DISCOVERY V I C T O R I A ’ S
E A R T H
R E S O U R C E S
J O U R N A L
M A Y
1 9 9 9
COMMERCIAL HYDRAULICS AD HERE (FROM AUGUST ISSUE, LAST YEAR)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE •
GAS NETWORK GROWS
•
MINERAL SANDS REVIEW
•
NEW ACREAGE RELEASE
DISCOVERY V I C T O R I A’ S
E A RT H
R E S O U R C E S
J O U R N A L
M AY
1 9 9 9
contents GAS NETWORK SPREADS ACROSS VICTORIA
2
Two pipeline projects boost Victorian gas supplies
LOGICAL LINK INCREASES GAS SAFETY MARGIN
4
Interstate link proves a lifesaver for Victorian gas supplies
IT’S A STRAIT CHALLENGE
5
Woodside Petroleum enters the Bass Strait gas market
NEW OFFSHORE GAS FIELD DEVELOPMENT
5
New projects are emerging in Victoria’s offshore areas
VIMP GIVES A NINE TO ONE RETURN
8
New data continues to encourage exploration spending
GAS WINDOW IS OPEN
cover picture
10
Interstate trade in gas drives new market opportunities
MINERALS SANDS, VICTORIA’S NEW BOOM
Melbourne’s new $2 billion City Link project has provided a major boost to Victoria's extractive and resources industries with huge quantities of rock fill, sand, gravel and cement used to complete the project. City Link is a privately-funded tollroad which connects three of Melbourne’s major freeways and improves traffic flows around and into the city centre. It comprises 22 km of multi-lane freeway, two tunnels beneath the Yarra River, a major new bridge and numerous other bridges and flyovers. Our cover picture shows the entrance to the 3.4km long Burnley tunnel. Photo courtesy of Transfield-Obayashi Joint Venture. Photographer: Rick Altman.
19
A special report on the Murray Basin Minerals Sands Conference
SEISMIC SURVEY OPENS NEW POTENTIAL
25
A new deepwater survey in the Gippsland Basin excites interest
WILDLIFE THRIVES IN SANDMINE
26
Miner shows how conservation policies can work effectively
There’s a new force in developing Victoria’s mining and oil and gas industries.
2 001
It’s called VIMP 2001 (the Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum for the 21st Century) and has already led to major new discoveries, particularly of gold, base metals and world-class deposits of mineral sands.
28
Bendigo Mining’s new project is officially launched
regular features MINISTERS REVIEW
7
Pat McNamara reviews lessons from the Bendigo project
Funded by the Victorian State Government, the VIMP 2001 program uses the latest technology to provide industry with extensive geophysical and geological data.
INDUSTRY NEWS
New information is being added continuously, particularly from airborne geophysical surveys both on and offshore, broadening the knowledge of Victoria’s sedimentary basins and identifying exciting new target areas of mineralisation.
An update on exploration and mining licence activity
Contact Minerals and Petroleum Minerals and Petroleum Victoria Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street East Melbourne Victoria 3002 Australia Tel: +613 9637 8535 Fax: +613 9637 8155
NEW SWAN IS A DEEP DIVER
DISCLAIMER: This publication may be of assistance to you, but the State of Victoria and its officers do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.
11
The latest news on Victoria’s resources industry
MINERAL RESOURCES MAP
14
A visual review of Victoria’s mineral resources
LICENCE UPDATE OIL AND GAS RESOURCES
Minerals and Petroleum Victoria acknowledges contributions made by private enterprise. Acceptance of these contributions, however, does not endorse or imply endorsement by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of any product or service offered by the contributors.
16 17
All photographs, maps, charts, tables and written information in this publication are copyright under the Copyright Act and may not be reproduced by any process whatsoever without the written permission of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
Victoria’s major petroleum resources
DAVID LEA S COLUMN
18
some explanation here
© Minerals and Petroleum Victoria 1999.
Published quarterly on behalf of the Minerals and Petroleum Division of the Department of Natural Resources & Environment by RBA Communications, 86 Cooloongatta Rd, Camberwell Vic 3124 Tel: (03) 9889 1094 Fax: (03) 9889 9997 EMail:
[email protected] Editor: Ian Howarth Advertising: Watts Media, 1396 Malvern Rd, Tooronga, Vic 3146 Tel: (03) 9822 4461 Fax: (03) 9822 9192. Distribution enquires to Chandri Corray, Manager Marketing Development, Minerals and Petroleum Division, Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Level 15, 8 Nicholson St, East Melbourne, Vic, 3002, Tel: (03) 9637 8532 Fax: (03) 9637 8118. Website:
Australia Post Print Publication PP349472/00128. ISSN Number 13282409.
1
DISCOVERY V I C T O R I A’ S
E A RT H
R E S O U R C E S
J O U R N A L
M AY
1 9 9 9
contents GAS NETWORK SPREADS ACROSS VICTORIA
2
Two pipeline projects boost Victorian gas supplies
LOGICAL LINK INCREASES GAS SAFETY MARGIN
4
Interstate link proves a lifesaver for Victorian gas supplies
IT’S A STRAIT CHALLENGE
5
Woodside Petroleum enters the Bass Strait gas market
NEW OFFSHORE GAS FIELD DEVELOPMENT
5
New projects are emerging in Victoria’s offshore areas
VIMP GIVES A NINE TO ONE RETURN
8
New data continues to encourage exploration spending
GAS WINDOW IS OPEN
cover picture
10
Interstate trade in gas drives new market opportunities
MINERALS SANDS, VICTORIA’S NEW BOOM
Melbourne’s new $2 billion City Link project has provided a major boost to Victoria's extractive and resources industries with huge quantities of rock fill, sand, gravel and cement used to complete the project. City Link is a privately-funded tollroad which connects three of Melbourne’s major freeways and improves traffic flows around and into the city centre. It comprises 22 km of multi-lane freeway, two tunnels beneath the Yarra River, a major new bridge and numerous other bridges and flyovers. Our cover picture shows the entrance to the 3.4km long Burnley tunnel. Photo courtesy of Transfield-Obayashi Joint Venture. Photographer: Rick Altman.
19
A special report on the Murray Basin Minerals Sands Conference
SEISMIC SURVEY OPENS NEW POTENTIAL
25
A new deepwater survey in the Gippsland Basin excites interest
WILDLIFE THRIVES IN SANDMINE
26
Miner shows how conservation policies can work effectively
There’s a new force in developing Victoria’s mining and oil and gas industries.
2 001
It’s called VIMP 2001 (the Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum for the 21st Century) and has already led to major new discoveries, particularly of gold, base metals and world-class deposits of mineral sands.
28
Bendigo Mining’s new project is officially launched
regular features MINISTERS REVIEW
7
Pat McNamara reviews lessons from the Bendigo project
Funded by the Victorian State Government, the VIMP 2001 program uses the latest technology to provide industry with extensive geophysical and geological data.
INDUSTRY NEWS
New information is being added continuously, particularly from airborne geophysical surveys both on and offshore, broadening the knowledge of Victoria’s sedimentary basins and identifying exciting new target areas of mineralisation.
An update on exploration and mining licence activity
Contact Minerals and Petroleum Minerals and Petroleum Victoria Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street East Melbourne Victoria 3002 Australia Tel: +613 9637 8535 Fax: +613 9637 8155
NEW SWAN IS A DEEP DIVER
DISCLAIMER: This publication may be of assistance to you, but the State of Victoria and its officers do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.
11
The latest news on Victoria’s resources industry
MINERAL RESOURCES MAP
14
A visual review of Victoria’s mineral resources
LICENCE UPDATE OIL AND GAS RESOURCES
Minerals and Petroleum Victoria acknowledges contributions made by private enterprise. Acceptance of these contributions, however, does not endorse or imply endorsement by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of any product or service offered by the contributors.
16 17
All photographs, maps, charts, tables and written information in this publication are copyright under the Copyright Act and may not be reproduced by any process whatsoever without the written permission of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
Victoria’s major petroleum resources
DAVID LEA S COLUMN
18
some explanation here
© Minerals and Petroleum Victoria 1999.
Published quarterly on behalf of the Minerals and Petroleum Division of the Department of Natural Resources & Environment by RBA Communications, 86 Cooloongatta Rd, Camberwell Vic 3124 Tel: (03) 9889 1094 Fax: (03) 9889 9997 EMail: [email protected] Editor: Ian Howarth Advertising: Watts Media, 1396 Malvern Rd, Tooronga, Vic 3146 Tel: (03) 9822 4461 Fax: (03) 9822 9192. Distribution enquires to Chandri Corray, Manager Marketing Development, Minerals and Petroleum Division, Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Level 15, 8 Nicholson St, East Melbourne, Vic, 3002, Tel: (03) 9637 8532 Fax: (03) 9637 8118. Website: Australia Post Print Publication PP349472/00128. ISSN Number 13282409.
1
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
Gas network spreads The network of gas transmission pipelines is spreading across Victoria as work continues at a rapid pace to ensure Victoria passes the coming winter period with adequate natural gas resources.
W
hile the massive task of rebuilding the damaged Longford gas plant in Gippsland continues, Transmission Pipelines of Australia is close to completing two separate projects to help bolster Victorian gas supplies. The biggest project is the construction of the South-West gas pipeline to connect the gas fields of western Victoria, near Port Campbell, with the state's main gas pipeline grid. The other project is to increase the capacity of the 'interconnect' gas pipeline, which links the Victorian gas pipeline grid with the NSW gas pipeline system (see story on page 4). The $82.8 million South-West gas pipeline, which stretches 144 km from Lara near Geelong to Port Campbell, initially will be able to deliver up to 130 terajoules of gas a day into the main gas grid system, equivalent to about 14 per cent of total daily winter gas consumption. But extra gas compression and pipeline looping could increase capacity to 230 terajoules a day and ultimately to about 400 Tj if required.
When complete, the capacity of the ‘interconnect’ gas pipeline will rise from 60 Tj a day at present to 92 Tj/day. In total, the two projects will be able to deliver 222 Tj/day into Victoria, just under 25 per cent of average winter gas demand. The South West gas pipeline is a major link in the Victorian gas grid, finally linking the vast gas resources of Bass Strait to remote communities in western Victoria and providing new opportunities for extra towns and communities to obtain access to the benefits of natural gas. Western Victorian customers already connected to gas supplies will continue to be supplied from the North Paarratte, Wallaby Creek, Skull Creek and Iona fields, all located close to Port Campbell. Additionally, Santos is developing two smaller gas fields, Mylor and Fenton Creek, which will be produced through a new gas plant being build adjoining the existing North Paaratte plant. Boral has drilled two further wells on the North Paaratte field to increase its capability.
Victoria’s average winter gas demand is 890 Tj a day, with peak demand of around 1100 Tj a day. The smaller interconnect gas pipeline project, costing $74 million, involves the construction of three separate compression units on different sections of the gas pipeline.
GPU BUYS PIPELINES New Jersey based energy utility group, GPU Inc, has paid $A1.025 billion for 100 per cent of Transmission Pipelines of Australia, owner of Victoria’s rapidly expanding high pressure gas transmission pipeline network. GPU already owns PowerNet, operator of Victoria’s high voltage electricity transmission grid.
High pressure gas pipeline is carried in a trench within a 20 metre wide easement which is later reinstated.
The pipeline crosses three railway lines, three major rivers and passes under a host of major and local roads. Construction was accelerated following the Longford gas plant disaster and TPA staff fasttracked the project so it could be completed by this winter. A contract for the supply of the pipe was awarded to Itochu Pipe Management last October and Transfield was awarded the construction contract a few weeks later. Native title settlements and negotiations with landowners for access to the pipeline route were completed before construction began. The route is cleared of vegetation up to a width of 20 metres where necessary, with the valuable topsoil graded and stored for later reinstatement. Sections of pipe are laid out along the route and welded together while the adjacent trench is dug, before being lowered into place and backfilled. Each weld is x-ray examined and the joint sealed with a moisture proof coating before the pipe is buried. Welding itself is something of an art with each joint required to have similar physical and chemical properties as the parent metal in the pipe before being approved. Each weld consists of three phases before the joint is x-rayed and sealed. Once complete the pipeline is hydrostatically tested and dried before gas is inserted. The SouthWest gas pipeline is expected to be complete and commissioned by June to allow it to be brought into service during Victoria’s winter months.
A project to convert the partly depleted Iona gas field into an underground gas storage facility is expected to be completed in time to meet gas demand in winter 2000. In that project, gas from Bass Strait will be pumped into the underground reservoir during low gas demand periods over summer. When demand rises in winter the gas will be reclaimed from underground for insertion back into the pipeline grid and distribution to customers. BHP Co Ltd’s Minerva gas field, which lies off the coast near Port Campbell, once developed, could also pump gas into the Victorian grid system through the SW pipeline but may be delivered through an independent pipeline to an industrial plant near Geelong. Transmission Pipelines of Australia South-West gas pipeline Project Manager, Bruce Rose, said the South-West gas pipeline had been planned since 1996 as part of the Iona field underground gas storage project but had been accelerated to meet demand in winter this year. The South-West gas pipeline starts at the Lara City Gate facility which is adjacent to the Princes Highway at Hovells Creek. From there it travels south-west passing north of Winchelsea and south of Colac where it terminates at the Iona gas field. The 144 km pipeline has a diameter of 500mm with a pipe wall thickness of up to 12.7 mm. The maximum operating pressure inside the pipeline is 10,200 kPa and for safety the pipeline is buried under a minimum of 900mm of backfill but usually 1.2 m of fill lies over the line. The line has been laid in a 20 metre wide easement crossing mainly rural and semi-rural land.
Individual pipe lengths are welded and x-rayed before the joins are covered with an impervious coating to prevent corrosion.
2
across Victoria
The essentially flat terrain of the pipeline route provided relatively easy conditions for clearing the easement and trenching before the South West Gas Pipeline becomes a key link in Victoria’s growing gas grid.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Bruce Rose- Transmission Pipelines of Australia 180 Greens Rd, Dandenong, Victoria Telephone (03) 9797 5222
The trench is lined with soft sand to prevent damage to the pipe coating before it is lowered into place.
The welded pipe string is flexible and can be eased around obstacles and broad changes in alignment.
3
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
Gas network spreads The network of gas transmission pipelines is spreading across Victoria as work continues at a rapid pace to ensure Victoria passes the coming winter period with adequate natural gas resources.
W
hile the massive task of rebuilding the damaged Longford gas plant in Gippsland continues, Transmission Pipelines of Australia is close to completing two separate projects to help bolster Victorian gas supplies. The biggest project is the construction of the South-West gas pipeline to connect the gas fields of western Victoria, near Port Campbell, with the state's main gas pipeline grid. The other project is to increase the capacity of the 'interconnect' gas pipeline, which links the Victorian gas pipeline grid with the NSW gas pipeline system (see story on page 4). The $82.8 million South-West gas pipeline, which stretches 144 km from Lara near Geelong to Port Campbell, initially will be able to deliver up to 130 terajoules of gas a day into the main gas grid system, equivalent to about 14 per cent of total daily winter gas consumption. But extra gas compression and pipeline looping could increase capacity to 230 terajoules a day and ultimately to about 400 Tj if required.
When complete, the capacity of the ‘interconnect’ gas pipeline will rise from 60 Tj a day at present to 92 Tj/day. In total, the two projects will be able to deliver 222 Tj/day into Victoria, just under 25 per cent of average winter gas demand. The South West gas pipeline is a major link in the Victorian gas grid, finally linking the vast gas resources of Bass Strait to remote communities in western Victoria and providing new opportunities for extra towns and communities to obtain access to the benefits of natural gas. Western Victorian customers already connected to gas supplies will continue to be supplied from the North Paarratte, Wallaby Creek, Skull Creek and Iona fields, all located close to Port Campbell. Additionally, Santos is developing two smaller gas fields, Mylor and Fenton Creek, which will be produced through a new gas plant being build adjoining the existing North Paaratte plant. Boral has drilled two further wells on the North Paaratte field to increase its capability.
Victoria’s average winter gas demand is 890 Tj a day, with peak demand of around 1100 Tj a day. The smaller interconnect gas pipeline project, costing $74 million, involves the construction of three separate compression units on different sections of the gas pipeline.
GPU BUYS PIPELINES New Jersey based energy utility group, GPU Inc, has paid $A1.025 billion for 100 per cent of Transmission Pipelines of Australia, owner of Victoria’s rapidly expanding high pressure gas transmission pipeline network. GPU already owns PowerNet, operator of Victoria’s high voltage electricity transmission grid.
High pressure gas pipeline is carried in a trench within a 20 metre wide easement which is later reinstated.
The pipeline crosses three railway lines, three major rivers and passes under a host of major and local roads. Construction was accelerated following the Longford gas plant disaster and TPA staff fasttracked the project so it could be completed by this winter. A contract for the supply of the pipe was awarded to Itochu Pipe Management last October and Transfield was awarded the construction contract a few weeks later. Native title settlements and negotiations with landowners for access to the pipeline route were completed before construction began. The route is cleared of vegetation up to a width of 20 metres where necessary, with the valuable topsoil graded and stored for later reinstatement. Sections of pipe are laid out along the route and welded together while the adjacent trench is dug, before being lowered into place and backfilled. Each weld is x-ray examined and the joint sealed with a moisture proof coating before the pipe is buried. Welding itself is something of an art with each joint required to have similar physical and chemical properties as the parent metal in the pipe before being approved. Each weld consists of three phases before the joint is x-rayed and sealed. Once complete the pipeline is hydrostatically tested and dried before gas is inserted. The SouthWest gas pipeline is expected to be complete and commissioned by June to allow it to be brought into service during Victoria’s winter months.
