Geological belts rich in copper, gold and critical minerals have been discovered in southeastern Australia, at a time of surging global demand and commodity prices.
The good news comes from a ‘deep dive’, under a 35-year government initiative to unlock resources key to the nation’s energy transition and future prosperity.
The huge project examined 300,000 square kilometres spanning South Australia, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
Geoscience Australia’s Delamerian Project, completed with the support of its state counterparts, crunched data from millions of geochemical data points, aerial and ground surveys, and more than five kilometres of drilling.
If taken to production, the stretch could be worth billions, with copper now trading at all-time highs on the back of global supply constraints and surging demand for the energy transition, electrification and grid upgrades, and data centres and artificial intelligence.
Gold prices have also been strong due to safe-haven demand and central bank buying, as investors seek insurance against currency devaluations and soaring sovereign debt around the globe.
The project has helped scientists better understand the potential of one of Australia’s largest undercover geological provinces, project leader Chris Lewis said.
“The Delamarian project really has given Australia a much clearer picture of a major geological province that’s largely been hidden beneath a lot of the younger sediments,” he told AAP.
While the project’s findings don’t estimate mineral volumes, it does give exploration companies confidence to narrow down potential deposits.
Among the key discoveries was that the Delamerian region of the Earth’s crust is not one mineral province but a series of distinct metallogenic belts formed during a series of episodes of tectonic evolution.
Similarly, the project allowed scientists to combine a semi-fragmented knowledge base into a more coherent regional understanding of the area’s geology, how it formed, and its resource potential.
“And that matters, because it helps to identify what opportunities there might be as we transition to a net zero future, particularly for materials like copper, gold, and other critical minerals,” Mr Lewis said.
Similar projects underway in the federal government’s Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity program include deep dives in Queensland’s Georgetown-Julia Creek and NT’s Birrindudu regions.
The latest findings, released on Friday, are an example of the value of such investment, Geoscience Australia chief executive Melissa Harris said.
“These results are an example of the value Australians are seeing from the Australian government’s 35-year investment in nationally significant … geoscience,” Ms Harris said.
Applied geoscience underpins roughly $76 billion in economic value each year, supporting industry, infrastructure and decision-making across the country, equivalent to 3.5 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
