<div>The Birrindudu Basin is a region of focus for the second phase of the Exploring for the Future program (EFTF; 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>In order to provide an improved understanding of the stratigraphy, basin architecture and resource potential of the Birrindudu Basin and surrounding region, Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with the Northern Territory Geological Survey and CSIRO is acquiring a range of datasets as part of phase two of EFTF. </div><div><br></div><div>This data release presents XRD results from 79 bulk core samples from the Birrindudu and McArthur basins. This report and the associated analyses were conducted by CSIRO, under contract to Geoscience Australia.</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 LBD2, Birrindudu Basin, located in the northwest Northern Territory (Company reference number MT#F1230005a).</div><div><br></div><div>This eCat Record accompanies the report containing the results of fluid inclusion stratigraphy on this drillhole (eCat record 148975)</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 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>This report presents seal capacity results of nine samples from the Birrindudu and McArthur basins, Northern Territory. Plugs were taken from depths of interest from drill holes Manbulloo S1, Broughton 1, Lamont Pass 3, 99VRNTGSDD1 and WLMB001B. These plugs were analysed via mercury injection capillary pressure testing. This work was conducted by CSIRO under contract to GA as part of the Exploring for the Future program (Officer–Musgrave–Birrindudu Module).</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. 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>The Northwest Northern Territory Seismic Survey (NW NT Seismic Survey) was acquired as part of the Australian Government's Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, conducted from 5 August to 20 September 2023. This ambitious project is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and the Northern Territory Geological Survey, aimed to systematically map the subsurface geology of a significant yet largely unexplored region of Australia. Covering an extensive area that includes the Birrindudu Basin, Kalkarindji Suite, Tanami, and Wolfe Basin, the survey successfully acquired about 846 kilometers of high-resolution seismic data across four seismic transects, specifically designated as 23GA-NT1 (54.5 km and 184.5 km in two separate sections), 23GA-NT2 (112 km), 23GA-NT3 (221.46 km), and 23GA-NT4 (274.2 km).</div><div><br></div><div>This seismic campaign is part of a strategic effort to illuminate the geological framework and evaluate the resource potential within these regions, which are considered highly prospective for minerals, geoenergy, geological storage and groundwater resources. By deploying advanced seismic acquisition technologies to capture detailed images of the Earth's crust, this survey provides foundational data for identifying the region's geological features and resource potential, such as basin geometry and fault systems. The data derived from this survey are expected to play a pivotal role in guiding future exploration activities, attracting investment to the region, and ultimately contributing to the sustainable development of Australia's natural resources.</div><div><br></div><div>The project underscores the commitment of the Australian Government and its partners to enhance the geoscientific understanding of the continent's frontier regions. The findings from the NW NT Seismic Survey will advance our knowledge of Australia's geology and unlock new opportunities for exploration and economic development in the northwest Northern Territory. Through the dissemination of precompetitive geoscience data, the EFTF program continues to foster innovation and collaboration across the exploration sector, ensuring that Australia remains at the forefront of global efforts to secure a sustainable and prosperous future.</div><div><br></div> <b>To access the survey data and related products, please contact clientservices@ga.gov.au and quote eCat#149287. The following products are available, with some accessible via direct download and others available upon request: Products Available for Direct Download: — Processed stack – DMO, Post-stack Time Migration, Prestack Time Migration — Published on 28/06/2024 – Prestack Depth Migration — Published on 30/07/2024 Products Available via Request: — Field data (Raw Shot Gathers, SPS files, Observer Logs, Ancillary Data, etc.) — Published on 13/03/2024 </b>

<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>This report presents the rock strength and elastic properties, as tested on selected rock samples from the Birrindudu and McArthur basins. Testing was conducted by CSIRO Energy, under contract to Geoscience Australia. The tests produced parameters including:&nbsp;1) unconfined compressive strength (UCS), 2) stress-strain-time curves for UCS and repeat single-stage triaxial (STXL) experiments, 3) static elastic properties, Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, and 4) failure envelopes (Mohr circles) for STXL tests. This work was conducted as part of the Exploring for the Future Program.</div>

<div>This study was commissioned by Geoscience Australia (GA) as part of the Exploring for the Future program to produce a report on the organic petrology for rock samples from drill holes of the Birrindudu Basin, Northern Territory, Australia. A suite of 130 drill core samples from 6 drill holes was analysed using standard organic petrological methods to identify the types of organic matter present, assess their relative abundances and determine the levels of thermal maturity attained by the sedimentary organic matter using the reflectance of organoclasts present. </div>