From Geoscience Australia
JSON format icon JSON RDF format icon RDF ISO19115-3 XML

The Heavy Mineral Map of Australia Project. Data Release 2. The Barkly Isa Georgetown Region

Created 17/10/2025

Updated 17/10/2025

JSON format icon JSON RDF format icon RDF ISO19115-3 XML

The National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) is Australia’s only internally consistent, continental-scale geochemical atlas and dataset. The present dataset contains additional mineralogical data obtained on NGSA samples selected from the Barkly-Isa-Georgetown (BIG) region of northeastern Australia for the second partial data release of the Heavy Mineral Map of Australia (HMMA) project. The HMMA project, a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia and Curtin University underpinned by a pilot project establishing its feasibility, is part of the Australian Government-funded Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. One-hundred and eighty eight NGSA sediment samples were selected from the HMMA project within the EFTF’s BIG polygon plus an approximately one-degree buffer. The samples were taken on average from 60 to 80 cm depth in floodplain landforms, dried and sieved to a 75-430 µm grainsize fraction, and the contained heavy minerals (HMs; i.e., those with a specific gravity > 2.9 g/cm3) were separated by dense fluids and mounted on cylindrical epoxy mounts. After polishing and carbon-coating, the mounts were subjected to automated mineralogical analysis on a TESCAN® Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA). Using scanning electron microscopy and backscatter electron imaging integrated with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, the TIMA identified 151 different HMs in the BIG area. The dataset, consisting of over 18 million individual mineral grains, was quality controlled and validated by an expert team. The data released here can be visualised, explored and downloaded using an online, bespoke mineral network analysis (MNA) tool built on a cloud-based platform. Preliminary analysis suggests that copper minerals cuprite and chalcopyrite may be indicative of base-metal/copper mineralisation in the area. Accompanying this report are two data files of TIMA results, and a minerals vocabulary file. When completed in 2023, it is hoped the HMMA project will positively impact mineral exploration and prospectivity modelling around Australia, as well as have other applications in earth and environmental sciences.

Files and APIs

Tags

Additional Info

Field Value
Title The Heavy Mineral Map of Australia Project. Data Release 2. The Barkly Isa Georgetown Region
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/e8b0a260-d7c2-4784-abf7-2198de8fc863
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 30/11/2022
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        112.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        154.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        154.0,
        -9.0
      ],
      [
        112.0,
        -9.0
      ],
      [
        112.0,
        -44.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "The Heavy Mineral Map of Australia Project. Data Release 2. The Barkly Isa Georgetown Region". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/the-heavy-mineral-map-of-australia-project-data-release-2-the-barkly-isa-georgetown-region