AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Probabilistic airborne electromagnetic (AEM) inversion of 20 km AusAEM data, Phase 2

This airborne electromagnetic (AEM) dataset provides regional scale probabilistic inversion products from 140,000 line km of airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data from the AusAEM program - Tranches 1 and 2 as well as AusAEM20-Western Australia. This completes the release of probabilistic inversion of 20-km spaced AEM data acquired under the Exploring for the Future program. Subsequent processing and probabilstic inversions were carried out as part of the Resourcing Australia's Prosperity initiative, using the open source HiQGA (High Quality Geophysical Analysis) code developed for this purpose (Ray 2022, Ray et al. 2023). Previously released Phase 01 products are available at Ray et al. 2024, eCat 149375.



While deterministic inversions are the mainstay of reconnaisance with AEM, the main benefits of a probabilistic inversion are:



- Loss of signal sensitivity at depth does not “fade to blue” by returning to the resistive deterministic reference model. Ambiguous subsurface features become clearer when examining multiple probability percentiles.

- Fine features and confidence in their interpretability are brought out by examining multiple probability percentiles.



Further details are provided in the accompanying technical note.



Conductivity products from the following surveys are available:



- AusAEM 02 Tranche 1

- AusAEM 02 Tranche 2

- AusAEM20-WA Earaheedy Desert Strip 

- AusAEM20-WA Yilgarn

- AusAEM20-WA Eastern Goldfields

- AusAEM20-WA SW Albany

- AusAEM20-WA Murchison

- Capricorn (legacy)

  

The 10th, 50th and 90th and mean percentiles of log10 conductivity are provided in a variety of formats:



- VTK structured grids

- ASCII point clouds

- ASEG-GDF2 files

- GOCAD S-grids



Shape files associated with the inverted lines have also been provided.



All products have been provided in the coordinate reference system (CRS) the original AEM data were provided in. The VTK unstructured grids are also provided in GDA94 geodetic longitude, latitude coordinates for ease of display in the same CRS.

Tags: AEM, EFTF – Exploring for the Future, Electrical and Electromagnetic Methods in Geophysics, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, electrical conductivity, geophysical inversion, uncertainty analysis
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
3D Chronostratigraphic Model of Australia - surface and isochore grids, Version 1.0 WCS

This service provides access to gridded datasets generated in the first iteration of a 3D geological model across Australia completed as part of Resourcing Australia's Prosperity initiative (RAPi).  The grids include surfaces and isochores of time equivalent geological units, correlating with the bases of geological Eras and Periods.  Citation: Vizy, J., Rollet, N., Nicoll, M.G. 2025. Preliminary 3D Chronostratigraphic Model of Australia - Data package of 3D modelling chronostratigraphic surfaces and isochores, Version 1.0. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/149923.

Tags: Australia, Chronostratigraphic Model, DEM, WCS, chronostratigraphic model, geological surface, isochore, web service
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Australia's potential for unconformity-related rare earth element mineral systems, an underappreciated source of heavy rare earth elements

Unconformity-related rare earth element mineral systems represent a relatively recently defined type of mineral system and are suggested to be an important source of heavy rare earth elements, including dysprosium and terbium. The use of these critical minerals in the production of permanent magnets used in the manufacture of electric vehicles and wind turbines, and their use in defence technologies due to their performance at high temperatures, highlights their importance for the net zero transition and national security. Given their economic and strategic importance, a new model using the mineral system framework has been developed by leveraging previous research into deposit-scale studies of these systems both in Australia and globally, with particular attention to the well-studied Browns Range in the Halls Creek-Birrindudu region in northern Western Australia. Unlike the majority of rare earth element resources which are related to magmatic rocks, including carbonatites and pegmatites, the unconformity-related rare earth element mineral system is proposed to be entirely hydrothermal in origin with no apparent link to magmatism. By combining national-scale precompetitive geoscience data within a mineral systems framework, we have undertaken a mineral potential assessment to evaluate the geological potential for unconformity-related rare earth element mineral systems in Australia. The model predicts known mineralised regions in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and in addition, predicts high prospectivity in parts of Australia where no unconformity-related rare earth element mineralisation has previously been identified. In particular, the model tends towards higher prospectivity on the margins of Proterozoic basins in the North Australian Craton, which is consistent with current understanding of the mineral system formation. This mineral systems-based mineral potential assessment will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of Australia’s critical mineral and strategic material potential as part of the Resourcing Australia's Prosperity initiative at Geoscience Australia.

