The Geological Survey of NSW collects and manages geological, geophysical, geochemical and geospatial data to inform the government, resource industry and the community about the state's geology, and mineral, coal, petroleum and renewable energy resources to facilitate the safe and sustainable development of NSW mineral and energy resources for the benefit of all NSW citizens.

1. GSNSW Activities
The Year in Review
Chris Yeats
Executive Director, GSNSW

2. Role of GSNSW
The Geological Survey of NSW collects and manages
geological, geophysical, geochemical and geospatial
data…
to inform the government, resource industry and the
community about the state's geology, and mineral,
coal, petroleum and renewable energy resources….
to facilitate the safe and sustainable development of
NSW mineral and energy resources for the benefit of
all NSW citizens.
HOW
WHAT
WHY

3. Executive Director
GSNSW
Chris Yeats
Geoscience
Acquisition &
Synthesis
John Greenfield
Geoscience
Information
Sam Wilkin
Coal Innovation
NSW
Rick Fowler
Land Use & Titles
Advice
Paul Dale
Strategic Resource
Assessment &
Advice
Kevin Ruming
GSNSW Structure
Data Collection
& Delivery
Provision of
Advice

4. GSNSW 2015-16
102 Staff
63 Permanent, 39 Term staff
Coal Innovation NSW within GSNSW
$30.9M Budget
$11.6M Staff, $12.6M Operating
$2.3M Grants, $4.3M CapEx
$3.0BN Assets
$2.5b – digital data holdings
$0.5b – core, cuttings, samples in 6 core libraries
1400GSNSW products
600 books, reports, bulletins etc.
60 digital data packages, apps
550 maps
Capabilities across coal, petroleum,
geosequestration, geothermal and
minerals:
• Mapping
• Mineral systems
• Geophysics, 3D
• Large survey and drilling procurement
• Land-use, titles, & resource assessment
• Palaeontology, Petrology, HyLogger™
• Digital Cartography
• Editing, layout, graphics
• Databases, web delivery, apps

5. Seamless Geology
Western NSW (Zone 54) preliminary stitch, including
Broken Hill, complete
Londonderry Core Library Extension
New HyLogger™ facility, new meeting room
Cooperative Drilling
Round 1 completed
Applications for Round 2 closed April 29
Southern Thomson Orogen
Ground geophysics completed
Drill sites selected – drilling this winter
Geoscience Information
New DIGS search engine operational
NSW Whole rock geochemistry database
East Riverina
Mapping completed for Ardelethan & Barmedman
NVCL
Cobar project, 3D Porphyry project
CINSW
$10M R&D funding round
Ground truthing and enviro/heritage work for Seismic
Key Projects
Cobar metallogenic map Will be released later this year
Moss Vale Explanatory Notes released
Yathong Trough Seismic data released
Coastal Quaternary Geology of NSW
Common Ground Launched
Sm-Nd Map of NSW released
3D Modelling Online web viewer for GSNSW 3D models
Special MentionsHighlights of 2015-16

6. WB Clarke Geoscience Centre Expansion
 $5M project completed ahead of schedule and under budget in March
2016
 expands the core storage
capacity from 1200 km to
1875 km of core
 storage facility for
naturally occurring
radioactive materials
 portable XRF, desktop
XRD
 new meeting room
 dedicated HyLogger™
facility

7. National Virtual Core Library (NVCL)
 Collaborative infrastructure project with AuScope, nodes throughout
Australia (HyLogger™ at WB Clarke Geoscience Centre)
 Progress made in thermal infrared (TIR) interpretation, and mineral
data validation using XRD and electron microprobe analysis
 Over 220 drill holes
online
 25 holes from
Broken Hill Domain
in 2015
 3D porphyry model
 9000m from Cobar
district transported
for scanning

8. East Riverina Mapping Project – Overview
• 5 year project (2014-18)
• Multi-discipline approach
• Enhance geological data in an
underexplored terrane
– Higher resolution mapping
– Crustal framework
– Constrain geology & timing
• Develop exploration models &
mineral prospectivity
– e.g. porphyry Cu-Au,
orogenic Au, magmatic Sn
• Quarterly project updates

9. East Riverina Mapping Project – Progress
• Field mapping completed for
Ardlethan & Barmedman
– Currently mapping around
Wagga, Temora and Henty
• 35 new SHRIMP ages (with GA)
– Magmatic history
– Sediment provenance
• Identification of age-diagnostic
fossils to aid stratigraphy,
structure

