Precompetitive Review

A unique and dedicated source of news and insights on Australian precompetitive geoscience for mineral exploration

Latest News

Surprise discovery of super thick crust defies what we think about the Tasmanides

Surprise discovery of super thick crust defies what we think about the Tasmanides

A high resolution study by Geoscience Australia of the Moho under the Delamerian Orogen has produced a shock result that ...
How old is that regolith? New tool has the answers to improve exploration in, and through, cover

How old is that regolith? New tool has the answers to improve exploration in, and through, cover

Researchers from Curtin University, Western Australia and Germany have identified a new “clock” for calculating ...
National unconformity map part of innovative prospectivity study by GA

National unconformity map part of innovative prospectivity study by GA

Unconformities can be a focus for interesting chemical reactions and therefore a great place for ...
New lessons from Olympic Dam for discovery of high-grade, giant deposits

New lessons from Olympic Dam for discovery of high-grade, giant deposits

In a second part to last week’s coverage of a major new paper on the ...
Leading IOCG researcher says evidence allows a major call on ore-forming process

Leading IOCG researcher says evidence allows a major call on ore-forming process

 One of the world’s leading IOCG researchers who is credited by BHP with a critical ...
Award-winning PhD places Musgrave province within the NAC

Award-winning PhD places Musgrave province within the NAC

A newly published paper in Gondwana Research on the final chapter of Samantha March’s PhD ...
Breakthrough east coast granites study provides new directions to explore for next Cadia, intrusion-related gold and more

Breakthrough east coast granites study provides new directions to explore for next Cadia, intrusion-related gold and more

An exciting new paper shows granite-related deposits in the Tasmanides, including Au-Cu at Cadia, intrusion-related ...

In Brief...

West Arnhem 4km ground gravity released

The Northern Territory Geological Survey has released ground gravity data on a 4km grid over the West Arnhem region, representing…

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GA flying AEM in three states

Geoscience Australia is flying AEM surveys over South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, Central Victoria and all of Tasmania, beginning next month.…

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GSWA releases Kiwirrkurra data package

The Geological Survey of WA as released a package of data to accelerate exploration in the remote Kiwirrkurra region, which…

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Co-funding set to return in SA

Government co-funding for drilling and other exploration is set to return in South Australia under an election promise by Labor.…

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Final 100-metre Narryer magnetics set for release

GSWA has completed a big upgrade of magnetics and radiometrics over the Narryer Terrane and its boundary with the Youanmi…

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Northern Gawler NDI open for applications

South Australia’s Department of Energy and Mining opened applications on 9 February for 11,000 sq.km of ground north of Coober…

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“3-in-1” Boodjamulla-Croydon regional seismic data released

The Geological Survey of Queensland and Geoscience Australia have released the raw data from the 840+ kilometre Boodjamulla–Croydon seismic survey, completed in September…

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WA Premier’s award for greenstone barcode project

The Geological Survey of WA’s greenstone barcoding project has won the WA Premier’s Science Award for science project of 2025.…

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High purity silica all over NSW

A study by the Geological Survey of NSW has found 50 occurrences of high purity silica around the state exceeding…

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NTGS report provides vectors for uranium in Alligator Rivers

A detailed study of the high-grade Angularli uranium deposit by the Northern Territory Geological Survey provides new vectors for unconformity-style…

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New map sheet in heart of Lawn Hill and South Nicholson

The Northern Territory Geological Survey has released a major update to the Mt Drummond mapsheet. The new edition includes 42…

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CSIRO-GSQ study of major QLD deposits

The Geological Survey of Queensland has teamed up with CSIRO to conduct Maia Mapper studies of mineralisation of more than…

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Deep structure of western Yilgarn margin revealed

The Geological Survey of WA has released data from three regional seismic lines shot in 2023-24 across the western edge…

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+99% silica found by GA sampling campaign

Explorers with their eye on silica can gain a headstart with results of a new Geoscience Australian sampling campaign. A…

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GA releases new geochron across Victoria

Geoscience Australia has released new U-Pb zircon geochronology data from granitoid rocks collected across Victoria as part of the $225m…

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GSSA launches new data catalogue

The Geological Survey of South Australia this week launched a new data catalogue within its SARIG platform. The catalogue provides…

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GSNSW open for $2.5 million in co-funding

The Geological Survey of NSW this week open the application period for $2.5 million in co-funding under a new Critical…

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AusLAMP data released over Boulia

Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of Queensland have released a small but well targeted batch of new AusLAMP data…

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Co-funding offer from Tasmania

The Tasmanian Government is enticing critical mineral explorers with an offer to co-fund up to $90,000 for exploration drilling. A…

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100-metre magnetics and radiometrics in Murchison and Gascoyne

GSWA is conducting an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey at a line spacing of 100 metres to dramatically improve imaging…

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GA database on Ge, In, Ga and Cd in zinc ores

Geoscience Australia has released a database of Ge, In, Ga and Cd in sphalerite, along with estimates of the endowment…

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GSSA releases 2024 radiometric map of SA

The Geological Survey of SA has released its 2024 Radiometric Map of SA. The new dataset represents a big advance…

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Airborne gravity completed in Victoria

A 150,000-sq.km airborne gravity survey has been completed over the eastern half of Victoria on flight line spacings of just…

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National 3D models of density and magnetic susceptibility

Geoscience Australia has released national 3D models of density and magnetic susceptibility to a depth of 55.5 km. Among other…

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NE Qld AusAEM survey completed

Acquisition of a big extension of AusAEM into northeast and central QLD has been completed. The survey covers almost 30,000…

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3D data compilation of Birrindudu

The Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS) has released a 3D compilation of open-file data for the Birrindudu Basin and its…

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Anorthosite mining in SA?