A project to convert the partly depleted Iona gas field into an underground gas storage facility is expected to be completed in time to meet gas demand in winter 2000. In that project, gas from Bass Strait will be pumped into the underground reservoir during low gas demand periods over summer. When demand rises in winter the gas will be reclaimed from underground for insertion back into the pipeline grid and distribution to customers. BHP Co Ltd’s Minerva gas field, which lies off the coast near Port Campbell, once developed, could also pump gas into the Victorian grid system through the SW pipeline but may be delivered through an independent pipeline to an industrial plant near Geelong. Transmission Pipelines of Australia South-West gas pipeline Project Manager, Bruce Rose, said the South-West gas pipeline had been planned since 1996 as part of the Iona field underground gas storage project but had been accelerated to meet demand in winter this year. The South-West gas pipeline starts at the Lara City Gate facility which is adjacent to the Princes Highway at Hovells Creek. From there it travels south-west passing north of Winchelsea and south of Colac where it terminates at the Iona gas field. The 144 km pipeline has a diameter of 500mm with a pipe wall thickness of up to 12.7 mm. The maximum operating pressure inside the pipeline is 10,200 kPa and for safety the pipeline is buried under a minimum of 900mm of backfill but usually 1.2 m of fill lies over the line. The line has been laid in a 20 metre wide easement crossing mainly rural and semi-rural land.
Individual pipe lengths are welded and x-rayed before the joins are covered with an impervious coating to prevent corrosion.
2
across Victoria
The essentially flat terrain of the pipeline route provided relatively easy conditions for clearing the easement and trenching before the South West Gas Pipeline becomes a key link in Victoria’s growing gas grid.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Bruce Rose- Transmission Pipelines of Australia 180 Greens Rd, Dandenong, Victoria Telephone (03) 9797 5222
The trench is lined with soft sand to prevent damage to the pipe coating before it is lowered into place.
The welded pipe string is flexible and can be eased around obstacles and broad changes in alignment.
3
OIL DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT MINERALS AND PETROLEUM CONTACT LIST: MINERALS BUSINESS CENTRE: Level 8, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne Vic 3002 Australia Tel: +613 9412 5020 Fax: +613 9412 5150
MINERALS AND PETROLEUM DIVISION: Fax: (03) 9412 7834 David Lea Executive Director Minerals and Petroleum Telephone: (03) 9637 8535 MINERALS BUSINESS CENTRE: Fax: (03) 9412 5150 Kim Ricketts Client Services Officer Telephone: (03) 9412 5103 MINERALS DEVELOPMENT: Fax: (03) 9637 8118 Phil Roberts Manager Minerals Development Telephone: (03) 9637 8529 Graham Gooding Regional Manager Ballarat Telephone: (03) 53 336 521 Guy Hamilton Regional Manager Bendigo Telephone: (03) 5430 4531 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY VICTORIA: Fax: (03) 9412 5155 Tom Dickson Manager Geological Survey Victoria Telephone: (03) 9412 5035 Alan Willocks Manager - Geophysics Telephone: (03) 9412 5131 Peter O’Shea Manager Geological Mapping Telephone: (03) 9412 5093 Roger Buckley Manager Mineral Resources Telephone: (03) 9412 5025
Logical Link increases Victoria’s gas safety margin
It’s a Strait challenge
Mike Woollands Manager Basin Studies Telephone: (03) 9412 5135
A
Maher Megallaa Manager Acreage Release Telephone: (03) 9412 5081
During last year’s gas crisis, the Transmission Pipelines Australia gas pipeline between Albury and Wagga Wagga in NSW provided a lifeline for Victoria. The ‘interconnect’ gas pipeline stretches between the northernmost point of the Victorian gas pipeline grid at Barnawatha near Albury, to Wagga Wagga in southern NSW.
ompetition for a slice of Victoria’s natural gas industry is increasing rapidly as national moves to deregulate the natural gas market around Australia take hold.
HEAD OFFICE: Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne Vic 3002 Australia Tel: +613 9637 8535 Fax: +613 9637 8155
Bob Harms Manager Petroleum Information Telephone: (03) 9412 5053
$74 million project has been launched to improve the safety margin for Victorian gas supplies and open the way for the first ‘interstate’ gas trade from Victoria into NSW.
Originally the connection was called the ‘logical link’ and formed the connection to allow interstate trade in gas. During last year’s gas crisis, caused by the tragic Longford gas plant explosion, the interconnect gas pipeline was able to carry 20 terajoules of gas a day into Victoria from NSW, equivalent to two per cent of winter gas demand, but of critical assistance to the state’s essential services.
Geoff Collins Manager Petroleum Projects Telephone: (03) 9637 8531 MINERALS AND PETROLEUM REGULATIONS: Fax: (03) 9412 5152
The gas from NSW was just sufficient to maintain pipeline pressure and keep emergency services operating. Now the line is being expanded to carry 92 terajoules a day into Victoria.
Rob King Manager Minerals and Petroleum Telephone: (03) 9412 5069
The volume of gas able to be carried through the interconnect pipeline was limited by two factors. One was the volume of gas which could be delivered by the NSW gas pipeline system to the start of the interconnect pipeline. The second was the volume which could then be carried through the interconnect from the town of Young in NSW to Barnawatha in northern Victoria.
David Wallish Compliance and Performance Auditing Manager Telephone: (03) 9412 5124
Now two simultaneous projects are underway to increase the pipeline’s gas carrying capacity.
George Buckland Manager Minerals and Petroleum Tenements Telephone: (03) 9412 4778
The first involves building a large compressor facility on the main NSW gas transmission pipeline which delivers gas to the market from the gas supply fields of the Cooper Basin in South Australia and south-west Queensland.
The second phase of the project is to build two smaller compressor stations, each of 4.5 megawatts, on the pipeline from Young to Melbourne. One is being built just outside the town of Young and the second just outside Barnawatha near Springhurst in northern Victoria.
Chandri Corray Manager Marketing Development Telephone: (03) 9637 8532 Fax: (03) 9637 8118
The two smaller compressors are already complete while the Bulla Park facility is expected to be operational by mid June, in time to meet peak gas demands during the winter should that be required. The additional compression on the gas pipeline is classified as a temporary measure to help Victoria cope with peak gas demand in the coming winter.
PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT: Fax: (03) 9412 5156
The future ownership of the facilities is yet to be finalised. However the new compression facilities are bi-directional so that gas is able to flow in one direction or the other.
Kathy Hill Manager Petroleum Developments Telephone: (03) 9637 8530
This will facilitate the development of a gas trading market between Victorian and interstate gas suppliers and consumers.
Reza Malek Manager Petroleum Resources Telephone: (03) 9412 5074
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Bill McLaughlin AGL Ltd, Public Affairs Manager Telephone 131 707
4
GAS NEWS
C
A new network of gas transmission pipelines being constructed along Australia’s east coast has created new opportunities for gas suppliers to enter the market and opened up potential developments for static gas reserves needing to locate new markets. This new reality in the Australian gas market has prompted Australia’s biggest petroleum company, Woodside Petroleum, to challenge Esso/BHP’s 35-year Bass Strait dominance. Woodside, operator of the massive NorthWest Shelf gas project in Western Australia, has paid $36 million for 20 per cent of the Kipper field and 47 per cent of the nearby Basker/Manta/Gummy gas fields. Both areas have emerged recently as candidates to supplement Victoria’s gas supplies. The Woodside purchase could be the first move by Woodside in a strategy aimed at establishing a strong presence in the gas industry along the eastern seaboard. Bass Strait gas will soon be delivered into NSW through a $440 million pipeline being built by Duke Energy to connect Esso’s
An 11 megawatt compressor is being installed at Bulla Park midway along the Moomba to Sydney gas transmission pipeline to increase gas deliveries to Young. Although the compressor station is in NSW it will remain the property of Transmission Pipelines of Australia for the immediate future.
INFORMATION: Janne Bonnett Manager Library Telephone: (03) 9412 5022 Fax: (03) 9412 5157
,
Longford plant in Gippsland to the main NSW grid near Sydney. Woodside Managing Director, John Akehurst, said the acquisition of the interest in Kipper was “a significant step for Woodside in its ambitions to establish itself in the eastern Australia gas market.
Woodside Managing Director, John Akehurst, has returned his company to its beginnings by taking an interest in Bass Strait’s Kipper gas field. Woodside took its name from the tiny hamlet of Woodside on the shores of Bass Strait where it conducted its first oil and gas exploration.
NEW OFFSHORE GAS FIELD DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED
A
s the pace of gas reform in Victoria accelerates, several new proposals for offshore gas field developments have started to emerge.
Already BHP is studying a $750m project involving the development of the Minerva gas field off the coast of south-west Victoria near Port Campbell. A joint venture of the Bass Strait partners Esso and BHP and including gas majors Woodside Petroleum and Santos Ltd, is studying ways to develop the associated Kipper/Basker/Manta gas fields in Bass Strait. Now Cultus Petroleum, already well known in the Victorian Petroleum industry, has announced it is forming a group to study the possible commercial development of the Patricia/Baleen gas field about 25 km from Orbost in Bass Strait.
Cultus has joined with international oil industry services company, Schlumberger Integrated Project Management, to study the commercialisation of the fields.
Cultus said its study would spend the first six months analysing the market and reservoir and production details of the project with the aim of achieving first gas production next year.
Patricia/Baleen, owned 100 per cent by Cultus, contains a substantial volume of dry gas which Cultus plans to bring ashore via a sub-sea gas pipeline and process at a gas plant to be built near Orbost.
Last year, Cultus reached agreement to sell its Otway Basin petroleum interests to Boral Energy Resources Limited.
Cultus said, “Patricia/Baleen represents a strategic dry gas reserve base which, in addition to its production capacity, has potential to be used for (underground) gas storage for the Victorian market.” The field lies 25 km off the coast from Orbost and the proposed Eastern Gas Pipeline, which will run from the Longford gas plant to Sydney, will pass just 10km from the proposed onshore gas processing plant at Orbost.
5
The sale involved a minimum payment of $37.1 million, leaving Cultus well placed to develop other projects within its corporate portfolio. See story next page - ‘Project Development Options’. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Sam Russotti, Secretary Cultus Petroleum Telephone (02) 9418 1522
OIL DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT MINERALS AND PETROLEUM CONTACT LIST: MINERALS BUSINESS CENTRE: Level 8, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne Vic 3002 Australia Tel: +613 9412 5020 Fax: +613 9412 5150
MINERALS AND PETROLEUM DIVISION: Fax: (03) 9412 7834 David Lea Executive Director Minerals and Petroleum Telephone: (03) 9637 8535 MINERALS BUSINESS CENTRE: Fax: (03) 9412 5150 Kim Ricketts Client Services Officer Telephone: (03) 9412 5103 MINERALS DEVELOPMENT: Fax: (03) 9637 8118 Phil Roberts Manager Minerals Development Telephone: (03) 9637 8529 Graham Gooding Regional Manager Ballarat Telephone: (03) 53 336 521 Guy Hamilton Regional Manager Bendigo Telephone: (03) 5430 4531 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY VICTORIA: Fax: (03) 9412 5155 Tom Dickson Manager Geological Survey Victoria Telephone: (03) 9412 5035 Alan Willocks Manager - Geophysics Telephone: (03) 9412 5131 Peter O’Shea Manager Geological Mapping Telephone: (03) 9412 5093 Roger Buckley Manager Mineral Resources Telephone: (03) 9412 5025
Logical Link increases Victoria’s gas safety margin
It’s a Strait challenge
Mike Woollands Manager Basin Studies Telephone: (03) 9412 5135
A
Maher Megallaa Manager Acreage Release Telephone: (03) 9412 5081
During last year’s gas crisis, the Transmission Pipelines Australia gas pipeline between Albury and Wagga Wagga in NSW provided a lifeline for Victoria. The ‘interconnect’ gas pipeline stretches between the northernmost point of the Victorian gas pipeline grid at Barnawatha near Albury, to Wagga Wagga in southern NSW.
ompetition for a slice of Victoria’s natural gas industry is increasing rapidly as national moves to deregulate the natural gas market around Australia take hold.
HEAD OFFICE: Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne Vic 3002 Australia Tel: +613 9637 8535 Fax: +613 9637 8155
Bob Harms Manager Petroleum Information Telephone: (03) 9412 5053
$74 million project has been launched to improve the safety margin for Victorian gas supplies and open the way for the first ‘interstate’ gas trade from Victoria into NSW.
Originally the connection was called the ‘logical link’ and formed the connection to allow interstate trade in gas. During last year’s gas crisis, caused by the tragic Longford gas plant explosion, the interconnect gas pipeline was able to carry 20 terajoules of gas a day into Victoria from NSW, equivalent to two per cent of winter gas demand, but of critical assistance to the state’s essential services.
Geoff Collins Manager Petroleum Projects Telephone: (03) 9637 8531 MINERALS AND PETROLEUM REGULATIONS: Fax: (03) 9412 5152
The gas from NSW was just sufficient to maintain pipeline pressure and keep emergency services operating. Now the line is being expanded to carry 92 terajoules a day into Victoria.
Rob King Manager Minerals and Petroleum Telephone: (03) 9412 5069
The volume of gas able to be carried through the interconnect pipeline was limited by two factors. One was the volume of gas which could be delivered by the NSW gas pipeline system to the start of the interconnect pipeline. The second was the volume which could then be carried through the interconnect from the town of Young in NSW to Barnawatha in northern Victoria.
David Wallish Compliance and Performance Auditing Manager Telephone: (03) 9412 5124
Now two simultaneous projects are underway to increase the pipeline’s gas carrying capacity.
George Buckland Manager Minerals and Petroleum Tenements Telephone: (03) 9412 4778
The first involves building a large compressor facility on the main NSW gas transmission pipeline which delivers gas to the market from the gas supply fields of the Cooper Basin in South Australia and south-west Queensland.
The second phase of the project is to build two smaller compressor stations, each of 4.5 megawatts, on the pipeline from Young to Melbourne. One is being built just outside the town of Young and the second just outside Barnawatha near Springhurst in northern Victoria.
Chandri Corray Manager Marketing Development Telephone: (03) 9637 8532 Fax: (03) 9637 8118
The two smaller compressors are already complete while the Bulla Park facility is expected to be operational by mid June, in time to meet peak gas demands during the winter should that be required. The additional compression on the gas pipeline is classified as a temporary measure to help Victoria cope with peak gas demand in the coming winter.
PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT: Fax: (03) 9412 5156
The future ownership of the facilities is yet to be finalised. However the new compression facilities are bi-directional so that gas is able to flow in one direction or the other.
Kathy Hill Manager Petroleum Developments Telephone: (03) 9637 8530
This will facilitate the development of a gas trading market between Victorian and interstate gas suppliers and consumers.
Reza Malek Manager Petroleum Resources Telephone: (03) 9412 5074
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Bill McLaughlin AGL Ltd, Public Affairs Manager Telephone 131 707
4
GAS NEWS
C
A new network of gas transmission pipelines being constructed along Australia’s east coast has created new opportunities for gas suppliers to enter the market and opened up potential developments for static gas reserves needing to locate new markets. This new reality in the Australian gas market has prompted Australia’s biggest petroleum company, Woodside Petroleum, to challenge Esso/BHP’s 35-year Bass Strait dominance. Woodside, operator of the massive NorthWest Shelf gas project in Western Australia, has paid $36 million for 20 per cent of the Kipper field and 47 per cent of the nearby Basker/Manta/Gummy gas fields. Both areas have emerged recently as candidates to supplement Victoria’s gas supplies. The Woodside purchase could be the first move by Woodside in a strategy aimed at establishing a strong presence in the gas industry along the eastern seaboard. Bass Strait gas will soon be delivered into NSW through a $440 million pipeline being built by Duke Energy to connect Esso’s
An 11 megawatt compressor is being installed at Bulla Park midway along the Moomba to Sydney gas transmission pipeline to increase gas deliveries to Young. Although the compressor station is in NSW it will remain the property of Transmission Pipelines of Australia for the immediate future.
INFORMATION: Janne Bonnett Manager Library Telephone: (03) 9412 5022 Fax: (03) 9412 5157
,
Longford plant in Gippsland to the main NSW grid near Sydney. Woodside Managing Director, John Akehurst, said the acquisition of the interest in Kipper was “a significant step for Woodside in its ambitions to establish itself in the eastern Australia gas market.
Woodside Managing Director, John Akehurst, has returned his company to its beginnings by taking an interest in Bass Strait’s Kipper gas field. Woodside took its name from the tiny hamlet of Woodside on the shores of Bass Strait where it conducted its first oil and gas exploration.
NEW OFFSHORE GAS FIELD DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED
A
s the pace of gas reform in Victoria accelerates, several new proposals for offshore gas field developments have started to emerge.
Already BHP is studying a $750m project involving the development of the Minerva gas field off the coast of south-west Victoria near Port Campbell. A joint venture of the Bass Strait partners Esso and BHP and including gas majors Woodside Petroleum and Santos Ltd, is studying ways to develop the associated Kipper/Basker/Manta gas fields in Bass Strait. Now Cultus Petroleum, already well known in the Victorian Petroleum industry, has announced it is forming a group to study the possible commercial development of the Patricia/Baleen gas field about 25 km from Orbost in Bass Strait.
Cultus has joined with international oil industry services company, Schlumberger Integrated Project Management, to study the commercialisation of the fields.
Cultus said its study would spend the first six months analysing the market and reservoir and production details of the project with the aim of achieving first gas production next year.
Patricia/Baleen, owned 100 per cent by Cultus, contains a substantial volume of dry gas which Cultus plans to bring ashore via a sub-sea gas pipeline and process at a gas plant to be built near Orbost.
Last year, Cultus reached agreement to sell its Otway Basin petroleum interests to Boral Energy Resources Limited.
Cultus said, “Patricia/Baleen represents a strategic dry gas reserve base which, in addition to its production capacity, has potential to be used for (underground) gas storage for the Victorian market.” The field lies 25 km off the coast from Orbost and the proposed Eastern Gas Pipeline, which will run from the Longford gas plant to Sydney, will pass just 10km from the proposed onshore gas processing plant at Orbost.
