Data from state's largest ever minerals survey now available

The largest airborne survey ever undertaken in NSW has recently concluded and data from the project is now available for industry use.

The survey was the latest project under Exploration NSW – a seven-year State Government initiative that uses cutting edge geo-science to identify and better understand the properties of mineral and petroleum deposits.

This particular aerial survey covered 11% of NSW and took 18 months to complete at a cost of $1.5 million.

It focused on two areas in western NSW – the first being the Eromanga Basin and Thomson frontier terrain in the Northwest corner of NSW, which contains petroleum, gold and other base metal resources.

The second part of the aerial survey covered parts of the Murray Basin – which contains petroleum, mineral sands, and gold resources.

The survey work enabled geologists to look several kilometres into the earth’s crust and captured detailed information about the chemical make-up of rocks and soil on the surface.

The data will significantly improve the understanding of the geology of the area and the potential resources that lie beneath.

The information can now be used by industry to help shape future investment decisions.

This type of world-class geological data further enhances NSW’s reputation with the international mining community.

Most importantly, it could potentially open the door for new mining projects that create new jobs in regional and rural NSW.

Companies interested in accessing data from the aerial survey can contact the Department of Primary Industries’ Mineral Resources division on 02 4931 6717. Each DVD data package costs $110.