on this drillhole (eCat record 149178)</div>

Led by Geoscience Australia, Exploring for the Future (EFTF) is a A$225 million Australian Government program dedicated to exploring Australia’s resource potential and boosting investment. The EFTF program energy component aimed to attract industry investment by delivering a suite of new precompetitive geoscience data in prospective Australian sedimentary basins. Through EFTF, Geoscience Australia has acquired significant amounts of new geomechanical data from underexplored onshore sedimentary basins with identified hydrocarbon prospectivity, from both legacy and newly acquired samples. These data were acquired to build a better understanding of basin sediment rock properties, particularly looking at the reservoir and seal potential of postulated unconventional and conventional targets. Four major datasets are presented herein, representing prospective intervals from the Paleozoic Canning Basin of Western Australia, the Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic Officer Basin of South Australia and Western Australia, the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson region of the Northern Territory and northwest Queensland, and the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Additionally, the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic McArthur Basin of the Northern Territory is represented by a small number of analyses. Tests include unconfined compressive strength tests, laboratory ultrasonic measurements, single and multi-stage triaxial tests and Brazilian tensile strength tests. These datasets are a precompetitive resource that can facilitate investment decisions in frontier regions, helping to identify elements of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon systems as well as providing essential data to assess geological storage opportunities. <b>Citation:</b> Bailey Adam, Dewhurst David, Wang Liuqi, Carson Chris, Anderson Jade, Butcher Grace, Henson Paul (2024) Exploring for the Future: new geomechanical data in frontier Australian basins. Australian Energy Producers Journal 64, 155-168. https://doi.org/10.1071/EP23029

Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential. This leads to a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. This includes supporting Australia’s transition to net zero emissions, strong, sustainable resources and agriculture sectors, and economic opportunities and social benefits for Australia’s regional and remote communities. The Exploring for the Future program, which commenced in 2016, is an eight year, $225m investment by the Australian Government. The name ‘Birrindudu Basin’ was first introduced by Blake et al. (1975) and Sweet (1977) for a succession of clastic sedimentary rocks and carbonates, originally considered to be Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic in age, and overlain by the Neoproterozoic Victoria Basin (Dunster et al., 2000), formerly known as the Victoria River Basin (see Sweet, 1977).

<div>Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources.&nbsp;&nbsp;By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The Paleo to Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin is an underexplored frontier basin located in northwestern Northern Territory and northeastern Western Australia. The Birrindudu Basin is a region of focus for the second phase of the EFTF program (2020–2024) as it contains strata of similar age to the prospective McArthur Basin, South Nicholson region and Mount Isa Province, but remains comparatively poorly understood.&nbsp;Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with the Northern Territory Geological Survey is acquiring isotopic, geochronological, geochemical and geomechanical data from drillholes intersecting the Birrindudu Basin as part of phase two of EFTF. </div><div><br></div><div>This report presents results on selected rock samples from the Birrindudu Basin, conducted by the Mawson Analytical Spectrometry Services, University of Adelaide, under contract to Geoscience Australia. These results include:</div><div>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Carbon (δ13C), oxygen (δ18O) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes on carbonate-bearing samples, and</div><div>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Trace element data on the leachates prepared for 87Sr/86Sr ratio analyses.</div>

<div>Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources.&nbsp;&nbsp;Exploring for the Future program, which commenced in 2016, is an eight year, $225m investment by the Australian Government.</div><div><br></div><div>The Proterozoic Birrindudu Basin is an underexplored region that contains sparse geological data. Strata of similar age are highly prospective to the east, in the McArthur and South Nicholson basins and the Mount Isa region. To investigate this underexplored and data-poor region, the L214 Northwest Northern Territory Seismic Survey was acquired in August to September 2023 by GA and co-funded by the Northern Territory Government. Prior to this survey the region contained minimal seismic data. To complement the acquisition of the seismic survey, a sampling program of legacy stratigraphic and mineral exploration drill holes was also undertaken.</div><div><br></div><div>The new sampling program and seismic reflection data acquired over the Birrindudu Basin and its flanks, has identified many areas of exploration opportunity. This has almost tripled seismic coverage over the Birrindudu Basin, which has enabled new perspectives to be gained on its geology and relationship to surrounding regions. The new seismic has shown an increase in the extent of the Birrindudu Basin, revealing the presence of extensive concealed Birrindudu Basin sedimentary sequences and major, well preserved depocentres. In the central Birrindudu Basin and Tanami Region, shallow basement and deep-seated faults are encouraging for mineralisation, as these structures have the potential to focus mineralised fluids to the near surface. The clear presence of shallow Tanami Region rocks underlying the southern Birrindudu Basin sequences at the northern end of line 23GA-NT2 extends the mineral resource potential of the Tanami Region further north into the southern Birrindudu Basin. A new minimum age of 1822±7 Ma for the deposition of metasediments in drill hole LBD2 for rocks underlying the central Birrindudu Basin, extends the age-equivalent mineral-rich basement rocks of the Tanami Region north into the central Birrindudu Basin – extending the mineral resource potential into a new region.</div><div><br></div><div>The continuous stratigraphy imaged of the Birrindudu Basin by the new seismic is encouraging for energy prospectivity, as the system elements needed for an effective petroleum system, better defined by the new sampling program results, have been imaged to extend over a wider and deeper area. New organic petrological analysis and reflectance data indicate the sampled sections have reached thermal maturity suitable for hydrocarbon generation. Oil inclusion analyses provide evidence for oil generation and migration, and hence elements of a petroleum system are present in the central and northwestern Birrindudu Basin. With the expanded breadth of these rocks demonstrated on the seismic, this greatly increases the spatial extent of hydrocarbon prospectivity in Birrindudu Basin.</div>

<div>Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program provides precompetitive information to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, we are building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential.</div><div><br></div><div>The Paleo to Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin is an underexplored frontier basin located in northwestern Northern Territory and northeastern Western Australia. The Birrindudu Basin is a region of focus for the second phase of the EFTF program (2020–2024) as it contains strata of similar age to the prospective McArthur Basin, South Nicholson region and Mount Isa Province, but remains comparatively poorly understood.</div><div><br></div><div>Geoscience Australia have undertaken (via the service provider, FIT, Schlumberger) stratigraphic reconstructions of bulk volatile chemistry from fluid inclusions from the drillhole WLMB001B, Birrindudu Basin, located in the northwest Northern Territory.</div><div><br></div><div>This ecat record releases the final report containing the results of fluid inclusion stratigraphy, thin section and microthermometry analyses, raw data files (*.LAS) and rock descriptions by FIT Schlumberger. Company reference number FI230004a.</div>