5
The sale involved a minimum payment of $37.1 million, leaving Cultus well placed to develop other projects within its corporate portfolio. See story next page - ‘Project Development Options’. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Sam Russotti, Secretary Cultus Petroleum Telephone (02) 9418 1522
OIL
,
GAS NEWS
REGULAR FEATURE
Decline points way ahead for miners “Woodside has been a reliable gas supplier over the past 15 years as operator of Western Australia’s North-West Shelf gas project, the country’s biggest resource development,” Mr Akehurst said. “An interest in Bass Strait will provide a launching pad for Woodside to bring greater diversity of gas supply to Victoria and greater choice for gas customers.” Additionally, the push to develop alternative sources of gas supply has been prompted, in part, by last September’s Longford gas plant explosion, which killed two men and cost Victorian industry more than $1 billion when gas was shut off for two weeks. Woodside’s northwest shelf partner, Shell Australia, already holds 20 per cent of Kipper and 47 per cent of the Basker/Manta/ Gummy fields. Woodside’s buy-out of Australian Worldwide Exploration and News Corp remains subject to pre-emptive rights held by the other partners. Esso and BHP, which together own 50 per cent of the permit Vic/RL2 which contains the majority of the Kipper field, are currently studying the feasibility of a Kipper develop-
ment and are preparing to drill at least one more appraisal well to determine field reserves. The Kipper field also extends into Esso/BHP’s wholly owned adjacent permit area containing the Tuna oil field. Basker lies in a separate permit area designated Vic/P19. AWE proposed a development plan for the Kipper field last year which involved the development of both Kipper and the Basker fields, with the gas to be piped ashore to a processing plant to be built near Orbost.
Access to the Kipper joint venture has given Santos an ear into possible development plans for new Bass Strait gas resources.
R
Kipper gas would also be a prime candidate for NSW sales via the Duke Energy pipeline, a market now supplied almost exclusively from the Santos-operated Cooper Basin fields.
New life has been breathed into gold mining in Victoria with the start of construction to this four kilometre decline to gain access to potentially rich reefs beneath the city of Bendigo.
Recent exploration over Kipper and associated fields included a 3D seismic survey which was acquired late last year.
While most of us will be planning year 2000 parties this New Year's eve, there are some who argue that in fact the new millennium doesn't start until January 2001.
Last year when Vic/RL2 came up for renewal new conditions were imposed, requiring the permit operator to conduct new seismic surveys of the field and to produce its own development plan for the field within two years.
Interpretation of an earlier seismic survey over the Basker/Manta block by joint venture operator, Shell, suggests the gas pools in these fields are more extensive than previously mapped.
There is no such argument in Bendigo — a new millennium will almost certainly begin around January 2001, for that is when the decline is expected to be accessing major ore bodies and serious gold production will be in full swing.
Woodside’s public affairs manager, Rob Millhouse, said the company hoped to be able to work with its joint-venture partners to bring Kipper gas to the Victorian market “as soon as possible.”
Potential resources of up to 600 billion cubic feet have been estimated, up to a quarter of which may extend into VIC/P19.
That will indeed be a new era for Bendigo.
Shortly after Woodside acquired its stake. the Adelaide based oil and gas producer, Santos Ltd, acquired an economic interest in a 7.5 per cent stake in the Kipper field from Gulf Australia Resources Ltd.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Rob Millhouse Woodside Petroleum Ltd Telephone (08) 9224 4281
PATRICIA/BALEEN GAS PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS
A
A variety of field development plans for the Patricia and associated Baleen gas discoveries have been proposed since the fields were discovered in 1987. Initially, it was proposed to create a sub-sea development with the wells tied back to the nearby Tuna A platform, located 16 km away. A later proposal suggested and sought a local gas consumer in the Orbost area to take gas direct from the field via a sub-sea pipeline. A third development involved the construction of an independent 140km gas pipeline to the Esso operated Longford gas plant. But the most recent suggestion is for a subsea completion with a sub-sea gas pipeline to connect into the Duke Energy east coast gas pipeline due to be constructed in the next year to take Victorian gas into the New South Wales market.
ecently I had the great pleasure of opening the Sir James Goldsmith Portal at Bendigo.
The Patricia and Baleen gas fields lie in 55 metres of water 23 km off the Gippsland coast on the Northern platform of the Gippsland Basin. The gas reservoirs lie from 650 metres to 730 metres below the seabed and comprise the Gurnard formation and the top Latrobe clastics. The Baleen 1 discovery well was drilled in 1987. It flowed gas at a rate of 6.3 million standard cubic feet a day through a one inch diameter choke. The Patricia 1 well was drilled showrtly afterwards and flowed gas at 24.1 million cubic feet a day. Subsequent seismic surveys have confirmed the extent of the fields with proven and probable gas reserves currently standing at about 80 petajoules.
fields, Vic/P11, was first gazetted in 1978 and granted to the Gas and Fuel Corporation for six years. In 1985, the reduced permit was renewed for five years under both state and federal legislation as Vic/P11 and Vic/P11(v) Various equity holders in the permits transferred all their interests to the Gas and Fuel Corp in 1994 and Gas and Fuel Exploration, later renamed as GFE Resources, was sold to Cultus Petroleum in 1995, leaving the company with a 100 per cent interest in the two gas fields. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Sam Russotti, Secretary Cultus Petroleum Telephone (02) 9418 1522
With potentially as much as 10 million ounces of gold to be recovered, and even at current prices that represents around $4-5 billion in total value - the project is going to have a long and positive influence on Bendigo and the region. Several people have made this possible; the people of Bendigo Mining who had the vision to see what was possible, the financiers and those whose technical and management skills have enabled this. As well, my Department has recorded some quite remarkable achievements in getting proper and responsible analysis and assessment of complex environmental, social and planning issues in time-frames that are pretty impressive.
There is an irony here, of course. Had previous administrations been as positive and productive in dealing with these issues, then Bendigo Mining might never have had the opportunity for such a project. Western Mining labored in Bendigo for a decade or more with a similar dream of reestablishing large scale mining. They made no secret of the fact that one of the major factors contributing to their decision not to proceed was frustration with the interminable planning and administrative delays they experienced. Thanks to legislation approved by my Parliamentary colleagues and a real revitalisation of my Department, things have improved considerably. However, we still need to carefully weigh all the social and environmental impacts of any decision and to consider all the interests of local communities. But I think there is now a greater understanding of the time-frames required if productive enterprises like this are to go ahead. One of the major challenges for Bendigo Mining NL is to operate the mine in the midst of a modern urban environment. Having seen the responsible way in which the company and the various government and local government authorities have addressed the project, I hope that many of those community fears will have been allayed. Bendigo Mining has shown that it is possible to operate responsibly and sensitively and
in which that will happen. That is why we continue to fund initiatives like VIMP 2001 – a program in which the government is conducting extensive geological research which we make available to the industry. All of us must work, of course, within the vagaries of world commodity markets and the fluctuating enthusiasm of investors for mining exploration and development. These are as much a constraint on our program to develop Victoria's minerals industry as they are to project developers. The Bendigo project is evidence that we can weather through.
Bendigo Mining has shown that it is possible to operate responsibly and sensitively and with considerable community support, even in a relatively urbanised environment.
It is a monument to those who, like Sir James Goldsmith, had the vision to see the potential of Victoria's great gold provinces and the courage to commit their capital toward that goal. May it continue to grow and prosper.
with considerable community support, even in a relatively urbanised environment. There are lessons there for others. I am hopeful that the Bendigo project will be only the first in a succession that will see Victoria re-emerge as a major minerals producer.
The permit containing the Patricia/Baleen
It is my ongoing goal to create a framework
6
7
Patrick McNamara Deputy Premier Minister for Agriculture and Resources
OIL
,
GAS NEWS
REGULAR FEATURE
Decline points way ahead for miners “Woodside has been a reliable gas supplier over the past 15 years as operator of Western Australia’s North-West Shelf gas project, the country’s biggest resource development,” Mr Akehurst said. “An interest in Bass Strait will provide a launching pad for Woodside to bring greater diversity of gas supply to Victoria and greater choice for gas customers.” Additionally, the push to develop alternative sources of gas supply has been prompted, in part, by last September’s Longford gas plant explosion, which killed two men and cost Victorian industry more than $1 billion when gas was shut off for two weeks. Woodside’s northwest shelf partner, Shell Australia, already holds 20 per cent of Kipper and 47 per cent of the Basker/Manta/ Gummy fields. Woodside’s buy-out of Australian Worldwide Exploration and News Corp remains subject to pre-emptive rights held by the other partners. Esso and BHP, which together own 50 per cent of the permit Vic/RL2 which contains the majority of the Kipper field, are currently studying the feasibility of a Kipper develop-
ment and are preparing to drill at least one more appraisal well to determine field reserves. The Kipper field also extends into Esso/BHP’s wholly owned adjacent permit area containing the Tuna oil field. Basker lies in a separate permit area designated Vic/P19. AWE proposed a development plan for the Kipper field last year which involved the development of both Kipper and the Basker fields, with the gas to be piped ashore to a processing plant to be built near Orbost.
Access to the Kipper joint venture has given Santos an ear into possible development plans for new Bass Strait gas resources.
R
Kipper gas would also be a prime candidate for NSW sales via the Duke Energy pipeline, a market now supplied almost exclusively from the Santos-operated Cooper Basin fields.
New life has been breathed into gold mining in Victoria with the start of construction to this four kilometre decline to gain access to potentially rich reefs beneath the city of Bendigo.
Recent exploration over Kipper and associated fields included a 3D seismic survey which was acquired late last year.
While most of us will be planning year 2000 parties this New Year's eve, there are some who argue that in fact the new millennium doesn't start until January 2001.
Last year when Vic/RL2 came up for renewal new conditions were imposed, requiring the permit operator to conduct new seismic surveys of the field and to produce its own development plan for the field within two years.
Interpretation of an earlier seismic survey over the Basker/Manta block by joint venture operator, Shell, suggests the gas pools in these fields are more extensive than previously mapped.
There is no such argument in Bendigo — a new millennium will almost certainly begin around January 2001, for that is when the decline is expected to be accessing major ore bodies and serious gold production will be in full swing.
Woodside’s public affairs manager, Rob Millhouse, said the company hoped to be able to work with its joint-venture partners to bring Kipper gas to the Victorian market “as soon as possible.”
Potential resources of up to 600 billion cubic feet have been estimated, up to a quarter of which may extend into VIC/P19.
That will indeed be a new era for Bendigo.
Shortly after Woodside acquired its stake. the Adelaide based oil and gas producer, Santos Ltd, acquired an economic interest in a 7.5 per cent stake in the Kipper field from Gulf Australia Resources Ltd.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Rob Millhouse Woodside Petroleum Ltd Telephone (08) 9224 4281
PATRICIA/BALEEN GAS PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS
A
A variety of field development plans for the Patricia and associated Baleen gas discoveries have been proposed since the fields were discovered in 1987. Initially, it was proposed to create a sub-sea development with the wells tied back to the nearby Tuna A platform, located 16 km away. A later proposal suggested and sought a local gas consumer in the Orbost area to take gas direct from the field via a sub-sea pipeline. A third development involved the construction of an independent 140km gas pipeline to the Esso operated Longford gas plant. But the most recent suggestion is for a subsea completion with a sub-sea gas pipeline to connect into the Duke Energy east coast gas pipeline due to be constructed in the next year to take Victorian gas into the New South Wales market.
ecently I had the great pleasure of opening the Sir James Goldsmith Portal at Bendigo.
The Patricia and Baleen gas fields lie in 55 metres of water 23 km off the Gippsland coast on the Northern platform of the Gippsland Basin. The gas reservoirs lie from 650 metres to 730 metres below the seabed and comprise the Gurnard formation and the top Latrobe clastics. The Baleen 1 discovery well was drilled in 1987. It flowed gas at a rate of 6.3 million standard cubic feet a day through a one inch diameter choke. The Patricia 1 well was drilled showrtly afterwards and flowed gas at 24.1 million cubic feet a day. Subsequent seismic surveys have confirmed the extent of the fields with proven and probable gas reserves currently standing at about 80 petajoules.
fields, Vic/P11, was first gazetted in 1978 and granted to the Gas and Fuel Corporation for six years. In 1985, the reduced permit was renewed for five years under both state and federal legislation as Vic/P11 and Vic/P11(v) Various equity holders in the permits transferred all their interests to the Gas and Fuel Corp in 1994 and Gas and Fuel Exploration, later renamed as GFE Resources, was sold to Cultus Petroleum in 1995, leaving the company with a 100 per cent interest in the two gas fields. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Sam Russotti, Secretary Cultus Petroleum Telephone (02) 9418 1522
With potentially as much as 10 million ounces of gold to be recovered, and even at current prices that represents around $4-5 billion in total value - the project is going to have a long and positive influence on Bendigo and the region. Several people have made this possible; the people of Bendigo Mining who had the vision to see what was possible, the financiers and those whose technical and management skills have enabled this. As well, my Department has recorded some quite remarkable achievements in getting proper and responsible analysis and assessment of complex environmental, social and planning issues in time-frames that are pretty impressive.
There is an irony here, of course. Had previous administrations been as positive and productive in dealing with these issues, then Bendigo Mining might never have had the opportunity for such a project. Western Mining labored in Bendigo for a decade or more with a similar dream of reestablishing large scale mining. They made no secret of the fact that one of the major factors contributing to their decision not to proceed was frustration with the interminable planning and administrative delays they experienced. Thanks to legislation approved by my Parliamentary colleagues and a real revitalisation of my Department, things have improved considerably. However, we still need to carefully weigh all the social and environmental impacts of any decision and to consider all the interests of local communities. But I think there is now a greater understanding of the time-frames required if productive enterprises like this are to go ahead. One of the major challenges for Bendigo Mining NL is to operate the mine in the midst of a modern urban environment. Having seen the responsible way in which the company and the various government and local government authorities have addressed the project, I hope that many of those community fears will have been allayed. Bendigo Mining has shown that it is possible to operate responsibly and sensitively and
in which that will happen. That is why we continue to fund initiatives like VIMP 2001 – a program in which the government is conducting extensive geological research which we make available to the industry. All of us must work, of course, within the vagaries of world commodity markets and the fluctuating enthusiasm of investors for mining exploration and development. These are as much a constraint on our program to develop Victoria's minerals industry as they are to project developers. The Bendigo project is evidence that we can weather through.
Bendigo Mining has shown that it is possible to operate responsibly and sensitively and with considerable community support, even in a relatively urbanised environment.
It is a monument to those who, like Sir James Goldsmith, had the vision to see the potential of Victoria's great gold provinces and the courage to commit their capital toward that goal. May it continue to grow and prosper.
with considerable community support, even in a relatively urbanised environment. There are lessons there for others. I am hopeful that the Bendigo project will be only the first in a succession that will see Victoria re-emerge as a major minerals producer.
The permit containing the Patricia/Baleen
It is my ongoing goal to create a framework
6
7
Patrick McNamara Deputy Premier Minister for Agriculture and Resources
VIMP NEWS
ADVERTISEMENT
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For information: TPC PNEUMATICS PTY LTD 100% AUSTRALIAN OWNED AND OPERATED 4/16 MACQUARIE PLACE BORONIA 3155 VICTORIA
VIMP gives a nine to one return E
xploration spending in Victoria has held up well despite the global slump in mineral and energy prices in the past two years and substantial falls in spending across Australia.
Stawell Gold Mines may also finalise development of the open pit operation in the town further boosting Victorian mineral production. David Lea, Executive Director of Minerals and Petroleum within the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, also praised the success of the VIMP program.
A major factor in maintaining this high level of interest in the state has been the $25.5 million Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP 2001) program.VIMP’s impact is clear.
A far greater percentage of Victoria’s land area was now covered by a variety of differing, Government sponsored geological surveys than any other state in Australia, he said.
Speaking at last month’s release of the latest package of VIMP 2001 data, Tom Dickson, manager of the Geological Survey of Victoria, said that every dollar spent under the VIMP program to provide high quality data over the majority of the state had triggered corporate spending on exploration of at least $9.
More than 70 per cent of the state’s area is covered by airborne magnetic surveys with radiometric and gravity surveys over similar large tracts of Victoria. Mr Dickson also highlighted the significant role that Geological Survey Victoria had played in the discovery of a number of notable Victorian mineral deposits.
“The reason for encouraging exploration expenditure is, of course, to ensure that new resources are discovered and again VIMP has been extremely successful,” he added. Since the VIMP began in 1994, exploration spending has risen in line with the rate of Government spending. But the value of new minerals discovered has also risen dramatically in the same period with over 4 million ounces of gold and 4 million tonnes of rutile, zircon and ilmenite added to the state’s resource inventory.
Mr Dickson said that while every dollar of government spending translated into $9 of exploration spending the figures also extended to the discovery of $83 worth of gold and $64 worth of mineral sands, a total of $156 for every dollar of government money invested in base line exploration data provided through the VIMP program.
The Wemen mineral sand deposit, soon to be commercially exploited, was discovered when an Aberfoyle Ltd geologist discovered the records of an old water bore drilled into the middle of the orebody in 1984. The bore intersected three metres of heavy mineral sands grading 10 per cent valuable mineral from a depth of 11 metres.
Basin region under the VIMP program also has been interpreted by GSV geologist, David Moore, to clearly show a number of strand lines likely to contain mineral sand deposits. Drilling on one of those features produced the commercial Kulwin discovery. Mr Dickson said that with the rapidly increasing interest in the Murray Basin mineral sands potential, the tenth VIMP data release would be of value to explorers. “The GSV is building up a full GIS data base of all heavy mineral drilling and assay data for the Basin,” Mr Dickson said. “We currently have data for 5000 Rio Tinto and BHP drill holes and will soon have the remaining 6000 holes from the open file list from Renison, Aberfoyle and others on the data base.” The extensive volume of mineral sands data allows users to zoom in on a particular area and plot different aspects, such as the overburden thickness or mineral sand thickness.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Tom Dickson, Manager Geological Survey of Victoria Telephone (03) 9412 5035
Magnetic data accumulated over the Murray
The biggest mineral sands discoveries to date are the Kulwin and Wemen deposits near Ouyen. Mr Dickson said these two deposits were expected to add $106 million a year to Victorian mineral and energy production. This could easily be boosted by the successful development of gold production at the Fosterville sulphide gold project being developed by Perseverance Corporation and underground gold production at Bendigo. Kubota Tractor Australia is currently evaluating an R&D unit of a new mini excavator, with plans to release a new model later this year. The K008 weighs only 825 kg but has great digging power in a very compact package. Its minimum machine width of 700mm allows it to be driven through narrow entrances as small as a standard doorway, or even get to work in a lift!
