Dr Andy Barnicoat's presentation at the China Mining Conference 2012 in Tianjin.

This guide provides information on investing in minerals and petroleum in Australia. This 2017 version is for distribution at conferences and online. The chapters are: 01. Minerals and petroleum and the Australian economy 02. Exploring for minerals in Australia 03. Exploring for petroleum in Australia 04. Role of government 05. Foreign investment guidelines and business entry into Australia 06. Onshore approval processes 07. Offshore approval processes 08. Industry growth centres 09. Social licence to operate 10. Mine health and safety 11. Working visas, immigration and skills 12. Indigenous engagement 13. Transport infrastructure 14. Mining equipment, technology and services 15. Tariffs and customs duty concessions 16. Taxation - General 17. Taxation - petroleum 18. Taxation - minerals 19. Appendix A

There are many modern and ancient opinions on the origin of dolomite, and the general opinion on the geological and geochemical side is that the origin of the dolomites is not yet clear enough. That there are different sorts of dolomites is generally agreed. [Five different kinds of dolomite are defined and described. The possible origins and formation of dolomite are discussed.]

In the Northern Territory laterites are formed in situ as: (i) an illuvial soil horizon; and (ii) a chemical lake laterite deposit. The end product of extensive weathering processes of certain favourable beds is considered by some to be a true mature laterite, whereas others believe it is merely a duricrust. The denudation of laterite and transportation, deposition and cementation of the fragments with other rock fragments result in a detrital laterite deposit. Water-rounded rock fragments in the detrital laterites are readily coated and cemented with iron oxides and resemble the pisolites in the ferruginous zone of the lateritic profile. This similarity results in an exaggeration of the true extent of laterization. The similarity in environmental conditions between the process of precipitation of uranium minerals and laterization is discussed. True mature and detrital laterites are illustrated by photographs.

The following report concerns the geology and mineralization of two uranium prospects in the Gimbat - Snake Creek Area of the Northern Territory. One of these prospects, referred to as Sleisbeck, can be recognised as one of the most favourable yet discovered in the Northern Territory. The radioactivity occurs in a quartzite breccia outcropping over a length of 1.5 miles and with a width of as much as several hundred feet. Geiger counter readings of 2 - 100 times background, occur frequently along the entire length of the outcrop, visible mineralization being present at three separate localities. The state of this mineralization, its associations and the geological settings are favourable to the possible occurrence of uranium mineralization at depth. Recommendations are made for further work, and problems in regional geology are discussed. The writer considers the sections of this report designated "Mineralization" and "Conclusions" to be the most important for a knowledge of the actual uranium occurrences. The remaining information is mainly geological, and, while highly pertinent, may not be of urgent interest to readers with a limited amount of time.

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.

This report records the findings of a consultancy undertaken by the Minerals and Land Use Division of the Australian Geological Survey Organisation on behalf of North Flinders Mines. The two general objectives of this consultancy were (1) to form an opinion of the prospectivity of the Tanami region (particularly NFM tenements) for unconformity-associated Au-Pt-Pd±U mineralisation (2) to advise on exploration indicators of such mineralisation to be expected in the Tanami Region.

The aim of the study was to determine the geochemical characteristics of a number of intrusive and extrusive lithologies from the Boddington gold mine and surrounding prospects. A number of suites have been delineated on the basis of their petrography, timing relations and wholerock geochemistry.

The occurrence of radioactive minerals with cobaltiferous deposits in the Carcoar area has been known since 1894, but until recently they have not received much attention. The present geological survey has been carried out following the discovery of three rather significant radioactive anomalies in the north-eastern part of the mined area, during radiometric surveys in 1950 and 1951. The geological survey has shown that the cobaltiferous-uranium deposits occur in strong north-south shears in an area of Silurian slates and volcanic rocks intruded by diorite sills and dykes, close to the south-eastern boundary of a large mass of hornblende diorite. Opportunities occur for the discovery of other uranium deposits in parallel shears outside the area, in which radioactive anomalies have already been found. This report gives a detailed account of the geological survey. Geology, geological structure, the workings, deposits, and mineralization are discussed, and recommendations are made for future testing and surveying of the area.

Report on the method and findings of the beach sands investigation in the area between ML180 and DC22, Broadbeach to North Burleigh. Estimates of the quantities and grades of heavy mineral concentrates, the quantities of overburden, and the quantities of each of the heavy minerals are tabulated.