Deep weathering of Hiltaba Suite granites on the Gawler Craton means South Australia likely has great potential for high-grade kaolin…

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1,007 NSW rocks added to Isotopic Atlas

Geoscience Australia has added 1,007 U-Pb ages of rocks, sediments and minerals in NSW to the Isotopic Atlas within the…

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100-metre Einasleigh magnetics

The Geological Survey of Queensland expects to release high resolution magnetics and radiometrics over the Einasleigh region by the end…

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GSQ, GA release two airborne gravity surveys

The Geological Survey of Queensland and Geoscience Australia have released the Etheridge and Blackall Airborne Gravity Gradiometry surveys at 1…

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NGSA, NAGS added to Levelled Geochemical Baseline

Geoscience Australia has brought its two big regional geochemical surveys – the National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) and the…

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Deep crustal seismic through Julimar released this week

GSWA’s much-anticipated deep reflection seismic data through the Midwest region will be released on 15 August. Data will become available…

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Geochemical data release on source rocks in the Stuart Shelf

Geoscience Australia has released a second batch of geochemical data aimed at finding source rocks on the Stuart Shelf. The…

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New paper of genesis of world’s largest MVT deposit

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has released an open access paper on the “anatomy and genesis of the world’s largest…

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New data backs porphyry Cu fertility in Delamerian in SA

A new paper led by Wei Hong (former MinEx CRC/GSSA researcher and now UTAS Research Fellow) makes a strong case…

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In the future, bacteria could extract your REEs

Biologists have discovered bacteria in the Solfatara Crater in Italy that gobble up REEs, creating potential for biological processing of…

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NZ releases national soil geochemistry atlas

New Zealand’s geoscience agency has released a national atlas of soil geochemistry, with a full suite of 65 elements from…

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New database of all GA active and passive seismic

Geoscience Australia and its state partners have been shooting deep crustal seismic lines for decades, which means there could be…

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NSW releases multiple surveys

NSW’s Minister for Resources, Courtney Houssos, this week announced a number of geophysical data releases ahead of GSNSW’s annual Exploration…

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Two major surveys set to begin flying in NE QLD

Geoscience Australia and GSQ will begin acquisition by the end of June of 33,000 line-km of airborne gravity gradiometry (AGG)…

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Zn, Cu skarn mineralisation in NE QLD tied to younger magmas

New UQ-GSQ research on the Mt Garnet skarn deposit (where Kagara Zinc delineated 4 Mt @ 6% Zn and 0.34%…

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New indicators for sanukitoid gold followers in the Yilgarn

Researchers at the Centre for Exploration Targeting have a new paper with ideas for discovery of multi-million-ounce sanukitoid gold deposits…

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Graphite prospectivity report in SA

The Geological Survey of South has released a prospectivity report on graphite, noting that SA actually has two-thirds of Australia’s…

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New lithium data across national catchments

Lithium explorers have a whole new national dataset to work with. GA released on 13 February acid digest results for…

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Paleovalley maps in western Gawler

Paleovalleys anywhere near the uranium-rich Gawler Craton are hot property at the moment, so there will be interest in a…

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Pedirka gravity and reprocessed seismic

NTGS has released a major ground gravity dataset in the Pedirka Basin in the southeast of the Northern Territory. Gravity…

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Breakthrough IOCG model passes major test and improves odds of discovery

Breakthrough IOCG model passes major test and improves odds of discovery

New research on the distal footprints of IOCGs and related deposits in several countries  suggest exploration for this deposit style ...
Tier 1 copper potential of the Curnamona Province boosted by major MT project

Tier 1 copper potential of the Curnamona Province boosted by major MT project

New evidence of the Tier 1 copper potential of the Curnamona Province has emerged from a major MT survey funded ...
Innovative approach to U-Pb geochron finds new fluid events in the Arunta region

Innovative approach to U-Pb geochron finds new fluid events in the Arunta region

An innovative PhD study funded by MinEx CRC is finding treasure in U-Pb zircon data collected over decades but traditionally ...
PhD answers the big questions about Gruyere and has lessons for gold explorers across the Yilgarn

PhD answers the big questions about Gruyere and has lessons for gold explorers across the Yilgarn

A PhD study of the +7 Moz Gruyere gold deposit has solved its mysteries and delivered some important messages for ...
Longreach leverages big public datasets to create compelling greenfield project in Cloncurry

Longreach leverages big public datasets to create compelling greenfield project in Cloncurry

Oil explorers are arguably better equipped than anyone to deal with the challenges of mineral exploration under cover. They were ...
Work begins towards a national ESG risk map for the mining industry

Work begins towards a national ESG risk map for the mining industry

National-scale maps suggesting the best places to explore have become a staple precompetitive product in Australia. In a variation on ...
WA Array Phase 1 reveals a series of surprises about southwest lithosphere

WA Array Phase 1 reveals a series of surprises about southwest lithosphere

A major report by the Geological Survey of Western Australia on results from the first phase of WA Array is ...
Affordable, fast dating of mineralisation makes geochronology part of the toolkit for all explorers

Affordable, fast dating of mineralisation makes geochronology part of the toolkit for all explorers

Geochronology is no longer the slow-moving stuff of academia. Explorers can create their own competitive advantage with rapid, affordable and ...
Halls Creek and other under-the-radar regions emerge in second lithium new prospectivity model

Halls Creek and other under-the-radar regions emerge in second lithium new prospectivity model

The surprising lithium potential of the Halls Creek, Paterson and Capricorn orogens has been highlighted in a second new prospectivity ...
A third mineralising event found by PhD that aims to crack open Tennant Creek

A third mineralising event found by PhD that aims to crack open Tennant Creek

A third major mineralising event has been identified in the Tennant Creek mineral field, which could have a direct connection ...