The latest release of VIMP data continues the trend of Victorian Government sponsored encouragement to the exploration industry to consider Victoria when allocating exploration budgets. Figures already show a strongly positive return on the Government’s investment in baseline data for mineral and petroleum exploration.
TELEPHONE FREECALL 1800 334 653 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
8
9
VIMP 2001 The latest data release from the VIMP 2001 program contains a wealth of information for explorers. Included in the package are 13 new 1:50,000 scale maps covering the Heathcote, Benambra and Nagambie 1:100,000 map sheets. There are also detailed explanatory notes and geophysical interpretation of each 1:100,000 mapsheet. All maps are produced in hard copy or digital format. Full GIS data sets are available for Charlton and Nagambie map sheets with sets for Heathcote and Benambra available in late April. Two VIMP reports have also been produced. Number 59 covers the mineral exploration history of the Ballarat and Creswick 1:100,000 mapsheet area while report 63 reproduces the mineral exploration history of the Castlemaine, Woodend, Yea and Bacchus Marsh 1:100,000 map areas. Each report provides exploration summaries of each EL including stream sediment, soil and rock chip samples as well as geochemistry, geophysical and drilling data. A series of tables details the geochemical and drilling programs and identifies principal exploration targets and prospects. The data provided over the Benambra region could also spark a new round of exploration for substantial copper, gold and other base metal targets. Two images of data accumulated in an extensive soil sampling exercise have been compiled. The data was converted into pixels and imaged in a similar way to airborne magnetic data. These images highlight in yellow and red truly anomalous base metal occurrences which will bear follow up exploration. Many appear as large as the Wilga deposit near Benambra, mined successfully for a number of years, but which have never been followed up with substantive exploration. "These images show just what you can do with the raw geochemistry data and just how powerful the processed geochemistry can be as an exploration tool," Mr Dickson said. Also included in the VIMP data release is gravity data over five new areas, Beaufort/Grampians, Portland, Melbourne, Bendigo/Nagambie and Ouyen. That completes the gravity coverage over the entire western portion of Victoria, comprising 60 per cent of the state and covering the Murray Basin, the Otway basin and the central Victorian goldfields. Gravity data, used in conjunction with magnetics, is a powerful mapping and structural geological tool for use in exploration. "It can assist in determining the thickness of basalt cover, look for uncovered granite bodies and even detect large areas of alteration," Mr Dickson said.
VIMP NEWS
ADVERTISEMENT
DISCOVERY Product Showcase TPC PNEUMATICS PTY LTD a 100% Australian owned and operated company introduces its new range of Carbon Steel heavy duty cylinders specifically designed for the Mining Industry. These cylinders are machined and assembled in Australia. Standard features of the range include adjustable cushioning up to 300mm bore size, stainless steel tie rods, piston rods. Barrel is available in aluminium up to 160mm bore, steel barrel 200 to 400mm bore and fibreglass in all sizes. The most common application for these cylinders is the automation of Knife Gate valves.
For information: TPC PNEUMATICS PTY LTD 100% AUSTRALIAN OWNED AND OPERATED 4/16 MACQUARIE PLACE BORONIA 3155 VICTORIA
VIMP gives a nine to one return E
xploration spending in Victoria has held up well despite the global slump in mineral and energy prices in the past two years and substantial falls in spending across Australia.
Stawell Gold Mines may also finalise development of the open pit operation in the town further boosting Victorian mineral production. David Lea, Executive Director of Minerals and Petroleum within the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, also praised the success of the VIMP program.
A major factor in maintaining this high level of interest in the state has been the $25.5 million Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP 2001) program.VIMP’s impact is clear.
A far greater percentage of Victoria’s land area was now covered by a variety of differing, Government sponsored geological surveys than any other state in Australia, he said.
Speaking at last month’s release of the latest package of VIMP 2001 data, Tom Dickson, manager of the Geological Survey of Victoria, said that every dollar spent under the VIMP program to provide high quality data over the majority of the state had triggered corporate spending on exploration of at least $9.
More than 70 per cent of the state’s area is covered by airborne magnetic surveys with radiometric and gravity surveys over similar large tracts of Victoria. Mr Dickson also highlighted the significant role that Geological Survey Victoria had played in the discovery of a number of notable Victorian mineral deposits.
“The reason for encouraging exploration expenditure is, of course, to ensure that new resources are discovered and again VIMP has been extremely successful,” he added. Since the VIMP began in 1994, exploration spending has risen in line with the rate of Government spending. But the value of new minerals discovered has also risen dramatically in the same period with over 4 million ounces of gold and 4 million tonnes of rutile, zircon and ilmenite added to the state’s resource inventory.
Mr Dickson said that while every dollar of government spending translated into $9 of exploration spending the figures also extended to the discovery of $83 worth of gold and $64 worth of mineral sands, a total of $156 for every dollar of government money invested in base line exploration data provided through the VIMP program.
The Wemen mineral sand deposit, soon to be commercially exploited, was discovered when an Aberfoyle Ltd geologist discovered the records of an old water bore drilled into the middle of the orebody in 1984. The bore intersected three metres of heavy mineral sands grading 10 per cent valuable mineral from a depth of 11 metres.
Basin region under the VIMP program also has been interpreted by GSV geologist, David Moore, to clearly show a number of strand lines likely to contain mineral sand deposits. Drilling on one of those features produced the commercial Kulwin discovery. Mr Dickson said that with the rapidly increasing interest in the Murray Basin mineral sands potential, the tenth VIMP data release would be of value to explorers. “The GSV is building up a full GIS data base of all heavy mineral drilling and assay data for the Basin,” Mr Dickson said. “We currently have data for 5000 Rio Tinto and BHP drill holes and will soon have the remaining 6000 holes from the open file list from Renison, Aberfoyle and others on the data base.” The extensive volume of mineral sands data allows users to zoom in on a particular area and plot different aspects, such as the overburden thickness or mineral sand thickness.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Tom Dickson, Manager Geological Survey of Victoria Telephone (03) 9412 5035
Magnetic data accumulated over the Murray
The biggest mineral sands discoveries to date are the Kulwin and Wemen deposits near Ouyen. Mr Dickson said these two deposits were expected to add $106 million a year to Victorian mineral and energy production. This could easily be boosted by the successful development of gold production at the Fosterville sulphide gold project being developed by Perseverance Corporation and underground gold production at Bendigo. Kubota Tractor Australia is currently evaluating an R&D unit of a new mini excavator, with plans to release a new model later this year. The K008 weighs only 825 kg but has great digging power in a very compact package. Its minimum machine width of 700mm allows it to be driven through narrow entrances as small as a standard doorway, or even get to work in a lift!
The latest release of VIMP data continues the trend of Victorian Government sponsored encouragement to the exploration industry to consider Victoria when allocating exploration budgets. Figures already show a strongly positive return on the Government’s investment in baseline data for mineral and petroleum exploration.
TELEPHONE FREECALL 1800 334 653 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
8
9
VIMP 2001 The latest data release from the VIMP 2001 program contains a wealth of information for explorers. Included in the package are 13 new 1:50,000 scale maps covering the Heathcote, Benambra and Nagambie 1:100,000 map sheets. There are also detailed explanatory notes and geophysical interpretation of each 1:100,000 mapsheet. All maps are produced in hard copy or digital format. Full GIS data sets are available for Charlton and Nagambie map sheets with sets for Heathcote and Benambra available in late April. Two VIMP reports have also been produced. Number 59 covers the mineral exploration history of the Ballarat and Creswick 1:100,000 mapsheet area while report 63 reproduces the mineral exploration history of the Castlemaine, Woodend, Yea and Bacchus Marsh 1:100,000 map areas. Each report provides exploration summaries of each EL including stream sediment, soil and rock chip samples as well as geochemistry, geophysical and drilling data. A series of tables details the geochemical and drilling programs and identifies principal exploration targets and prospects. The data provided over the Benambra region could also spark a new round of exploration for substantial copper, gold and other base metal targets. Two images of data accumulated in an extensive soil sampling exercise have been compiled. The data was converted into pixels and imaged in a similar way to airborne magnetic data. These images highlight in yellow and red truly anomalous base metal occurrences which will bear follow up exploration. Many appear as large as the Wilga deposit near Benambra, mined successfully for a number of years, but which have never been followed up with substantive exploration. "These images show just what you can do with the raw geochemistry data and just how powerful the processed geochemistry can be as an exploration tool," Mr Dickson said. Also included in the VIMP data release is gravity data over five new areas, Beaufort/Grampians, Portland, Melbourne, Bendigo/Nagambie and Ouyen. That completes the gravity coverage over the entire western portion of Victoria, comprising 60 per cent of the state and covering the Murray Basin, the Otway basin and the central Victorian goldfields. Gravity data, used in conjunction with magnetics, is a powerful mapping and structural geological tool for use in exploration. "It can assist in determining the thickness of basalt cover, look for uncovered granite bodies and even detect large areas of alteration," Mr Dickson said.
PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
EXPLORATION NEWS
Gas window is open Victoria’s position as the leader in Australia’s petroleum industry may have been taken over by the emergence of the oil and gas resources in Western Australia, but strong interest remains in developing new gas resources within the state. The creation of a strong interstate trade in natural gas is driving many of the new market opportunities. Kathy Hill, Manager of Petroleum Development with the Minerals and Petroleum Division of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, summarises the activity in an edited version of a presentation to the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference held in Perth during April.
A
ctivity in the Victorian oil and gas industry has been hectic in the past year, with a host of major developments underscoring the interest which remains in the traditional home of Australia’s petroleum industry.
• Clarification of access to private, crown and native title land;
In the strongest response to a Victorian acreage release for a decade, multiple bids were received for the 1997 offshore petroleum acreage releases, for which permits were granted in May last year. Despite the low oil prices prevailing at the time of the bid deadlines, the second phase of the 1998 acreage release has generated considerable interest.
Although exploration activity was down in 1998, development drilling was still strong, with 30 wells drilled during the 1997/8 fiscal year.
Domestic gas demand on Australia’s eastern seaboard is still driving exploration interest while the gas reform process, from a legislative sense, is nearing completion through major amendments to the Gas Industry Act and passage of a new state Petroleum Act and Gas Safety Act. The Petroleum Act 1998 will come into force in December and addresses upstream exploration and production for onshore Victoria to the low water mark. The Act replaces the 1958 Act with contemporary “plain English” legislation. The new Act is modelled to a great extent on the Commonwealth Petroleum Submerged Lands Act regarding tenement matters and on the Victorian Mineral Resources Development Act in terms of land access, planning and compensation provisions. It is also aligned with the State’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (1985) and Dangerous Goods Act (I 985).
• The ability to negotiate alternative arrangements to the default 10% royalty provision; • Provisions that ensure submission of important basic and interpretive information.
Production averaged 230,000 bbls/day until the Longford incident last September and has been increasing since the resumption of oil production in December. The acceleration of several development projects has arisen from the need to ensure gas supply in 1999 and the future. These projects will open up the Otway Basin for future exploration through the provision of a far more comprehensive infrastructure network connected to both Melbourne and Victorian regional centres. Already there are many new participants in the Victorian gas industry including international pipeline and utility companies Coastal Oil and Gas, Texas Utilities and Duke Energy. Boral and Santos are taking up opportunities arising from the opening up of the Otway Basin even for relatively small gas accumulations. Transmission Pipelines Australia is nearing completion of the Southwest Pipeline from Port Campbell to Lara, permitting gas to be transmitted from the Port Campbell area fields into the metropolitan Melbourne grid.
Key features of the new Petroleum Act include: • enshrining the public tender process for acreage releases;
New areas on offer As well, the Western Underground Gas Storage project, purchased by Texas Utilities late in 1998, is under construction. The 1993 Minerva discovery, 12 km offshore from Port Campbell, is currently undergoing a public review of a production proposal, which involves a subsea completion offshore, a gas treatment facility near Port Campbell and supplying gas feedstock to a proposed ammonia urea plant at Lara near Geelong. East of Melbourne, the Longford incident has raised the profile of the Kipper Field as a significant source of gas that may not be tied to the Longford gas treatment plant. The Kipper Joint Venture is undertaking detailed 3D seismic and production feasibility studies in the next two years to determine an appropriate production scheme. Duke Energy has purchased the Eastern Gas Pipeline project and extended it 50 km to northwest of Sydney. It proposes to start construction late in 1999 with the objective of supplying gas to Sydney by the 2000 Olympics. To the north, the flow of gas interstate started in August 1998 via the Wagga Wagga-Wodonga lnterlink pipeline and capacity is being increased through additional compression. In September last year the pipeline was able to ease the stress on energy supply to emergency services by supplying Cooper Basin gas into Melbourne at short notice. Proposals for twinning the Victorian section will increase the ability for interstate flow. It is clear that the free and fair trade in gas is developing and that supply to regional Victoria, metropolitan and interstate markets will be augmented. With the November 1996 renegotiation of the gas contract with Gascor, it is no longer a requirement for Gascor or the successor companies to purchase gas exclusively from Esso/BHPP. The window for entry into the Victorian gas market has clearly opened and will continue to provide opportunities along much of eastern Australia for the foreseeable future. Testing of the Fenton Creek 1 well, near Port Campbell, in February produced a spectacular gas flare proving that gas can be easily reclaimed from the underground reservoir which will be utilised as part of an underground gas storage facility.
• Increasing the tenure of permits to five years with a single further renewal of five years; • Introduction of retention leases and special access authorities;
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
• Production licenses to be issued for the life of the field;
Kathy Hill, Manager Petroleum Development, MPV Telephone (03) 9637 8530
• Expansion and clarification of underground storage provisions; 10
F
our major new Victorian exploration areas, onshore and offshore, were offered to the petroleum industry at the APPEA Annual Conference in Perth during April. Bids for the offshore areas are invited under the Commonwealth Offshore Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 and the onshore areas under the recently promulgated State of Victoria Petroleum Act 1998.
GIPPSLAND ACREAGE AREAS PEP135
SALE
Area V99-1, in the eastern part of the Otway Basin, is a large, under-explored, shallowwater area covering 7,200 square km. The area comprises virtually the entire offshore Torquay Sub-basin. This part of the Otway Basin has been sparsely explored with only three offshore wells, the most recent by Shell in 1992. All three wells, one of which had gas shows in the Cretaceous, were targetted primarily at the shallow Tertiary section and one was an invalid structural test. Re-evaluation of the area by Minerals and Petroleum Victoria (MPV) - VIMP Report No. 60 - has indicated significant source rock and trapping potential, albeit with moderate risk, in the deeper stratigraphic section. The Otway Basin has commercial onshore gas production both in Victoria and South Australia, with the offshore Minerva gas field currently awaiting development. Prospects in the Torquay Sub-basin are therefore strategically located to provide gas to the growing energy markets of southeastern Australia. Offshore Gippsland Basin Area V99-2 Area V99-2, located in the world class Gippsland Basin oil and gas province southeast of the giant Kingfish Field, is the only prospective shallow water acreage in the Basin currently vacant. Previous exploration in earlier permits over the area resulted in two oil and gas discoveries (Anemone-IA and Archer-1), which were interpreted as sub-economic.These fields have numerous well defined pay zones, but with hydrocarbon water contacts defined from RFT data. No follow-up drilling has yet been conducted on these and all dry wells in the area are considered to be outside valid structural closures. A number of low risk structures, on trend with or close to these accumulations, have been
PEP136 VIC/P11(v) VIC/P38 (v) P11 VIC/P40 C/ LONGFORD VI
VIC/P41 VIC/P19
MOE
200m
PEP137 PEP131
VIC/P39
VIC/G99(1)
1000m PEP138 VIC/P36
Details are as follows: Offshore Torquay Sub-basin Area V99-1
ORBOST
LAKESENTRANCE
BAIRNSDALE MAFFRA
VIC/P42
VIC/P34
V99-2
0 10 20 30 40 50
Acreage available for bids.
Km
OTWAY BASIN ACREAGE AREAS KYNETON BALLARAT PEP119 HAMILTON
MELBOURNE
VIC/O99(2)
LARA VIC/O99(1) PEP101 PEP111
PORTLAND
COBDEN (b) PEP132(a) PEP108
GEELONG PEP133 PEP133 (a) (b)
VIC/P35
PEP133(c)
COLAC PEP133(d)
200m 1000m V99-1 0 10 20 30 40 50 Km
Acreage available for bids.
identified and documented by MPV in VIMP Report No. 61. In total, 14 structural closures are mapped as prospects and leads in V99-2.
horizons, indicating that a working petroleum system is operating.
Applications for these offshore blocks close on 14 October, 1999.
These include the recovery of sub-commercial quantities of migrated oil from the Palaeocene Pebble Point Formation in Lindon-I, together with shows in the same formation in three other wells; a significant oil show in the Early Cretaceous at Digby-I and a recovery of oil from Paleozoic basement in Gordon-1.
Onshore Otway Basin Areas VIC/099(l) and VIC/099(2)
Bids for blocks VIC/099(i) and VICJ099(2) close on 14 October 1999.
The potential of this area is enhanced by the proximity of existing infrastructure and the growing eastern Australian gas pipeline grid, together with the emerging new markets.
The prospectivity of these blocks, located in the western part of the Victorian Otway Basin, has been documented by MPV in VIMP Report 62. The areas cover part of the Tertiary Portland Trough and a number of early Cretaceous depocentres with affinities to the gas productive areas of the Penola Trough in South Australia. In addition to its gas potential, this area of the Otway Basin has a number of significant oil shows from a wide variety of stratigraphic 11
Onshore Gippsland Basin Area VIC/G99(l) An exploration area covering the eastern part of the Strzelecki Ranges in Gippsland was gazetted in March 1999 with a closing date for bids of 27 May 1999. Hydrocarbon potential in this area is limited to the Early Cretaceous Strzelecki Group with gas being sourced from coaly source rocks. Two blocks in Commonwealth controlled Victorian offshore waters are also planned for release.
PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
EXPLORATION NEWS
Gas window is open Victoria’s position as the leader in Australia’s petroleum industry may have been taken over by the emergence of the oil and gas resources in Western Australia, but strong interest remains in developing new gas resources within the state. The creation of a strong interstate trade in natural gas is driving many of the new market opportunities. Kathy Hill, Manager of Petroleum Development with the Minerals and Petroleum Division of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, summarises the activity in an edited version of a presentation to the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference held in Perth during April.
A
ctivity in the Victorian oil and gas industry has been hectic in the past year, with a host of major developments underscoring the interest which remains in the traditional home of Australia’s petroleum industry.
• Clarification of access to private, crown and native title land;
In the strongest response to a Victorian acreage release for a decade, multiple bids were received for the 1997 offshore petroleum acreage releases, for which permits were granted in May last year. Despite the low oil prices prevailing at the time of the bid deadlines, the second phase of the 1998 acreage release has generated considerable interest.
Although exploration activity was down in 1998, development drilling was still strong, with 30 wells drilled during the 1997/8 fiscal year.
Domestic gas demand on Australia’s eastern seaboard is still driving exploration interest while the gas reform process, from a legislative sense, is nearing completion through major amendments to the Gas Industry Act and passage of a new state Petroleum Act and Gas Safety Act. The Petroleum Act 1998 will come into force in December and addresses upstream exploration and production for onshore Victoria to the low water mark. The Act replaces the 1958 Act with contemporary “plain English” legislation. The new Act is modelled to a great extent on the Commonwealth Petroleum Submerged Lands Act regarding tenement matters and on the Victorian Mineral Resources Development Act in terms of land access, planning and compensation provisions. It is also aligned with the State’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (1985) and Dangerous Goods Act (I 985).
• The ability to negotiate alternative arrangements to the default 10% royalty provision; • Provisions that ensure submission of important basic and interpretive information.
Production averaged 230,000 bbls/day until the Longford incident last September and has been increasing since the resumption of oil production in December. The acceleration of several development projects has arisen from the need to ensure gas supply in 1999 and the future. These projects will open up the Otway Basin for future exploration through the provision of a far more comprehensive infrastructure network connected to both Melbourne and Victorian regional centres. Already there are many new participants in the Victorian gas industry including international pipeline and utility companies Coastal Oil and Gas, Texas Utilities and Duke Energy. Boral and Santos are taking up opportunities arising from the opening up of the Otway Basin even for relatively small gas accumulations. Transmission Pipelines Australia is nearing completion of the Southwest Pipeline from Port Campbell to Lara, permitting gas to be transmitted from the Port Campbell area fields into the metropolitan Melbourne grid.
Key features of the new Petroleum Act include: • enshrining the public tender process for acreage releases;
New areas on offer As well, the Western Underground Gas Storage project, purchased by Texas Utilities late in 1998, is under construction. The 1993 Minerva discovery, 12 km offshore from Port Campbell, is currently undergoing a public review of a production proposal, which involves a subsea completion offshore, a gas treatment facility near Port Campbell and supplying gas feedstock to a proposed ammonia urea plant at Lara near Geelong. East of Melbourne, the Longford incident has raised the profile of the Kipper Field as a significant source of gas that may not be tied to the Longford gas treatment plant. The Kipper Joint Venture is undertaking detailed 3D seismic and production feasibility studies in the next two years to determine an appropriate production scheme. Duke Energy has purchased the Eastern Gas Pipeline project and extended it 50 km to northwest of Sydney. It proposes to start construction late in 1999 with the objective of supplying gas to Sydney by the 2000 Olympics. To the north, the flow of gas interstate started in August 1998 via the Wagga Wagga-Wodonga lnterlink pipeline and capacity is being increased through additional compression. In September last year the pipeline was able to ease the stress on energy supply to emergency services by supplying Cooper Basin gas into Melbourne at short notice. Proposals for twinning the Victorian section will increase the ability for interstate flow. It is clear that the free and fair trade in gas is developing and that supply to regional Victoria, metropolitan and interstate markets will be augmented. With the November 1996 renegotiation of the gas contract with Gascor, it is no longer a requirement for Gascor or the successor companies to purchase gas exclusively from Esso/BHPP. The window for entry into the Victorian gas market has clearly opened and will continue to provide opportunities along much of eastern Australia for the foreseeable future. Testing of the Fenton Creek 1 well, near Port Campbell, in February produced a spectacular gas flare proving that gas can be easily reclaimed from the underground reservoir which will be utilised as part of an underground gas storage facility.
• Increasing the tenure of permits to five years with a single further renewal of five years; • Introduction of retention leases and special access authorities;
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
• Production licenses to be issued for the life of the field;
Kathy Hill, Manager Petroleum Development, MPV Telephone (03) 9637 8530
• Expansion and clarification of underground storage provisions; 10
F
our major new Victorian exploration areas, onshore and offshore, were offered to the petroleum industry at the APPEA Annual Conference in Perth during April. Bids for the offshore areas are invited under the Commonwealth Offshore Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 and the onshore areas under the recently promulgated State of Victoria Petroleum Act 1998.
GIPPSLAND ACREAGE AREAS PEP135
SALE
Area V99-1, in the eastern part of the Otway Basin, is a large, under-explored, shallowwater area covering 7,200 square km. The area comprises virtually the entire offshore Torquay Sub-basin. This part of the Otway Basin has been sparsely explored with only three offshore wells, the most recent by Shell in 1992. All three wells, one of which had gas shows in the Cretaceous, were targetted primarily at the shallow Tertiary section and one was an invalid structural test. Re-evaluation of the area by Minerals and Petroleum Victoria (MPV) - VIMP Report No. 60 - has indicated significant source rock and trapping potential, albeit with moderate risk, in the deeper stratigraphic section. The Otway Basin has commercial onshore gas production both in Victoria and South Australia, with the offshore Minerva gas field currently awaiting development. Prospects in the Torquay Sub-basin are therefore strategically located to provide gas to the growing energy markets of southeastern Australia. Offshore Gippsland Basin Area V99-2 Area V99-2, located in the world class Gippsland Basin oil and gas province southeast of the giant Kingfish Field, is the only prospective shallow water acreage in the Basin currently vacant. Previous exploration in earlier permits over the area resulted in two oil and gas discoveries (Anemone-IA and Archer-1), which were interpreted as sub-economic.These fields have numerous well defined pay zones, but with hydrocarbon water contacts defined from RFT data. No follow-up drilling has yet been conducted on these and all dry wells in the area are considered to be outside valid structural closures. A number of low risk structures, on trend with or close to these accumulations, have been
PEP136 VIC/P11(v) VIC/P38 (v) P11 VIC/P40 C/ LONGFORD VI
VIC/P41 VIC/P19
MOE
200m
PEP137 PEP131
VIC/P39
VIC/G99(1)
1000m PEP138 VIC/P36
Details are as follows: Offshore Torquay Sub-basin Area V99-1
ORBOST
LAKESENTRANCE
BAIRNSDALE MAFFRA
VIC/P42
VIC/P34
V99-2
0 10 20 30 40 50
Acreage available for bids.
Km
OTWAY BASIN ACREAGE AREAS KYNETON BALLARAT PEP119 HAMILTON
MELBOURNE
VIC/O99(2)
LARA VIC/O99(1) PEP101 PEP111
PORTLAND
COBDEN (b) PEP132(a) PEP108
GEELONG PEP133 PEP133 (a) (b)
VIC/P35
PEP133(c)
COLAC PEP133(d)
200m 1000m V99-1 0 10 20 30 40 50 Km
Acreage available for bids.
identified and documented by MPV in VIMP Report No. 61. In total, 14 structural closures are mapped as prospects and leads in V99-2.
horizons, indicating that a working petroleum system is operating.
Applications for these offshore blocks close on 14 October, 1999.
These include the recovery of sub-commercial quantities of migrated oil from the Palaeocene Pebble Point Formation in Lindon-I, together with shows in the same formation in three other wells; a significant oil show in the Early Cretaceous at Digby-I and a recovery of oil from Paleozoic basement in Gordon-1.
Onshore Otway Basin Areas VIC/099(l) and VIC/099(2)
Bids for blocks VIC/099(i) and VICJ099(2) close on 14 October 1999.
The potential of this area is enhanced by the proximity of existing infrastructure and the growing eastern Australian gas pipeline grid, together with the emerging new markets.
The prospectivity of these blocks, located in the western part of the Victorian Otway Basin, has been documented by MPV in VIMP Report 62. The areas cover part of the Tertiary Portland Trough and a number of early Cretaceous depocentres with affinities to the gas productive areas of the Penola Trough in South Australia. In addition to its gas potential, this area of the Otway Basin has a number of significant oil shows from a wide variety of stratigraphic 11
Onshore Gippsland Basin Area VIC/G99(l) An exploration area covering the eastern part of the Strzelecki Ranges in Gippsland was gazetted in March 1999 with a closing date for bids of 27 May 1999. Hydrocarbon potential in this area is limited to the Early Cretaceous Strzelecki Group with gas being sourced from coaly source rocks. Two blocks in Commonwealth controlled Victorian offshore waters are also planned for release.
REGULAR FEATURE
REGULAR FEATURE
Industry News PERSEVERANCE LOOKING SOLID
INDUSTRY SURVEY
Gold miner, Perseverance Corporation Ltd, reported a strong first half performance despite the weaker gold price which has hampered gold miners the world over.
Victoria’s mining, extractive and petroleum industries produced over $3 billion worth of products during l997/98.
In the six months to December 31, Perseverance, operator of the Fosterville gold mine, posted a profit of $290, 000 from revenue of $9.82 million. The company retained more than $10 million in cash and gold in stock. In the half year Perseverance also finalised a financing facility with Macquarie Bank for a total of $177 million which it could use to finance the development of the Fosterville sulphide gold project. The facility provides a standby for a final debt and equity finance package which the company is yet to finalise. Macquarie will provide a cash advance facility of $$A18 million and provide a $A2 million stand-by facility in case of project cost overruns. The package includes a performance bond facility of $A4 million and a gold hedging facility for a total of 332,000 ounces free of margin calls.
Data on production, exploration and expenditure for each of the three industry sectors is contained in the latest edition of the annual Statistical Review produced by the Minerals and Petroleum Division of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The review also contains detailed information on licensing and industry safety performance. Copies are available from MPV.
GOOD RESULTS FROM NICK O’ TIME Reef Mining NL’s high-grade Nick O’ Time gold shoot of the Poverty Reef at its Tarnagulla gold mine has now produced more than one tonne of gold. The company reported that production in the December quarter totalled 3,990 ounces from a total of 3,769 tonnes of ore processed at an average grade of 32.9 grams per tonne, better than one ounce of gold for every tonne of rock mined.
In the December quarter, Perseverance suffered lower than expected gold recoveries from its heap leach operations at Fosterville with 12,442 ounces in ore stacked on the leach pads.
Gold sales in the quarter totalled 4,506 ounces. The small but high-grade gold mine used both mechanical and hand held (airleg) mining methods in the December quarter as the company worked to minimise ore dilution and maximise the high-grade nature of the ore.
But only 8,297 ounces were recovered although the company is expected to produce stronger gold recoveries in the current half year.
In the quarter, the Poverty shaft was refurbished and the mine access decline extended to 250 vertical metres below surface.
Industry News The Poverty shaft now provides access to the five levels of the mine as well as providing a substantial new fresh air intake. The company said in its quarterly report that gold recovery from the ore at the Wattle Gully gold plant continued to operate at an excellent 98.6 per cent. Reef Mining now plans to begin a deep drilling program to locate further highgrade ore at the Poverty Reef. In the December quarter, a small sub-shoot off the Nick O’Time was mined providing additional high-grade feed for the mill. The shoot, now mined out, varied from just 1 g/t up to a rich 503 g/t, providing an overall average head grade of 40 g/t.
RIO TINTO RELINQUISHES LAST ACREAGE Rio Tinto has decided to relinquish its remaining mineral sands exploration acreage in Western Victoria. Last year at the request of the government, Rio Tinto reliquished some 90% of the minerals sands exploration acreage held by its subsidiary company, Wimmera Industrial Minerals Pty Ltd. The remaining holding, known as WIM-100 and WIM-150, contained sufficient resources for the development of a world-scale mineral sands producing operation and was selected by Rio Tinto as the preferred acreage from their original portfolio. However, since the merger of the former CRA into the international mining company, Rio Tinto, the strategic importance of the WIM deposits has declined in significance to the company’s Canadian based industrial minerals division. MPV will call tenders for the areas.
SOUTHERN FERTILISER PROJECT ON TRACK BHP’s ammonia fertiliser project in partnership with Incitec remains on track with a feasibility study due to be completed next year. Incitec, a Queensland based fertiliser and chemicals company, is Australia’s largest supplier of fertiliser products to the agricultural sector and operates Australia’s only urea plant at Brisbane. The Fosterville gold mine near Bendigo continues to produce low cost ounces providing Perseverance Corp with a strong base to move into sulphide production from the deeper resource at the mine.
12
BHP Petroleum’s involvement in the feasibility study - expected to take 12 to 18 months and cost approximately $15 million - forms part of its gas commercialisation strategy, with the proposed fertiliser plant to be supplied with gas from the BHP Petroleum operated Minerva field (BHP 90%, Santos 10%). BHP Petroleum’s involvement in this study similar to its involvement in the feasibility study for the Eastern Gas Pipeline - is part of its efforts to bring discovered but uncommercialised gas reserves to market. The Minerva gas field, about 10 km off Port Campbell, was discovered in 1993. The feasibility study is investigating the development of a fertiliser facility designed to produce about 455,000 tonnes of ammonia a year, most of which would be converted to urea in a 735,000 tonnes per year plant. The urea will replace imports (yielding balance of payments impact of approximately $200 million pa) and be sold into agricultural and industrial markets in Victoria and other states. Australia currently imports about 800,000 tonnes of urea annually. Gas from Minerva would be transported to the fertiliser facility near Geelong via pipeline. BHP Petroleum and Incitec are sharing equally the costs of the fertiliser feasibility study. Total development costs (for both the gas field and fertiliser plant) are estimated at between $600 million to $745 million (gross). A Joint Commonwealth - State environmental impact assessment, which began in late 1994, has been drafted and was placed on exhibition nationally last February. An inquiry panel will be convened following this two month exhibition period to hear submissions. The panel will report to the Ministers who will then make their assessment.
NEW RFA BOUNDARY Victoria’s fifth Regional Forest Agreement (RFA), which will cover western Victoria, is expected to be completed by the end of the year and remain in place for 20 years. The purpose of the RFA is to provide certainty regarding the future of forest based industries, the establishment of a world-class reserve system, and ensure ecologically sustainable management of all forests in the region. Victoria and the Commonwealth have agreed to a new northern boundary for the region. It
now covers the southern part of western Victoria, with its northern boundary stretching from the SA border west of Horsham to the Hume Highway near Kilmore. It includes the Portland, Midlands and Otways Forest Management Areas, the southern portion of the Horsham FMA, and those parts of the Central and Dandenong FMAs west of the Hume Freeway. While the region includes some box-ironbark forests, these now fall mainly outside the west RFA region and are the subject of a separate study by the Victorian Environment Conservation Council.
CANADIAN EXPOSURE Victorian mining was again strongly represented in Toronto in March at the Prospectors and Developers Association (PDAC) Convention with Minerals and Petroleum Victoria (MPV) and Ballarat Goldfields, which had a booth at the Convention’s Investor Exchange, leading the charge. MPV, represented by Owen Challender, was part of a larger Australian mining industry representation which included the NSW, WA and Tasmania Governments, the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) and several Australian exploration, mining and supplier companies. While attendance was down on the previous year, attributable to the cyclical nature of the industry, the Australian exhibition attracted a good deal of interest from convention delegates and compared well with the exhibitions from other countries. 13
Victoria’s booth at the Prospectors and Developers Conference in Toronto attracted strong interest with a number of companies looking closely at Murray Basin mineral sands tenements.
Considerable interest was shown in Victorian mining with the Murray Basin mineral sands province exciting interest to the extent that some companies expressed interest in the ground currently under tender in the Horsham area. The PDAC Convention is a major event on the world mining calendar and is geared towards the international investment and trade community. It is a significant forum for promoting Australia and Victoria as a place for exploration and mining investment.
EAGLE BAY REVIEWS SEISMIC DATA Perth based petroleum junior, Eagle Bay Resources NL, is examining the data produced by a seismic survey over the Northright oil and gas structure in Bass Strait permit area Vic/P41, in which it owns a 100 per cent interest. Northright is located in the vicinity of the Kipper and Sole gas fields, about 20 km offshore from Orbost in 160 metres of water. Northright is 10 km updip from the Sole gas field and may contain up to 1 trillion cubic feet of gas. A pipeline development of the Kipper, Basker, and Sole fields could connect with the Duke Energy Longford-Sydney pipeline at Orbost. For more information contact Tony Rechner at Eagle Bay Resources - Telephone 08 9481 3322, fax (08) 9481 3330.
REGULAR FEATURE
REGULAR FEATURE
Industry News PERSEVERANCE LOOKING SOLID
INDUSTRY SURVEY
Gold miner, Perseverance Corporation Ltd, reported a strong first half performance despite the weaker gold price which has hampered gold miners the world over.
Victoria’s mining, extractive and petroleum industries produced over $3 billion worth of products during l997/98.
In the six months to December 31, Perseverance, operator of the Fosterville gold mine, posted a profit of $290, 000 from revenue of $9.82 million. The company retained more than $10 million in cash and gold in stock. In the half year Perseverance also finalised a financing facility with Macquarie Bank for a total of $177 million which it could use to finance the development of the Fosterville sulphide gold project. The facility provides a standby for a final debt and equity finance package which the company is yet to finalise. Macquarie will provide a cash advance facility of $$A18 million and provide a $A2 million stand-by facility in case of project cost overruns. The package includes a performance bond facility of $A4 million and a gold hedging facility for a total of 332,000 ounces free of margin calls.
Data on production, exploration and expenditure for each of the three industry sectors is contained in the latest edition of the annual Statistical Review produced by the Minerals and Petroleum Division of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The review also contains detailed information on licensing and industry safety performance. Copies are available from MPV.
