The search for world-class magmatic Ni-PGE resources requires a systems framework at the continental scale, similar to that of the magmatic systems themselves that extends from the mantle to the explorable shallow crust. Geoscience Australia's recently completed, multi-year, compilation of mafic-ultramafic magmatic events for the Australian continent provides this framework. A detailed compilation of Phanerozoic mafic-ultramafic rock units and events has been appended to the previously published maps of Archean and Proterozoic mafic-ultramafic rock units and events. The full dataset has recently been released as a GIS at a nominal scale of 1:5 000 000 for users to analyse and overlay with other datasets. The delineation of magmatic events in this GIS is based on several hundred published ages of mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks using different isotopic systems and minerals. The foundation for the spatial distribution of rock units in the GIS are regional solid geology compilations from the Australian State and Territory geological surveys, supplemented (particularly in the Phanerozoic) with surface geology distributions in some regions. The solid geology extents provide insight into the total areal extents of the magmatic systems under sedimentary cover. The ages of Australian magmatism range from the Eoarchean ~3730 Ma Manfred Event, confined within a domain of the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia to widespread Cenozoic magmatism in eastern Australia. This chronology has been resolved into 74 magmatic events identified by coeval magmatism mostly within ±10 million year bands. They range in magnitude from the giant volumes of magma in large igneous provinces to events whose only known occurrence is a single dated rock. The Australian magmatic record also draws attention to concentrations of mafic-ultramafic magmatism in three distinct periods: in the Archean from ~2820-2665 Ma; in the Proterozoic from ~1870-1590 Ma; and in the Phanerozoic from ~530-225 Ma. These three narrow periods, which comprise 16% of Earth's history, contain 39 of the 74 magmatic events, 53% of the entire mafic-ultramafic magmatic event record of the continent. Relative to some other continents with comparable geology, Australia is under-represented in world-class discoveries of intrusion-hosted Ni, PGE and Cr mineral deposits. Explorers are encouraged to use the GIS to assess specific magmatic events for Ni-PGE-Cr potential in context with other exploration indicators such as geochemistry, crustal architecture, lithosphere thickness, possibly reactive country rocks, and the spatial distribution of erupted versus intruded magmatic components. Using this mineral systems approach offers a much larger footprint than a mineral deposit and can be applied in greenfield and undercover regions. The primary intention of the GIS of mafic-ultramafic magmatic events is the provision of information for those investigating under-explored and potentially mineralised environments in Australia. The events also provide an insight into the geodynamic development of the continent over time, and as such, may be useful in assessing mineral systems other than orthomagmatic Ni-PGE-Cr systems.

The Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces GIS Dataset is designed for display at a nominal 1:5 000 000 scale, showing the time-space distribution of Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) in Australia. Large Igneous Provinces are relatively rare magmatic events distinguished by exceptionally large volumes of mafic dominated magma emplaced over short geological periods of a few millions years or less. Five major LIPs have been recognised, or proposed, so far in Australia, beginning with the ~1780 Ma Hart LIP, followed by the ~1210 Ma Marnda Moorn LIP, the ~1070 Ma Warakurna LIP, the ~825 Ma Gairdner LIP, and the ~510 Ma Kalkarindji LIP. The early Cambrian Kalkarindji LIP is included in this Proterozoic compilation because of its size and importance. Only the youngest two of these LIPs (Gairdner and Kalkarindji) are established as comagmatic provinces based on both time correlation and geochemical equivalence. The other proposed LIPs (Hart, Marnda Moorn and Warakurna) are based on time equivalence alone. For further information on the five proposed Proterozoic LIPs refer to the guide to using the map of Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces (Geoscience Australia Record 2009/44). Earlier released extracts include two pdf maps of Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces and an accompanying Geoscience Australia Record. This release presents the Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces as a GIS dataset and it should be used in conjunction with the Australian Mafic Ultramafic Magmatic Events GIS Dataset released by Geoscience Australia in 2014 (<a href="https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/82166">link</a>). This file geodatabase that contains points, lines and polygons representing mafic and ultramafic rocks in Australia which have been placed in a magmatic event framework in time and space, primarily based on geochronological data. Together, these datasets provide comprehensive information on the evolution of mafic-ultramafic magmatism associated with the Australian continent, and will be of interest to explorers in the search of magmatic ore deposits of nickel, platinum-group elements, chromium, titanium, and vanadium.