Eight new projects recently announced.
In 2020 the Australian Government invested an additional $125 million in its Exploring for the Future program, bringing the total investment to $225 million.
The new projects, led by Geoscience Australia, include 3 deep-dive projects in 2 potentially resource-rich corridors identified in 2020. Both corridors run through parts of South Australia (Fig 1).
Figure 1 Exploring for the Future projects 2020–24.
The Officer–Musgrave project covers central-west Australia, including northwest South Australia, and will investigate the energy and minerals potential of the Officer Basin. Groundwater investigations will focus on the Musgrave Province and overlying Officer Basin to identify potential paleovalley groundwater resources.
The Darling–Curnamona–Delamerian project covers eastern South Australia, western New South Wales, western Victoria and western Tasmania. It will investigate the mineral and groundwater potential of overlying basins including the Murray-Darling Basin and the upper Darling River floodplain. The project will encourage mineral and groundwater resource exploration and discovery, and document new methods for exploring for mineral deposits through the overlying sedimentary basin cover.
The Barkly–Isa–Georgetown project includes parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland. The project will add value to energy, mineral and groundwater work already undertaken in this region as part of the first phase of the program.
Three continental-scale projects have national applications but with a focus in southern Australia and will provide new data and information across vast areas of South Australia. These projects will work towards a national understanding of Australia’s resource potential, covering groundwater, energy and minerals.
An additional two support projects will focus on program data delivery and community engagement.
Geoscience Australia project teams are currently collaborating with state geological surveys and other agencies on work plans, as well as working through land access arrangements.
More information on the Exploring for the Future program
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Contact the Geological Survey of South Australia representative – Anna.Petts@sa.gov.au
Background
Unlocking Australia’s mineral, energy and groundwater resources is essential to driving economic growth, job creation, and supporting ongoing infrastructure and community development.
The Australian Government invested $100 million in the first phase of the Exploring for the Future program in 2016. Since then, the program has demonstrated real value to its stakeholders and the broader community by applying the best in scientific thinking, processes and tools to produce world-leading integrated mineral, energy and groundwater data and information.
The program’s benefits include spending on field activities and other contract services over the short-term, industry exploration spending in the medium term and resource development over the longer term, generating a pipeline of resource discoveries and developments far into the future.
– Tony Steeper (Geoscience Australia), April 2021
