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The Heavy Mineral Map of Australia Project -- Data Release 1: The Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian Region

Created 17/10/2025

Updated 17/10/2025

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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 Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian (DCD) region of southeastern Australia for the first partial data release of the Heavy Mineral Map of Australia (HMMA) project. The HMMA, 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. The selected 223 NGSA sediment samples fall within the DCD 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 over 140 different HMs in the DCD area. The dataset, consisting of over 29 million individual mineral grains identified, 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 tool (MNA) built on a cloud-based platform. Accompanying this report are a data file of TIMA results and a mineralogy 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.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title The Heavy Mineral Map of Australia Project -- Data Release 1: The Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian Region
Language English
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/6e858a04-6ee9-4154-ad15-bcf22b853129
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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      ],
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      [
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      [
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      ]
    ]
  ],
  "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 1: The Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian 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-1-the-darling-curnamona-delamerian-regi