Abstract presented at the 2026 Australian Earth Sciences Convention in Melbourne.

Tags: Data mining and knowledge discovery, Earth and space science informatics, Published_External, Resource geoscience, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, critical minerals, mineral potential, mineral potential assessment, rare earth elements
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Carbon speciation and Rock‑Eval data from graphitic core samples of the Birrindudu Deep Dive region, Northern Territory

This report presents carbon speciation and Rock-Eval pyrolysis data on graphitic-rich core samples from 6 legacy drill cores collected at the Northern Territory Geological Survey core repositories. Carbon speciation data include total carbon, total inorganic carbon, total organic carbon and total graphitic carbon data. Graphitic carbon content is a key parameter for assessing graphite quality and potential economic value. The report also presents Rock-Eval pyrolysis data with their associated pyrolysis and oxidation thermograms, which are complementary to the carbon speciation data. These data form part of a drill core analytical program undertaken as part of the Birrindudu Deep Dive project. This project is delivered under the Resourcing Australia's Prosperity initiative, the Australian Government’s 35 year (2024–2059), precompetitive geoscience initiative led by Geoscience Australia. Its purpose is to accelerate the discovery and responsible development of Australia&#39;s critical minerals, strategic materials, hydrogen, carbon dioxide storage, offshore renewable energy and groundwater resources.

Tags: Birrindudu Basin, Birrindudu Deep Dive, Exploration geochemistry, Graphite, Organic geochemistry, Pine Creek Orogen, Published_External, Resource geoscience, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, Rock-Eval, Tanami Region, Total Graphitic Carbon
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Chronostratigraphic interpretation of airborne electromagnetics in the Halls Creek-Birrindudu-Tanami region

As part of the Resourcing Australia's Prosperity initiative, led by Geoscience Australia (GA), several deep dive regions have been established to enhance understanding of resource prospectivity in selected onshore locations. One such region is the Birrindudu Deep Dive (BDD), which straddles the Northern Territory and Western Australia border. As part of this deep dive, geological interpretation of selected lines from the AusAEM 02 WA/NT 2019–20 Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) Survey (Ley-Cooper 2020), along with supporting datasets and information, is underway.

The interpreted AEM dataset comprises approximately 11,250 km of conductivity sections with a 20 km nominal line spacing across an area over 200,000 km2 – an area almost the size of the state of Victoria. This interpretation contributes to the national-scale chronostratigraphic interpretation of AEM, which currently covers over 115,000 km of AEM flight lines across approximately 27% of the Australian continent. These interpretations provide multidisciplinary datasets that can be used for a wide range of geological studies. For example, they are currently used in cover thickness modelling (eg Bonnardot et al 2025, Vizy et al 2025), which is, in turn, used in prospectivity mapping (eg Ford et al 2026a,b) and economic viability modelling (eg Haynes et al 2020).

The AEM interpretation in the BDD region continues this multidisciplinary approach by providing insight into the depth and subsurface distribution of stratigraphic units and other geological features. Mapping the subsurface geology is intended to establish constraints in areas where depth-estimate data are limited and subsurface stratigraphic unit boundaries are poorly defined. This helps constrain the resource prospectivity, stratigraphic relationships, basin configurations and general geological evolution of the region. Features valuable to a range of disciplines are mapped and commented on, such as discrete electrical conductors in areas of mineralisation; palaeovalleys as potential sources of groundwater; and faulting or neotectonic features. This multidisciplinary approach means that academia, government and industry can use these interpretations for a wide range of purposes, including resource exploration and management, environmental monitoring, hazard mapping, tectonic research, land-use planning and decision-making.