GOOD RESULTS FROM NICK O’ TIME Reef Mining NL’s high-grade Nick O’ Time gold shoot of the Poverty Reef at its Tarnagulla gold mine has now produced more than one tonne of gold. The company reported that production in the December quarter totalled 3,990 ounces from a total of 3,769 tonnes of ore processed at an average grade of 32.9 grams per tonne, better than one ounce of gold for every tonne of rock mined.
In the December quarter, Perseverance suffered lower than expected gold recoveries from its heap leach operations at Fosterville with 12,442 ounces in ore stacked on the leach pads.
Gold sales in the quarter totalled 4,506 ounces. The small but high-grade gold mine used both mechanical and hand held (airleg) mining methods in the December quarter as the company worked to minimise ore dilution and maximise the high-grade nature of the ore.
But only 8,297 ounces were recovered although the company is expected to produce stronger gold recoveries in the current half year.
In the quarter, the Poverty shaft was refurbished and the mine access decline extended to 250 vertical metres below surface.
Industry News The Poverty shaft now provides access to the five levels of the mine as well as providing a substantial new fresh air intake. The company said in its quarterly report that gold recovery from the ore at the Wattle Gully gold plant continued to operate at an excellent 98.6 per cent. Reef Mining now plans to begin a deep drilling program to locate further highgrade ore at the Poverty Reef. In the December quarter, a small sub-shoot off the Nick O’Time was mined providing additional high-grade feed for the mill. The shoot, now mined out, varied from just 1 g/t up to a rich 503 g/t, providing an overall average head grade of 40 g/t.
RIO TINTO RELINQUISHES LAST ACREAGE Rio Tinto has decided to relinquish its remaining mineral sands exploration acreage in Western Victoria. Last year at the request of the government, Rio Tinto reliquished some 90% of the minerals sands exploration acreage held by its subsidiary company, Wimmera Industrial Minerals Pty Ltd. The remaining holding, known as WIM-100 and WIM-150, contained sufficient resources for the development of a world-scale mineral sands producing operation and was selected by Rio Tinto as the preferred acreage from their original portfolio. However, since the merger of the former CRA into the international mining company, Rio Tinto, the strategic importance of the WIM deposits has declined in significance to the company’s Canadian based industrial minerals division. MPV will call tenders for the areas.
SOUTHERN FERTILISER PROJECT ON TRACK BHP’s ammonia fertiliser project in partnership with Incitec remains on track with a feasibility study due to be completed next year. Incitec, a Queensland based fertiliser and chemicals company, is Australia’s largest supplier of fertiliser products to the agricultural sector and operates Australia’s only urea plant at Brisbane. The Fosterville gold mine near Bendigo continues to produce low cost ounces providing Perseverance Corp with a strong base to move into sulphide production from the deeper resource at the mine.
12
BHP Petroleum’s involvement in the feasibility study - expected to take 12 to 18 months and cost approximately $15 million - forms part of its gas commercialisation strategy, with the proposed fertiliser plant to be supplied with gas from the BHP Petroleum operated Minerva field (BHP 90%, Santos 10%). BHP Petroleum’s involvement in this study similar to its involvement in the feasibility study for the Eastern Gas Pipeline - is part of its efforts to bring discovered but uncommercialised gas reserves to market. The Minerva gas field, about 10 km off Port Campbell, was discovered in 1993. The feasibility study is investigating the development of a fertiliser facility designed to produce about 455,000 tonnes of ammonia a year, most of which would be converted to urea in a 735,000 tonnes per year plant. The urea will replace imports (yielding balance of payments impact of approximately $200 million pa) and be sold into agricultural and industrial markets in Victoria and other states. Australia currently imports about 800,000 tonnes of urea annually. Gas from Minerva would be transported to the fertiliser facility near Geelong via pipeline. BHP Petroleum and Incitec are sharing equally the costs of the fertiliser feasibility study. Total development costs (for both the gas field and fertiliser plant) are estimated at between $600 million to $745 million (gross). A Joint Commonwealth - State environmental impact assessment, which began in late 1994, has been drafted and was placed on exhibition nationally last February. An inquiry panel will be convened following this two month exhibition period to hear submissions. The panel will report to the Ministers who will then make their assessment.
NEW RFA BOUNDARY Victoria’s fifth Regional Forest Agreement (RFA), which will cover western Victoria, is expected to be completed by the end of the year and remain in place for 20 years. The purpose of the RFA is to provide certainty regarding the future of forest based industries, the establishment of a world-class reserve system, and ensure ecologically sustainable management of all forests in the region. Victoria and the Commonwealth have agreed to a new northern boundary for the region. It
now covers the southern part of western Victoria, with its northern boundary stretching from the SA border west of Horsham to the Hume Highway near Kilmore. It includes the Portland, Midlands and Otways Forest Management Areas, the southern portion of the Horsham FMA, and those parts of the Central and Dandenong FMAs west of the Hume Freeway. While the region includes some box-ironbark forests, these now fall mainly outside the west RFA region and are the subject of a separate study by the Victorian Environment Conservation Council.
CANADIAN EXPOSURE Victorian mining was again strongly represented in Toronto in March at the Prospectors and Developers Association (PDAC) Convention with Minerals and Petroleum Victoria (MPV) and Ballarat Goldfields, which had a booth at the Convention’s Investor Exchange, leading the charge. MPV, represented by Owen Challender, was part of a larger Australian mining industry representation which included the NSW, WA and Tasmania Governments, the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) and several Australian exploration, mining and supplier companies. While attendance was down on the previous year, attributable to the cyclical nature of the industry, the Australian exhibition attracted a good deal of interest from convention delegates and compared well with the exhibitions from other countries. 13
Victoria’s booth at the Prospectors and Developers Conference in Toronto attracted strong interest with a number of companies looking closely at Murray Basin mineral sands tenements.
Considerable interest was shown in Victorian mining with the Murray Basin mineral sands province exciting interest to the extent that some companies expressed interest in the ground currently under tender in the Horsham area. The PDAC Convention is a major event on the world mining calendar and is geared towards the international investment and trade community. It is a significant forum for promoting Australia and Victoria as a place for exploration and mining investment.
EAGLE BAY REVIEWS SEISMIC DATA Perth based petroleum junior, Eagle Bay Resources NL, is examining the data produced by a seismic survey over the Northright oil and gas structure in Bass Strait permit area Vic/P41, in which it owns a 100 per cent interest. Northright is located in the vicinity of the Kipper and Sole gas fields, about 20 km offshore from Orbost in 160 metres of water. Northright is 10 km updip from the Sole gas field and may contain up to 1 trillion cubic feet of gas. A pipeline development of the Kipper, Basker, and Sole fields could connect with the Duke Energy Longford-Sydney pipeline at Orbost. For more information contact Tony Rechner at Eagle Bay Resources - Telephone 08 9481 3322, fax (08) 9481 3330.
VICTORIAN RESOURCES
VICTORIAN RESOURCES
Victoria’s mineral resources
Mildura
EXPLORATION STATUS O P
MAJOR MINES/DEVELOPMENTS
Area available for exploration application
GOLD
Areas becoming available for exploration
A B C D E F G H J K L M N
(Please see moratorium list for available dates)
Area currently under exploration (licence tenure or application)
U 23
46
Area unavailable for exploration
Swan Hill
47
(National Parks etc)
Area under exemption
NON-METALLIC MINERALS O Victorian Gypsum P RZM & Aberfoyle Q Rio Tinto R Kaolin Aust S Osterfield T ACI U RGC Mineral Sands
19
Echuca Shepparton
11
Wangaratta
T
31 10
Horsham Q
50 22
6 49
C
Ararat
34 35
12 38
B
5
36
9 30
7
44
4
D
Benambra
M
Mansfield
32
8
26 37 17 N
24 Maddingley
16
Wood's Point
13
20 1
MELBOURNE
Orbost
15
Werribee
Bairnsdale
Walhalla
Geelong
Lakes Entrance Yallourn
Alcoa
Portland
29
14
H
Hazelwood
Loy Yang
Warrnambool
43
14
23
General area of major exploration project
NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
COMPANY Alcaston Alliance Alliance Ballarat Cons Centaur Rio Tinto Crest - Goldminco Duketon Gold Golden Heritage Golden Triangle Golden Triangle Highlake Res Highlake Res Highlake Res - Brady Intrepid Metex Mt Wellington North - Rio Tinto Expl Osprey Gold Osprey Gold Perseverance M Platsearch - Hume RGC St Barbara Minico & Melanti Sedimentary Vic Gold - Mines & Res Zephyr Min Continent - Range Gawler Gold Goldminco Goldminco Goldminco Goldminco Alliance Fortuna Golden Heritage Hardrock Exploration Highlake Res Highlake Res Highlake Res Perseverance - New H Range River Range River Reef Mining Range River (Flowerdale) Basin Minerals (B-Swan Hill) Basin Minerals (Culgoa) Basin Minerals (Douglas) Reef Mining Reef Mining
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
27
45
28
Ballarat
E
Hamilton
F
21
3
2
R
BROWN COAL
L
39
42
18
S
41
K
A 25
G
40
48
Stawell
33
Bendigo
J
Stawell Gold Mines Sedimentary Holdings Reef Mining Goldminco Ballarat Goldfields Alliance Gold Bendigo Mining Tech-Sol Resources Pty Ltd Perseverance Exploration Australian Gold Devel. Perseverance Mining Duketon Goldfields Mount Conqueror Minerals
MAJOR EXPLORATION PROJECTS
15
VICTORIAN RESOURCES
VICTORIAN RESOURCES
Victoria’s mineral resources
Mildura
EXPLORATION STATUS O P
MAJOR MINES/DEVELOPMENTS
Area available for exploration application
GOLD
Areas becoming available for exploration
A B C D E F G H J K L M N
(Please see moratorium list for available dates)
Area currently under exploration (licence tenure or application)
U 23
46
Area unavailable for exploration
Swan Hill
47
(National Parks etc)
Area under exemption
NON-METALLIC MINERALS O Victorian Gypsum P RZM & Aberfoyle Q Rio Tinto R Kaolin Aust S Osterfield T ACI U RGC Mineral Sands
19
Echuca Shepparton
11
Wangaratta
T
31 10
Horsham Q
50 22
6 49
C
Ararat
34 35
12 38
B
5
36
9 30
7
44
4
D
Benambra
M
Mansfield
32
8
26 37 17 N
24 Maddingley
16
Wood's Point
13
20 1
MELBOURNE
Orbost
15
Werribee
Bairnsdale
Walhalla
Geelong
Lakes Entrance Yallourn
Alcoa
Portland
29
14
H
Hazelwood
Loy Yang
Warrnambool
43
14
23
General area of major exploration project
NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
COMPANY Alcaston Alliance Alliance Ballarat Cons Centaur Rio Tinto Crest - Goldminco Duketon Gold Golden Heritage Golden Triangle Golden Triangle Highlake Res Highlake Res Highlake Res - Brady Intrepid Metex Mt Wellington North - Rio Tinto Expl Osprey Gold Osprey Gold Perseverance M Platsearch - Hume RGC St Barbara Minico & Melanti Sedimentary Vic Gold - Mines & Res Zephyr Min Continent - Range Gawler Gold Goldminco Goldminco Goldminco Goldminco Alliance Fortuna Golden Heritage Hardrock Exploration Highlake Res Highlake Res Highlake Res Perseverance - New H Range River Range River Reef Mining Range River (Flowerdale) Basin Minerals (B-Swan Hill) Basin Minerals (Culgoa) Basin Minerals (Douglas) Reef Mining Reef Mining
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
27
45
28
Ballarat
E
Hamilton
F
21
3
2
R
BROWN COAL
L
39
42
18
S
41
K
A 25
G
40
48
Stawell
33
Bendigo
J
Stawell Gold Mines Sedimentary Holdings Reef Mining Goldminco Ballarat Goldfields Alliance Gold Bendigo Mining Tech-Sol Resources Pty Ltd Perseverance Exploration Australian Gold Devel. Perseverance Mining Duketon Goldfields Mount Conqueror Minerals
MAJOR EXPLORATION PROJECTS
15
LICENCE REVIEW
REGULAR FEATURE
Mineral Licences
Victorian pipelines and permits
At April 1999
EXPLORATION LICENCES GRANTED JANUARY/MARCH 1999 TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
4269 4327 4322 4325 4330 4315 4316 4323
CANAM CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT
GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT
ALBURY DUNOLLY DUNOLLY BALMORAL DUNOLLY CASTLEMAINE CASTLEMAINE HORSHAM
WARREN JAY HOLDINGS PTY LTD REEF MINING NL REEF MINING NL YARDARINO MINING NL HIGHLAKE RESOURCES NL THE BREAKAWAY GROUP PTY LTD THE BREAKAWAY GROUP PTY LTD YARDARINO MINING NL
09/07/1998 09/07/1998 09/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998
26/08/1998 09/07/2000 09/07/2000 17/07/2000 17/07/2000 17/07/2000 17/07/2000 17/07/2000
Production Licences
MILDURA
Retention Leases 0
20
40
60
80
Current Permits
100
Km
1998 Acreage Release Recommended 1999 Acreage Release
SWAN HILL
Gas Pipeline
EXPLORATION LICENCES SURRENDERED, CANCELLED OR EXPIRED JANUARY/MARCH 1999 TITLE NO. 3612 3847 3846 3792 3943 3783 4203 4172 4197 3879 3007 3839 3839
STATUS
MAP
SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR EXPIRED EXPIRED SURR SURR
BALLARAT CASTLEMAINE CASTLEMAINE CASTLEMAINE ST ARNAUD MELBOURNE CASTLEMAINE HEATHCOTE ALEXANDRA BEAUFORT ST ARNAUD BAIRNSDALE BAIRNSDALE
PRIMARY OWNER METEX RESOURCES NL METEX RESOURCES NL METEX RESOURCES NL METEX RESOURCES NL FORRESTANIA GOLD NL ECHIDNA MINING NL FORTUNA NL MR BRUCE MCLENNAN RANGE RIVER GOLD NL GROUND DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD ST BARBARA MINES LTD ALLUVIAL MINING SERVICES PTY LTD ALLUVIAL MINING SERVICES PTY LTD
EVENT DATE 08/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 29/07/1998 29/07/1998 26/08/1998 26/08/1998 03/09/1998 04/09/1998 15/09/1998 30/09/98 30/09/98
Oil & Other Pipeline EXPIRY DATE
COBRAM
MURRAY BASIN
08/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 29/07/1998 29/07/1998 26/08/1998 26/08/1998 03/09/1998 04/09/1998 15/09/1998 30/09/98 30/09/98
Proposed Pipeline
RUTHERGLEN
Under Construction ECHUCA
CHILTERN SHEPPARTON
WODONGA
Gas Field
WANGARATTA
Oil Field
BENALLA
ST ARNAUD HORSHAM
EUROA
BENDIGO
SEYMOUR
CARISBROOK KYNETON ARARAT WALLAN BALLARAT
MINING LICENCES GRANTED JANUARY/MARCH 1999
BUCHAN HEALESVILLE
MELBOURNE
HAMILTON
GIPPSLAND BASIN
ORBOST
BAIRNSDALE
TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
5224
CURRENT
GRANT
CHARLTON
MR KEITH J BISH
29/07/1998
29/07/2018
LARA
VIC/O99(2) VIC/O99(1)
OTWAY BASIN COLAC
COBDEN PORTLAND
MOE
GEELONG WINCHELSEA
MAFFRA SALE
LAKES ENTRANCE
200 m LONGFORD
WARRNAMBOOL
VIC/G99(1)
MINING LICENCES SURRENDERED, CANCELLED OR EXPIRED JANUARY/MARCH 1999 TITLE NO.