10. East Riverina Mapping Project – Progress
• 3D and potential field modelling
– Crustal framework
• Deformation and metamorphism
– Strain, kinematics, timing
– P, T & timing of heat / fluid
transfer to upper crust
• High quality geophysical data
– Magnetic, gravity, rads
– ASTER review (Hewson)
• Collaborative projects
– Uni of Newcastle
Source: Venkataramani et al. 2016

11. East Riverina
Minerals Systems
• Improved MetIndex data
– Endowment
• HyLogger™ scanning of core,
uploaded to AuScope
• Isotopic studies
– Timing (Ar-Ar, U-Pb)
– Nature of fluid (S, Pb)
• Tin prospectivity study (CET)
• Developing exploration
models & prospectivity maps
Ardlethan
Produced: >25 000 t
Sn Resource: 37.5 Mt
@ 0.17% (66 500 t)
Sn (all)
West Wyalong
Produced: >13 t
Au
Mt Adrah
Produced: >3 kg Au
Resource: 20.5 Mt @
1.1 g/t Au (770 000
oz)
Adelong
Produced: >20 t Au
(all) Resource:
Challenger 0.93 Mt
@ 2.74 g/t Au (82
000 oz)
Temora (PCD)
Resource: 279 Mt
@ 0.3% Cu, 0.2 g/t Au
(826 kt Cu, 2.065 Moz
Au)
Temora –
Gidginbung (HS
epi)
Production: >21t Au
Resource: 23.8 Mt
@ 0.1% Cu, 1.0 g/t Au
(16 t Cu, 748 000 oz
Au)
Plus in northern Victoria …
Sn (e.g. Pilot Range), Mo (e.g.
Everton), Au (e.g. Beechworth)
Burrandana
Produced: >7 t W
Mt Paynter
Produced: >3 t Sn
Resource: 0.228 Mt
@ 0.35% Sn,
0.51% W
(798 t Sn1163 t W)

12. Southern Thomson Projects: 2016
… surveys and studies continue to tackle covered terrain to increase
mineral exploration potential in far northwest NSW
1.
Major Collaborative Project with
Geoscience Australia & the
Geological Survey of Queensland
(the NCF project)
2.
Research Projects with grant by
Australian Research Council:
through University of Newcastle,
U of Q and QUT
(the ARC project)
What becomes of the mineral endowment of the Lachlan Orogen?

13. Chief Investigators - University of Newcastle (Prof Bill Collins)
Also – University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology
Partner Investigators – GSQ, GSNSW
1. Systematic age determination of
key lithostratigraphic units
2. Detrital zircon age spectra of
major sedimentary units for
provenance analysis
3. Kinematic analysis and Ar-Ar age
determination of major fault
structures and syn-kinematic
intrusions
ARC Linkage Collaborative Research Agreement
- funded, signed & commenced 2015
“The southern Thomson Orogen – a missing link in the Tasmanides”
Designed to increase understanding
of key aspects and sites
Yancannia
Cobar strat
Louth
Warraweena
Gongolgon
Student Project areas

14. Yathong Trough Seismic
• 2 lines (229km) deep seismic acquired in 2013
• E-W line extended approximately 50 km westward into the
Lachlan Orogen, to provide data for mineral systems studies in
the broader Cobar region.
• N-S line has been of
particular benefit to
the understanding of
the sub-basin
structure
• Data now available
for download from
Geoscience Australia.

15. Regional Infill
Crustal Structure
and Basin Volumes
Southern New
England Orogen
Surat and
Gunnedah Basin
Western Tamworth
Belt
Preliminary Release
• Clarence Moreton
Basin (F. Oliveira)
• Coffs Harbour
Block/Tamworth Belt
3D Data Released in 2015

16. Cobar Metallogenic
Mapping
East Riverina
Mapping
NEO Mineral
Potential Mapping
Southern Thomson
Drilling & MT
Seamless
Geology
Z55
East
Exp. Notes: Braidwood
Captains Flat
Exp. Notes: Coolabah
Exp. Notes: Mt OxleySurat
Data Package
Eromanga
Data Package
Murray - Darling
Data Package Sydney – Gunnedah
3D Model
NVCL Broken Hill
2016-17 Project Areas

17. We’re Recruiting!
Six Manager Roles:
 Geological Mapping (John Greenfield)
 Geophysics & Modelling (John Greenfield)
 Publications & Outreach (Sam Wilkin)
 Mining & Exploration Assessment (Paul Dale)
 Mineral Resource Assessment (Kevin Ruming)
 Petroleum & Renewables Resources (Kevin Ruming)
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