Tags: AEM, AEMInterpConvert, AusAEM, AusAEM interpretation, Birrindudu Basin, Canning Basin, Electrical and electromagnetic methods in geophysics, Gravimetrics, Groundwater hydrology, Halls Creek, Magnetism and palaeomagnetism, Mineral exploration, Onshore National Geology, Ord Basin, Published_External, RAPi, Resource geoscience, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy (incl. biostratigraphy, Structural geology and tectonics, Wiso Basin, airborne electromagnetics, airborne electromagnetics interpretation, graphite, groundwater, palaeovalleys, sequence stratigraphy and basin analysis)
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Development of a 3D continental chronostratigraphic framework for energy, minerals and groundwater integrated assessments

Understanding the chronostratigraphy of geological units is crucial for the transition to net zero by providing a 4D framework (three-dimensions through geological time) to assess potential energy and mineral resources, groundwater systems, and storage sites for carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen (H). Integrating geological and hydrogeological data into a unified national 3D framework enhances decision-making across government, industry and communities for sustainable resource management, supports environmental approvals, and cross-jurisdictional collaboration. Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future program and Resourcing Australia's Prosperity Initiative have advanced 3D conceptualisation of Australia’s sedimentary basins and groundwater systems, standardising stratigraphy and terminology across basins and jurisdictional borders. This enabled consistent 3D geological models revealing potential connections between geological units, reservoirs and aquifers. The integration of airborne electromagnetic and seismic data, with drillhole stratigraphy within a consistent national 3D chronostratigraphic framework underpins depth estimates for the nationwide Estimates of Geological and Geophysical Surfaces (EGGS) database.

Collaboration with the jurisdictions harmonised 3D geology, focusing initially on updating aquifer boundaries in a groundwater context. The overarching goal is to improve national geological and groundwater datasets to support integrated management of energy, minerals, and groundwater resources.

A key achievement is the national-scale 3D chronostratigraphic surface modelling, based on the Australian Borehole Stratigraphic Units Compilation (ABSUC), consolidating data from 53 sources and 171,396 drillholes. Ongoing refinement of subsurface geology is fundamental for resource potential mapping, multi-commodity assessments, and 3D visualisation, supporting the global energy transition, climate resilience, and water security for communities, industries, and the environment.

Australian Energy Producers (AEP) Conference &amp; Exhibition 26-29 May 2025 Brisbane Qld

Tags: Australia’s groundwater systems, Chronostratigraphy, National 3D Groundwater Systems, Published_External, Resource geoscience, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, national consistent framework
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Development of a Prototype Automated Borehole Aquifer Attribution Tool

Borehole data is one of the key sources of information for conducting groundwater projects. This borehole data is composed of two primary components: construction (location, elevation, bore construction) and hydrogeologic (lithology, stratigraphy, aquifer, water level and chemistry) information.
Since the development of recommended National reporting guidelines in Australia for registering boreholes, the completeness of borehole data has improved. Unfortunately, legacy borehole data is often incomplete, missing key pieces of information. A key legacy data gap is attributing aquifers to water sources in boreholes. Incomplete aquifer attribution information places limitations on the assessment of borehole data.

Borehole aquifer attribution has historically been a time-consuming manual task requiring an investigator with the required level of knowledge to assess each bore. This manual task is influenced by numerous factors including the number and spatial distribution of boreholes, complexity of groundwater systems and geographical extent of the assessment area. Advancements in computing hardware, software and scripting environments offer the opportunity to automate this process.

Tools for automating borehole aquifer attribution have been developed using python script or FME (Feature Manipulation Engine) workflows. While these workflows follow the same general processing flow approach, they are customised to their respective assessment areas limiting broader application. To use these tools in other geographical areas would require customisation for each instance. Geoscience Australia have developed a prototype tool to standardise and streamline this process and deliver a consistent, repeatable method for attributing aquifers to borehole data to support groundwater projects under the Resourcing Australia's Prosperity initiative.

Presented at the 52nd Congress of International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH2025)

Tags: Groundwater hydrology, Published_External, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, aquifer attribution, borehole, national 3d groundwater systems
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
Australian Mineral Exploration Review 2024

Geoscience Australia has published the Australian Mineral Exploration Review since 2009. This annual assessment of Australia’s exploration industry draws on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and company reporting to reveal exploration trends, activities, significant results and mineral discoveries from across Australia. 

This year's edition shows that gold remained the leading commodity for exploration expenditure in Australia in 2024, accounting for 30% ($1.2 billion) of total mineral exploration spend. Overall exploration expenditure in 2024 declined by 7% compared to 2023, with the decline being even more pronounced in greenfields areas (16%).

The exploration downturn is owing to factors such as increased costs, falling prices for some commodities and challenges in securing funding and approvals.  In addition, global economic and geopolitical uncertainty led many companies to shift focus to conserving cash amid uncertain market conditions while resource investor priorities were redirected to existing mining operations.