STATUS
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
4973 ML1242 5220 ML1343
SURR SURR SURR SURR
REDCASTLE MATLOCK DUNOLLY MIRBOO
ANTIMONY GOLD CORPORATION NL FINE GOLD NL MRS HEATHER FORD STAUFFER AUSTRALIA LTD
22/07/1998 22/07/1998 22/07/1998 13/08/1998
22/07/1998 22/07/1998 22/07/1998 13/08/1998
200 m APOLLO BAY
V99-2 V99-1
BASS BASIN
ABBREVIATIONS: SURR - SURRENDERED, CANC - CANCELLATION CAN/AM - CANCELLED/AMALGAMATED
MINERALS & PETROLEUM VICTORIA
G I S D ATA PA C K A G E S GIS data packages are now available for the following regions: Bendigo, Charlton, St Arnaud 1:250k, and 1:100k, Dunolly, Glenelg, Ballarat, Melbourne, Nagambie, Wangaratta, Tallangatta, Mallacoota, Bairnsdale and Warburton. Themes (where available) include; magnetics, radiometrics, DTM, gravity, geology, geological interpretation, mineral occurrences, mine plans, exploration geochemistry, current & expired ELs, MLs, boreholdes, National Parks, Crown Land, towns, road & ma. Data packages are in MapInfo or MapInfo export format on CD Rom. For more information contact: Minerals Business Centre Minerals & Petroleum Victoria 8th Floor, 240 Victoria Pde, East Melbourne PO Box 500, East Melbourne, VIC, 3002 Ph: (03) 9412 5103 or Fax: (03) 9412 5157
or Roger Buckley, Manager Mineral Resources Geological Survey of Victoria 7th Floor, 240 Victoria Pde, East Melbourne PO Box 500, East Melbourne VIC, 3002 Ph: (03) 9412 5025 or Fax (03) 9412 5155 Email: [email protected]
16
the WORLD is yours
You’ll find a world of information on Victorian mining, geology and petroleum in the Department of Natural Resources’ Minerals and Petroleum Reference Centre. Although focussed to serve members of the mining industry, the MPRC is open to the public from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. It is conveniently located next to the Minerals Business Centre.
special collections include: • • • • • •
Expired tenement reports on microfiche (and hard copy) 5000+ Geological Survey of Victoria Unpublished Reports Departmental publications (old Mines Department records and reports dating from 1851) Victorian published geological maps, both current and historical Underground mine plans on microfiche 1600+ B&W historical Victorian mining photographs
The MPRC is now located with the Minerals Business Centre on the 8th floor, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. Phone: (03) 9412 5145. Fax: (03) 9412 5157. E-mail:[email protected]
17
LICENCE REVIEW
REGULAR FEATURE
Mineral Licences
Victorian pipelines and permits
At April 1999
EXPLORATION LICENCES GRANTED JANUARY/MARCH 1999 TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
4269 4327 4322 4325 4330 4315 4316 4323
CANAM CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT
GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT GRANT
ALBURY DUNOLLY DUNOLLY BALMORAL DUNOLLY CASTLEMAINE CASTLEMAINE HORSHAM
WARREN JAY HOLDINGS PTY LTD REEF MINING NL REEF MINING NL YARDARINO MINING NL HIGHLAKE RESOURCES NL THE BREAKAWAY GROUP PTY LTD THE BREAKAWAY GROUP PTY LTD YARDARINO MINING NL
09/07/1998 09/07/1998 09/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998
26/08/1998 09/07/2000 09/07/2000 17/07/2000 17/07/2000 17/07/2000 17/07/2000 17/07/2000
Production Licences
MILDURA
Retention Leases 0
20
40
60
80
Current Permits
100
Km
1998 Acreage Release Recommended 1999 Acreage Release
SWAN HILL
Gas Pipeline
EXPLORATION LICENCES SURRENDERED, CANCELLED OR EXPIRED JANUARY/MARCH 1999 TITLE NO. 3612 3847 3846 3792 3943 3783 4203 4172 4197 3879 3007 3839 3839
STATUS
MAP
SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR SURR EXPIRED EXPIRED SURR SURR
BALLARAT CASTLEMAINE CASTLEMAINE CASTLEMAINE ST ARNAUD MELBOURNE CASTLEMAINE HEATHCOTE ALEXANDRA BEAUFORT ST ARNAUD BAIRNSDALE BAIRNSDALE
PRIMARY OWNER METEX RESOURCES NL METEX RESOURCES NL METEX RESOURCES NL METEX RESOURCES NL FORRESTANIA GOLD NL ECHIDNA MINING NL FORTUNA NL MR BRUCE MCLENNAN RANGE RIVER GOLD NL GROUND DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD ST BARBARA MINES LTD ALLUVIAL MINING SERVICES PTY LTD ALLUVIAL MINING SERVICES PTY LTD
EVENT DATE 08/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 29/07/1998 29/07/1998 26/08/1998 26/08/1998 03/09/1998 04/09/1998 15/09/1998 30/09/98 30/09/98
Oil & Other Pipeline EXPIRY DATE
COBRAM
MURRAY BASIN
08/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 17/07/1998 29/07/1998 29/07/1998 26/08/1998 26/08/1998 03/09/1998 04/09/1998 15/09/1998 30/09/98 30/09/98
Proposed Pipeline
RUTHERGLEN
Under Construction ECHUCA
CHILTERN SHEPPARTON
WODONGA
Gas Field
WANGARATTA
Oil Field
BENALLA
ST ARNAUD HORSHAM
EUROA
BENDIGO
SEYMOUR
CARISBROOK KYNETON ARARAT WALLAN BALLARAT
MINING LICENCES GRANTED JANUARY/MARCH 1999
BUCHAN HEALESVILLE
MELBOURNE
HAMILTON
GIPPSLAND BASIN
ORBOST
BAIRNSDALE
TITLE NO.
STATUS
EVENT
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
5224
CURRENT
GRANT
CHARLTON
MR KEITH J BISH
29/07/1998
29/07/2018
LARA
VIC/O99(2) VIC/O99(1)
OTWAY BASIN COLAC
COBDEN PORTLAND
MOE
GEELONG WINCHELSEA
MAFFRA SALE
LAKES ENTRANCE
200 m LONGFORD
WARRNAMBOOL
VIC/G99(1)
MINING LICENCES SURRENDERED, CANCELLED OR EXPIRED JANUARY/MARCH 1999 TITLE NO.
STATUS
MAP
PRIMARY OWNER
EVENT DATE
EXPIRY DATE
4973 ML1242 5220 ML1343
SURR SURR SURR SURR
REDCASTLE MATLOCK DUNOLLY MIRBOO
ANTIMONY GOLD CORPORATION NL FINE GOLD NL MRS HEATHER FORD STAUFFER AUSTRALIA LTD
22/07/1998 22/07/1998 22/07/1998 13/08/1998
22/07/1998 22/07/1998 22/07/1998 13/08/1998
200 m APOLLO BAY
V99-2 V99-1
BASS BASIN
ABBREVIATIONS: SURR - SURRENDERED, CANC - CANCELLATION CAN/AM - CANCELLED/AMALGAMATED
MINERALS & PETROLEUM VICTORIA
G I S D ATA PA C K A G E S GIS data packages are now available for the following regions: Bendigo, Charlton, St Arnaud 1:250k, and 1:100k, Dunolly, Glenelg, Ballarat, Melbourne, Nagambie, Wangaratta, Tallangatta, Mallacoota, Bairnsdale and Warburton. Themes (where available) include; magnetics, radiometrics, DTM, gravity, geology, geological interpretation, mineral occurrences, mine plans, exploration geochemistry, current & expired ELs, MLs, boreholdes, National Parks, Crown Land, towns, road & ma. Data packages are in MapInfo or MapInfo export format on CD Rom. For more information contact: Minerals Business Centre Minerals & Petroleum Victoria 8th Floor, 240 Victoria Pde, East Melbourne PO Box 500, East Melbourne, VIC, 3002 Ph: (03) 9412 5103 or Fax: (03) 9412 5157
or Roger Buckley, Manager Mineral Resources Geological Survey of Victoria 7th Floor, 240 Victoria Pde, East Melbourne PO Box 500, East Melbourne VIC, 3002 Ph: (03) 9412 5025 or Fax (03) 9412 5155 Email: [email protected]
16
the WORLD is yours
You’ll find a world of information on Victorian mining, geology and petroleum in the Department of Natural Resources’ Minerals and Petroleum Reference Centre. Although focussed to serve members of the mining industry, the MPRC is open to the public from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. It is conveniently located next to the Minerals Business Centre.
special collections include: • • • • • •
Expired tenement reports on microfiche (and hard copy) 5000+ Geological Survey of Victoria Unpublished Reports Departmental publications (old Mines Department records and reports dating from 1851) Victorian published geological maps, both current and historical Underground mine plans on microfiche 1600+ B&W historical Victorian mining photographs
The MPRC is now located with the Minerals Business Centre on the 8th floor, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. Phone: (03) 9412 5145. Fax: (03) 9412 5157. E-mail:[email protected]
17
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT
REGULAR FEATURE
Basin targets are set high
Mineral sands, Victoria’s new boom
he Murray Basin Mineral Sands Conference was expected to generate considerable interest, but last month’s inaugural forum confirmed a remarkable level of interest in the Basin ‘treasure’.
T
land and providing some certainty to the landowner that this can be achieved or otherwise compensated for.
Victoria naturally is very keen to see development of a minerals industry in the Murray Basin. The industry’s emergence is very welcome, especially in the light of the difficulties currently facing the gold sector.
It should be centred on building trust and understanding on both sides, open and broad communication and being flexible and looking for outcomes the community can expect.
Community relations is about keeping any potential outrage at bay.
Infrastructure will be a key factor in the development of the Murray Basin.
The Victorian Government has been actively facilitating such development on a number of points.
Victoria initiated a Murray Basin Infrastructure Study involving Victoria, South Australia, NSW, the Commonwealth and industry.
Opportunities for Victoria from minerals sands developments include mining, downstream processing and providing infrastructure for development interstate. There has been a history of negative mining industry perception in Victoria. However, in recent times, there has been a remarkable change from industry, largely due to the current Government’s initiatives — namely through the Victoria Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP) program, through legislative reform, customer focus on service delivery and facilitation of major project approvals. The $25.5 million VIMP program is committed to upgrading the State’s geological database. Within this there will be extensive coverage of the Murray Basin with magnetics, radiometrics and gravity, identifying mineral sand deposits and building a minerals sands drilling database. More recently, Minerals and Petroleum Victoria (MPV) has released on CD a database of 11,500 mineral sands drill holes in the Basin, including information on lithology, mineralogy and assays. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is a unique organisation in that it brings together all aspects of land use. Its philosophy is to positively and creatively seek out solutions which will allow for development and still provide environmental and community outcomes which are acceptable to government and the community.
The aim of the study was to identify infrastructure ‘gaps’ and ‘pportunities’ for government and the private sector. MPV Executive Director, David Lea
The study provides a valuable basis for industry to plan development.
viding a ‘champion’ in government to co-ordinate input of government agencies and negotiate process outcomes. This further assists streamlining approvals in Victoria. Key approvals issues for mineral sands are;
Victoria has substantial infrastructure advantages to service mineral operations. Its existing infrastructure, including electricity and gas supply, results in significant savings for companies doing business in Victoria.
Choice of process – The Environment Effects Statement (EES) or Planning Permit path.
It has excellent road,rail and air infrastructure to support industry.
Government support for the new industry is very strong... Larger projects tend to use the EES option where planning controls don’t apply. This is a process, which takes an investigative rather than adversarial approach to assessing impacts. There is also more certainty with this process.
Companies operating in the Basin will have access to processing and shipping at Portland, Mildura and possibly Geelong and Melbourne.
Land Access – Most land in the Victorian part of the Basin is owned by private landowners.
Government support for the new industry is very strong and it will compete to find the best arrangement for industry. It is in our principal interest to make this prolific agricultural base a world-class minerals sands producing region.
Nature conservation – Most land is cleared, hence this is not an issue.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Since 1994, MPV has had a Minerals Development Unit to facilitate major projects approvals. Facilitation is not about cutting standards but about cutting delays and red tape.
Water supply and management is likely to be the big issue with most projects. This includes the supply of water and impacts on, and management of groundwater.
This is achieved by providing advice on approvals to customers. It is also about pro-
Rehabilitation in an agricultural setting is mainly about restoring the productivity of the 18
David Lea Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street East Melbourne 3002 Telephone: (03) 9637 8535 Facsimile: (03) 9637 8155
T
hree state governments, Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, and the Commonwealth Government, have agreed to a joint study of the booming Murray Basin mineral sands region. The move, which follows the discovery of further commercial deposits in the area, was announced by Federal Industry, Science and Resources Minister, Senator Nick Minchin, at the Murray Basin Mineral Sands conference held at Mildura during April. Commercial production of several deposits in the Victorian quadrant of the Basin is expected to start next year with production from the NSW and South Australian sectors expected to follow. “Recent discoveries highlight this region as a potential major producer of mineral sands,” Senator Minchin said. “The Murray Basin has the potential to make a big contribution to the development of this industry with coarse grained mineral sand resources in the region estimated at up to 50 million tonnes, equating to around $13 billion, “For the first time, under the Commonwealth’s Regional Minerals Program, three state governments will work together to ensure infrastructure developments are properly integrated across state borders.” The joint Commonwealth/State study will determine the area’s potential economic significance, the downstream potential and other strategic issues. These include water supply and quality, energy, and social infrastructure. The Mildura conference highlighted the rapidily emerging significance of the Murray Basin as a potential world class source of commercial deposits of Ilmenite, Rutile and Zircon. Organised by a committee including the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Geological Society of Victoria, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and with
assistance from the Governments of Victoria, South Australia and NSW, the conference attracted all the major industry players and a host of scientific, marketing and finance industry specialists. The conference also won significant international attention, attracting delegates from South Africa, the USA, China and Indonesia. Australia is already the world’s biggest producer of heavy mineral sands with exports of $1.2 billion a year. However, the traditional mineral sand production areas on the east and west coast are rapidly running short of reserves, with producers in Western Australia facing a rapid rundown in reserve inventories after the end of next year. While the presence of high grade mineral sands in the Murray Basin has been known for years, it has only been in the past two years that the area has received serious exploration by major players. Major discoveries have already been made by by RZM (a subsidiary of major Japanese trading house, Nissho Iwai Corporation) at Wemen, near Robinvale, while RGC has found major desposits in the Ouyen district, at Kulwin, Woornack and Rownack, which lie just south of RZM’s Wemen discovery. These have sparked a pegging rush which has seen virtually the entire Victorian portion of the Murray Basin staked for exploration with drilling rigs now a common sight throughout the area. Now, new discoveries such as the Bondi deposit found by Basin Minerals NL just 150 km north of Portland (see story this section), provide a dramatic example of the rate of discoveries in a virgin area when the right conditions exist to encourage exploration. The Basin Minerals discovery, in a new area of the Basin, has already turned heads and is likely to spark a major reinterpretation of the formation of the Basin. Five million years ago, the Murray Basin was an inland sea with its shoreline beaches formed by wave action washing sediment down from the Great Dividing Range. Tony Mason, RZM’s chief geologist, will shortly preside over the first commercial mineral sands mine in Victoria’s Murray Basin, leading the way into a new boom industry for the state.
19
Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Science and Resources, Senator Warren Entsch, has delivered strong support to Murray Basin mineral sands exploration. A drilling rig on display in Mildura provided an appropriate backdrop for his pledge of industry support.
The beach sands which formed contain valuable deposits of rutile, ilmenite and zircon which is now used as feedstock for titanium oxide pigments as well as high strength alloy steels. Zircon is an integral element in the ceramics industry and is used increasingly in the manufacture of computer discs. Several phases of exploration have unravelled the mysteries of the Murray Basin and allowed geologists to decode its complex geological clues. Vital clues have also been provided through the Victorian Governments’ highly successful Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP 2001). The program has provided important geophysical data over almost the entire Victorian section of the Basin, acting as a beacon for modern explorers seeking mineral sand deposits. Without this data, the pace of exploration in the region would have been slowed considerably, delaying the benefits new mineral projects can deliver to Victoria. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Les Craig - Manager Regional Minerals Program Department of Industry, Science and Resources Canberra. Telephone (02) 6272 4782 e-mail [email protected]
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT
REGULAR FEATURE
Basin targets are set high
Mineral sands, Victoria’s new boom
he Murray Basin Mineral Sands Conference was expected to generate considerable interest, but last month’s inaugural forum confirmed a remarkable level of interest in the Basin ‘treasure’.
T
land and providing some certainty to the landowner that this can be achieved or otherwise compensated for.
Victoria naturally is very keen to see development of a minerals industry in the Murray Basin. The industry’s emergence is very welcome, especially in the light of the difficulties currently facing the gold sector.
It should be centred on building trust and understanding on both sides, open and broad communication and being flexible and looking for outcomes the community can expect.
Community relations is about keeping any potential outrage at bay.
Infrastructure will be a key factor in the development of the Murray Basin.
The Victorian Government has been actively facilitating such development on a number of points.
Victoria initiated a Murray Basin Infrastructure Study involving Victoria, South Australia, NSW, the Commonwealth and industry.
Opportunities for Victoria from minerals sands developments include mining, downstream processing and providing infrastructure for development interstate. There has been a history of negative mining industry perception in Victoria. However, in recent times, there has been a remarkable change from industry, largely due to the current Government’s initiatives — namely through the Victoria Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP) program, through legislative reform, customer focus on service delivery and facilitation of major project approvals. The $25.5 million VIMP program is committed to upgrading the State’s geological database. Within this there will be extensive coverage of the Murray Basin with magnetics, radiometrics and gravity, identifying mineral sand deposits and building a minerals sands drilling database. More recently, Minerals and Petroleum Victoria (MPV) has released on CD a database of 11,500 mineral sands drill holes in the Basin, including information on lithology, mineralogy and assays. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is a unique organisation in that it brings together all aspects of land use. Its philosophy is to positively and creatively seek out solutions which will allow for development and still provide environmental and community outcomes which are acceptable to government and the community.
The aim of the study was to identify infrastructure ‘gaps’ and ‘pportunities’ for government and the private sector. MPV Executive Director, David Lea
The study provides a valuable basis for industry to plan development.
viding a ‘champion’ in government to co-ordinate input of government agencies and negotiate process outcomes. This further assists streamlining approvals in Victoria. Key approvals issues for mineral sands are;
Victoria has substantial infrastructure advantages to service mineral operations. Its existing infrastructure, including electricity and gas supply, results in significant savings for companies doing business in Victoria.
Choice of process – The Environment Effects Statement (EES) or Planning Permit path.
It has excellent road,rail and air infrastructure to support industry.
Government support for the new industry is very strong... Larger projects tend to use the EES option where planning controls don’t apply. This is a process, which takes an investigative rather than adversarial approach to assessing impacts. There is also more certainty with this process.
Companies operating in the Basin will have access to processing and shipping at Portland, Mildura and possibly Geelong and Melbourne.
Land Access – Most land in the Victorian part of the Basin is owned by private landowners.
Government support for the new industry is very strong and it will compete to find the best arrangement for industry. It is in our principal interest to make this prolific agricultural base a world-class minerals sands producing region.
Nature conservation – Most land is cleared, hence this is not an issue.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Since 1994, MPV has had a Minerals Development Unit to facilitate major projects approvals. Facilitation is not about cutting standards but about cutting delays and red tape.
Water supply and management is likely to be the big issue with most projects. This includes the supply of water and impacts on, and management of groundwater.
