A multidisciplinary approach to improving energy prospectivity in the South Nicholson region

The South Nicholson region has the potential to host major petroleum and base metal mineral resources. The region is poorly understood compared with the neighbouring resource-rich areas of the McArthur Basin and the Mount Isa Province. A multidisciplinary study was undertaken as part of the Exploring for the Future program to improve our understanding of the petroleum potential of the region. Our work integrates newly acquired seismic data, geological mapping and geochronology, organic and inorganic geochemistry, petroleum systems modelling, and a shale gas assessment to build a better understanding of the region’s resource potential. The South Nicholson seismic survey imaged a new sub-basin, the Carrara Sub-basin—an approximately 1550 km2 depocentre that likely includes Meso- and Paleoproterozoic sedimentary rock. Successions within the Carrara Sub-basin are likely to be highly prospective for energy resources, significantly increasing the extent of the regional prospectivity fairway. New datasets and interpretation from this study have greatly improved understanding of the South Nicholson region, de-risking the region for future resource exploration. Citation: Jarrett, A.J.M., Bailey, A.H.E., Carr, L.K., Anderson, J.R., Palu, T., Carson C.J., Boreham, C., Southby, C., MacFarlane, S.K., Hall, L., Bradshaw, B., Orr, M., Munson, T., Williams, B., Simmons, J., Close, D., Edwards, S., Troupe, A., Gorton, J., Gunning, M. and Henson, P., 2020. A multidisciplinary approach to improving energy prospectivity in the South Nicholson region. In: Czarnota, K., Roach, I., Abbott, S., Haynes, M., Kositcin, N., Ray, A. and Slatter, E. (eds.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–4.