Forty-five maiden resources were announced in 2024, which is also down from the peak of 77 in 2023, demonstrating the continued link between exploration expenditure and the discovery of new resources. However, 2024 marked one of the largest years on record in terms of total maiden contained resources owing to the significant size of many of the new deposits.

Tags: Drill results, Exploration, GA publication, Maiden resources, Mining, Published_External, Resource geoscience, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, critical minerals, geology, precious metals, strategic materials
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
AusArray temporary passive seismic station deployment, servicing and retrieval: Geoscience Australia standard operating procedures - Revised Edition 2025

The Australian Passive Seismic Array Project (AusArray) program was developed from a long history of passive seismic imaging in Australia involving many contributors. Building on this history, the Australian Government and academia have united around AusArray. The objective is a standardised and quality controlled national passive seismic data coverage and an updatable national seismic velocity model framework that can be used as a background for higher-resolution studies. This document details the field activities and equipment preparation for temporary passive seismic station deployment, service and retrieval. Equipment cleaning and testing and database details are also described. The standard operating procedures applied during these activities were established during the deployment of two temporary passive seismograph arrays from 2016 to 2020 under the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. These arrays consisted of 120–130 stations deployed in the Northern Territory and Queensland for over a year in a grid pattern with a lateral spacing of half a degree (~55 km). The temporary passive seismograph stations comprised Nanometrics Trillium Compact 120S broadband seismic sensors connected to a Güralp minimus digitiser. Batteries charged by a solar panel powered both instruments. Each station in the array was serviced, i.e. repairs if required and interim data was retrieved, at least once during the deployment.

From 2021 to 2024 the broadband seismic instruments were arranged in a grid pattern spaced 2-degrees or ~220 km apart across the entire continent to ensure a robust continental framework. Further deployments will continue under Geoscience Australia’s Resourcing Australia's Prosperity initiative. Since publication in 2022 the original document was consistently updated with improvements developed from ongoing field operations to create this version completed in August 2025. Major updates include using equipment from the Australian National University (ANU), site testing performing waveform analytics during servicing, and making the sites more secure to prevent damage from animals. Field operations were improved with more details to make the procedures easier to follow and reduce equipment damage.

Tags: AusArray, Australia, Australia-wide geoscience data, EARTH SCIENCES, EFTF - Exploring for the Future, GEOPHYSICS, Geophysics, National, Passive Seismic, Published_External, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, Seismic, Seismic and Magnetotellurics, Velocity
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data
A new process-based mineral system classification linked to commodities

Several deposit and mineral system classifications are available in the literature, with most classifications focused on detailed analysis of a few deposit types using the mineral system approach. However, these are often not comprehensive and/or too complex to use by non-expert users. This study presents a new mineral system classification which aims to address these problems. The new classification is exhaustive and incorporates new deposit types to account for deposits hosting current and potential future critical mineral resources (e.g., high purity silica). In addition, we reviewed and classified the presence of economically extractable elements for each deposit types according to their global and local significance with the aim of creating a simplified mineral system classification where deposit types and mineral systems are linked to potential commodities.

For the classification, deposit types have been grouped into broad mineral systems using similarities in critical processes that relate to metal, fluid and ligand sources, energy sources, fluid-flow drivers and pathways, architecture and depositional gradients. The mineral systems are then linked to broad geological features instead of geodynamic and tectonic settings as used in other classifications to make the classification easier to use, as geodynamic and tectonic settings are often debated in the geological record, especially in the Archean and Proterozoic. In addition, some mineral systems can develop in more than one geodynamic and tectonic setting, making them unreliable criteria to link to a classification due to the many-to-many relationships.

The new classification comprises 202 deposit types categorized into 86 deposit groups that are combined into 13 mineral systems and six mineral system classes. Overall, this approach to mineral system classification may help explorers in regions where the geology is complex or unknown by linking geological features to possible elemental enrichment and may assist industry, academia and government organizations to conduct commodity-based mineral potential assessments.

Presented at the 2025 Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) Conference

Tags: Mineral Potential Assessments, National resource assessments, Published_External, Resource geoscience, Resourcing Australia's Prosperity, critical minerals, mineral classification, mineral systems
Organization: Geoscience Australia Data