This is achieved by providing advice on approvals to customers. It is also about pro-
Rehabilitation in an agricultural setting is mainly about restoring the productivity of the 18
David Lea Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street East Melbourne 3002 Telephone: (03) 9637 8535 Facsimile: (03) 9637 8155
T
hree state governments, Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, and the Commonwealth Government, have agreed to a joint study of the booming Murray Basin mineral sands region. The move, which follows the discovery of further commercial deposits in the area, was announced by Federal Industry, Science and Resources Minister, Senator Nick Minchin, at the Murray Basin Mineral Sands conference held at Mildura during April. Commercial production of several deposits in the Victorian quadrant of the Basin is expected to start next year with production from the NSW and South Australian sectors expected to follow. “Recent discoveries highlight this region as a potential major producer of mineral sands,” Senator Minchin said. “The Murray Basin has the potential to make a big contribution to the development of this industry with coarse grained mineral sand resources in the region estimated at up to 50 million tonnes, equating to around $13 billion, “For the first time, under the Commonwealth’s Regional Minerals Program, three state governments will work together to ensure infrastructure developments are properly integrated across state borders.” The joint Commonwealth/State study will determine the area’s potential economic significance, the downstream potential and other strategic issues. These include water supply and quality, energy, and social infrastructure. The Mildura conference highlighted the rapidily emerging significance of the Murray Basin as a potential world class source of commercial deposits of Ilmenite, Rutile and Zircon. Organised by a committee including the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Geological Society of Victoria, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and with
assistance from the Governments of Victoria, South Australia and NSW, the conference attracted all the major industry players and a host of scientific, marketing and finance industry specialists. The conference also won significant international attention, attracting delegates from South Africa, the USA, China and Indonesia. Australia is already the world’s biggest producer of heavy mineral sands with exports of $1.2 billion a year. However, the traditional mineral sand production areas on the east and west coast are rapidly running short of reserves, with producers in Western Australia facing a rapid rundown in reserve inventories after the end of next year. While the presence of high grade mineral sands in the Murray Basin has been known for years, it has only been in the past two years that the area has received serious exploration by major players. Major discoveries have already been made by by RZM (a subsidiary of major Japanese trading house, Nissho Iwai Corporation) at Wemen, near Robinvale, while RGC has found major desposits in the Ouyen district, at Kulwin, Woornack and Rownack, which lie just south of RZM’s Wemen discovery. These have sparked a pegging rush which has seen virtually the entire Victorian portion of the Murray Basin staked for exploration with drilling rigs now a common sight throughout the area. Now, new discoveries such as the Bondi deposit found by Basin Minerals NL just 150 km north of Portland (see story this section), provide a dramatic example of the rate of discoveries in a virgin area when the right conditions exist to encourage exploration. The Basin Minerals discovery, in a new area of the Basin, has already turned heads and is likely to spark a major reinterpretation of the formation of the Basin. Five million years ago, the Murray Basin was an inland sea with its shoreline beaches formed by wave action washing sediment down from the Great Dividing Range. Tony Mason, RZM’s chief geologist, will shortly preside over the first commercial mineral sands mine in Victoria’s Murray Basin, leading the way into a new boom industry for the state.
19
Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Science and Resources, Senator Warren Entsch, has delivered strong support to Murray Basin mineral sands exploration. A drilling rig on display in Mildura provided an appropriate backdrop for his pledge of industry support.
The beach sands which formed contain valuable deposits of rutile, ilmenite and zircon which is now used as feedstock for titanium oxide pigments as well as high strength alloy steels. Zircon is an integral element in the ceramics industry and is used increasingly in the manufacture of computer discs. Several phases of exploration have unravelled the mysteries of the Murray Basin and allowed geologists to decode its complex geological clues. Vital clues have also been provided through the Victorian Governments’ highly successful Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP 2001). The program has provided important geophysical data over almost the entire Victorian section of the Basin, acting as a beacon for modern explorers seeking mineral sand deposits. Without this data, the pace of exploration in the region would have been slowed considerably, delaying the benefits new mineral projects can deliver to Victoria. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Les Craig - Manager Regional Minerals Program Department of Industry, Science and Resources Canberra. Telephone (02) 6272 4782 e-mail [email protected]
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT
New opportunities for mineral sands acreage
Murray Basin mineral sands exploration history
T
Tom Dickson, Manager of the Geological Survey of Victoria, traces the history of exploration in the Murray Basin and unveils a real-life Cinderella industry.
enders have been called for seven key Murray Basin mineral sands exploration licence areas. The move is set give exploration in the Basin a major boost in coming months, adding to the groundswell of attention the area is already receiving.
T
Victorian Minister for Agriculture and Resources Pat McNamara has called for tenders for exploration in the seven areas, previously held for more than 20 years by Rio Tinto Ltd and known locally as the WIM leases. To enable potential bidders to analyse the vast quantity of exploration data accumulated by Rio Tinto, the tender period has been extended from the usual two months to three months. Tenders will close on June 17. Collectively, the seven areas cover more than 2970 square kilometres in the heart of the highly prospective Victorian portion of the Murray Basin. They cover ground held exclusively by Rio Tinto from 1979 to 1998 when it searched for, and found, the massive WIM 150 mineral sand deposit. Bidding is likely to be intense for the new rights to the region. The WIM 150 and WIM 100 deposits, which have not yet been commercially developed, have been retained by Rio Tinto. During its tenure Rio Tinto explored extensively for mineral sands and located at least 10 heavy mineral resources and prospects. But only one, the Pimpinio Ridge, contained the now desirable coarse-grained strandline type deposit. All the others were fine-grained deposits where the desirable minerals occur in grains between 38 to 80 microns. However, the extensive Rio Tinto drilling campaign intersected numerous, coarsegrained, heavy mineral deposits, possibly contained in the now well understood strandline deposits. In almost all cases, except for Pimpinio Ridge, the coarse sand intersections were not followed up as Rio Tinto was searching specifically for large size, fine-grained deposits in the WIM 150 style. As well as being prospective for mineral sands, the areas also hold potential for gold and base metal mineralisation in the basement rocks below the relatively shallow Murray
Basin sediments. The host lithology sequence of the Stawell gold mine, as well as other altered rock suites, appears to extend to the north-east through the tender blocks.
million tonnes of mineralised sand averaging 2.8 per cent heavy minerals. A higher grade core covering about 44 square kilometres contains 250 million tonnes of mineralised sand at 4 per cent heavy mineral.
The primary Murray Basin exploration target for mineral sands is the Loxton-Parilla Sands, which are Miocene to Pliocene in age.
The mineralised zone averages about 10.3 metres in thickness and is covered by a shallow overburden.
The sands are predominantly a marine sand sequence, which becomes marginal marine, deltaic and non-marine as the marine regression progresses.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has prepared geological data packages for the area covered by the seven tender blocks.
The marine Loxton-Parilla Sands consist of three principal units.
The package includes a synopsis of the geology and mineral potential, drilling data and exploration reports.
The most keenly sought deposit is the upper beach sand unit which contains the coarser grained strand-line deposits. There are also coarse sands and occasional gravels associated with wave action deposition and fine-grained, micaceous sediments containing very fine-grained heavy mineral accumulations similar to the WIM 150 and WIM 100 style deposits. The global WIM 150 resources total 4,900
The package is available from : Mr Kim Ricketts Co-ordinator Minerals and Petroleum Business Centre Level 8, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, 3002. Ph: 61 03 9412 5103 Fax: 61 03 9412 5150 Email: [email protected]
Published resources for strand-line deposits in the Murray Basin include: Deposit
Owner
Wemen
RZM/Aberfoyle
17m/t @ 3.8% HM
Jack’s Tank N
RZM/Aberfoyle
13m/t @ 1.9% HM
Jack’s Tank N
RZM/Aberfoyle
41m/t @ 2.6% HM
Birthday Gift
RZM/Aberfoyle
61 m/t @ 3.6% HM
Kulwin
RGC Min Sands
10.6 m/t @ 24.1% HM
Woornack/Rownack
RGC Min Sands
21.9 m/t @ 15.8% HM
20
Resources
he Murray Basin covers a roughly oval shaped region spread across the common border of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Until 30 years ago the area was considered unprospective for minerals. Now it stands poised to become one of the world’s major heavy mineral provinces. A combination of outstanding scientific detective work and dramatically changing technology have combined to finally give the Basin its chance to take its place in Australia’s rich mining history. Exploration has occurred in four distinct phases with the first true commercial mineral sands production planned to start later this year The most important message to come from exploration in the Murray Basin is that no land can ever be considered unprospective for mineral exploration.
Early days The first beach sand miner in Australia was John Sinclair who discovered and worked gold at Shaw’s Bay near the north head of the Richmond River in NSW in March, 1870. He recovered 12 ounces of gold in a fortnight and sparked a major rush to all NSW’s north coast beaches. The miners worked what they called “sniggers”, small wash-out areas where the storm action of south-easterly gales had broken up a partly consolidated heavy mineral band - the “black rock” - and further concentrated the trace amounts of gold and platinum. Several thousand miners made quite a good living combining sugar cane cutting and beach mining. Almost every beach between the Clarence and the Tweed Rivers was worked. Beach mining received a further boost in 1895 when Alexander McAuly discovered a similar black rock occurrence or ‘lead’ in old dunes about one kilometre inland from the coast at Jerusalem Creek between Yamba and Evans Head. At that time, rutile and zircon were considered worthless ‘gangue’ minerals which had to be laboriously separated from the more valuable gold and platinum. It was not until 1934 that commercial scale
mining for zircon and later for rutile began at Byron Bay. The industry limped along for many years but it finally took off after 1955 when increasing demand arose for titanium pigments, especially titanium metal for use in military aircraft. Demand grew more than six fold between 1955 and 1970 and over that period beach sand operations extended along almost the whole 1300 kilometre coastline from north of Sydney to Byfield, north of Rockhampton.
Thoughts turn inland The industry was booming and, as the source of the heavy minerals clearly seemed to be the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks of the Great Dividing Range, geologists began to speculate on what might lie to the west of the mountains. Many of the westerly flowing rivers did contain small concentrations of heavy minerals and an area adjacent to the Namoi River, in the Pilliga Scrub west of Narrabri, was extensively prospected in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. US mining major, Kennecott Exploration, eventually abandoned the Pilliga Scrub prospect in 1965 but its work had clearly demonstrated heavy minerals were being shed into the interior of the continent. Perhaps those heavy minerals could have reached the Murray Basin? It was, after all, a vast inland sea over a very large part of the Tertiary Period.
First Indications During the 1960’s, the groundwater potential of the Murray Basin was under intensive investigation. The Victorian NSW and South Australian Mines Departments all undertook major drilling and water sampling programs and
many reports were written on the geology, stratigraphy and structure of the Basin. In one of these, Charles Lawrence (1966) mentioned that the Diaper Sandstone, later to be renamed the Parilla Sand, contained “up to 2% by weight of heavy minerals including limonitecoated quartz grains, zircon, and tourmaline”. This could be the first published reference to significant heavy mineral content in the sediments of the Murray Basin. In 1969, Phil Macumber, of the water section of the GSV, published a brief note on the inland limits of the Murravian marine transgression in Victoria describing the Parilla Sand along the Gredgwin Ridge. His notes mentioned a quarry eight miles west of Kerang where the workings revealed a “continuous heavy mineral band up to 3 feet thick and extending along all walls of the quarry”.
Phase One (1970-73) Macumber’s article attracted the attention of geologist Colin Adamson who was familiar with the beach sands industry and its players. He had seen the Pilliga Scrub and was interested in the deposition of heavy minerals west of the great divide. After a rapid inspection of the Kerang quarry, where he found heavy mineral concentration of up to 30% over a one-metre interval, he applied for an exploration licence over the area. Reconnaissance work revealed other quarries with heavy mineral layers at OakvaleQuambatook, Boort, Lake Marmal, Meatian, Lalbert and Cannie. Drilling in 1971 and 1972 eliminated the Oakvale area but outlined potentially commercial resources at Boort, although a detailed appraisal study showed the accumulations were uneconomic and the title was relinquished in 1970.
Phase Two (1976 - 1982) During 1974/75, the price of zircon skyrocketed from $36.90/tonne to $194.6/tonne while rutile rose from $120.5 to $188.10 and later in 1977 to $216.60/tonne. This sparked renewed interest in the Murray Basin for heavy mineral sands with companies applying for exploration licences around Kerang and Boort in 1976. The lack of outcropping sands made exploration difficult and after drilling 17 inconclusive holes the area was relinquished in 1977. In 1976, Tioxide Australia and its partner, Austiex Pty Ltd, took a different tack. They
The disused Kerang quarry clearly shows the dark band of heavy minerals in the walls providing a vital clue for modern explorers.
21
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT
New opportunities for mineral sands acreage
Murray Basin mineral sands exploration history
T
Tom Dickson, Manager of the Geological Survey of Victoria, traces the history of exploration in the Murray Basin and unveils a real-life Cinderella industry.
enders have been called for seven key Murray Basin mineral sands exploration licence areas. The move is set give exploration in the Basin a major boost in coming months, adding to the groundswell of attention the area is already receiving.
T
Victorian Minister for Agriculture and Resources Pat McNamara has called for tenders for exploration in the seven areas, previously held for more than 20 years by Rio Tinto Ltd and known locally as the WIM leases. To enable potential bidders to analyse the vast quantity of exploration data accumulated by Rio Tinto, the tender period has been extended from the usual two months to three months. Tenders will close on June 17. Collectively, the seven areas cover more than 2970 square kilometres in the heart of the highly prospective Victorian portion of the Murray Basin. They cover ground held exclusively by Rio Tinto from 1979 to 1998 when it searched for, and found, the massive WIM 150 mineral sand deposit. Bidding is likely to be intense for the new rights to the region. The WIM 150 and WIM 100 deposits, which have not yet been commercially developed, have been retained by Rio Tinto. During its tenure Rio Tinto explored extensively for mineral sands and located at least 10 heavy mineral resources and prospects. But only one, the Pimpinio Ridge, contained the now desirable coarse-grained strandline type deposit. All the others were fine-grained deposits where the desirable minerals occur in grains between 38 to 80 microns. However, the extensive Rio Tinto drilling campaign intersected numerous, coarsegrained, heavy mineral deposits, possibly contained in the now well understood strandline deposits. In almost all cases, except for Pimpinio Ridge, the coarse sand intersections were not followed up as Rio Tinto was searching specifically for large size, fine-grained deposits in the WIM 150 style. As well as being prospective for mineral sands, the areas also hold potential for gold and base metal mineralisation in the basement rocks below the relatively shallow Murray
Basin sediments. The host lithology sequence of the Stawell gold mine, as well as other altered rock suites, appears to extend to the north-east through the tender blocks.
million tonnes of mineralised sand averaging 2.8 per cent heavy minerals. A higher grade core covering about 44 square kilometres contains 250 million tonnes of mineralised sand at 4 per cent heavy mineral.
The primary Murray Basin exploration target for mineral sands is the Loxton-Parilla Sands, which are Miocene to Pliocene in age.
The mineralised zone averages about 10.3 metres in thickness and is covered by a shallow overburden.
The sands are predominantly a marine sand sequence, which becomes marginal marine, deltaic and non-marine as the marine regression progresses.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has prepared geological data packages for the area covered by the seven tender blocks.
The marine Loxton-Parilla Sands consist of three principal units.
The package includes a synopsis of the geology and mineral potential, drilling data and exploration reports.
The most keenly sought deposit is the upper beach sand unit which contains the coarser grained strand-line deposits. There are also coarse sands and occasional gravels associated with wave action deposition and fine-grained, micaceous sediments containing very fine-grained heavy mineral accumulations similar to the WIM 150 and WIM 100 style deposits. The global WIM 150 resources total 4,900
The package is available from : Mr Kim Ricketts Co-ordinator Minerals and Petroleum Business Centre Level 8, 240 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, 3002. Ph: 61 03 9412 5103 Fax: 61 03 9412 5150 Email: [email protected]
Published resources for strand-line deposits in the Murray Basin include: Deposit
Owner
Wemen
RZM/Aberfoyle
17m/t @ 3.8% HM
Jack’s Tank N
RZM/Aberfoyle
13m/t @ 1.9% HM
Jack’s Tank N
RZM/Aberfoyle
41m/t @ 2.6% HM
Birthday Gift
RZM/Aberfoyle
61 m/t @ 3.6% HM
Kulwin
RGC Min Sands
10.6 m/t @ 24.1% HM
Woornack/Rownack
RGC Min Sands
21.9 m/t @ 15.8% HM
20
Resources
he Murray Basin covers a roughly oval shaped region spread across the common border of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Until 30 years ago the area was considered unprospective for minerals. Now it stands poised to become one of the world’s major heavy mineral provinces. A combination of outstanding scientific detective work and dramatically changing technology have combined to finally give the Basin its chance to take its place in Australia’s rich mining history. Exploration has occurred in four distinct phases with the first true commercial mineral sands production planned to start later this year The most important message to come from exploration in the Murray Basin is that no land can ever be considered unprospective for mineral exploration.
Early days The first beach sand miner in Australia was John Sinclair who discovered and worked gold at Shaw’s Bay near the north head of the Richmond River in NSW in March, 1870. He recovered 12 ounces of gold in a fortnight and sparked a major rush to all NSW’s north coast beaches. The miners worked what they called “sniggers”, small wash-out areas where the storm action of south-easterly gales had broken up a partly consolidated heavy mineral band - the “black rock” - and further concentrated the trace amounts of gold and platinum. Several thousand miners made quite a good living combining sugar cane cutting and beach mining. Almost every beach between the Clarence and the Tweed Rivers was worked. Beach mining received a further boost in 1895 when Alexander McAuly discovered a similar black rock occurrence or ‘lead’ in old dunes about one kilometre inland from the coast at Jerusalem Creek between Yamba and Evans Head. At that time, rutile and zircon were considered worthless ‘gangue’ minerals which had to be laboriously separated from the more valuable gold and platinum. It was not until 1934 that commercial scale
mining for zircon and later for rutile began at Byron Bay. The industry limped along for many years but it finally took off after 1955 when increasing demand arose for titanium pigments, especially titanium metal for use in military aircraft. Demand grew more than six fold between 1955 and 1970 and over that period beach sand operations extended along almost the whole 1300 kilometre coastline from north of Sydney to Byfield, north of Rockhampton.
Thoughts turn inland The industry was booming and, as the source of the heavy minerals clearly seemed to be the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks of the Great Dividing Range, geologists began to speculate on what might lie to the west of the mountains. Many of the westerly flowing rivers did contain small concentrations of heavy minerals and an area adjacent to the Namoi River, in the Pilliga Scrub west of Narrabri, was extensively prospected in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. US mining major, Kennecott Exploration, eventually abandoned the Pilliga Scrub prospect in 1965 but its work had clearly demonstrated heavy minerals were being shed into the interior of the continent. Perhaps those heavy minerals could have reached the Murray Basin? It was, after all, a vast inland sea over a very large part of the Tertiary Period.
First Indications During the 1960’s, the groundwater potential of the Murray Basin was under intensive investigation. The Victorian NSW and South Australian Mines Departments all undertook major drilling and water sampling programs and
many reports were written on the geology, stratigraphy and structure of the Basin. In one of these, Charles Lawrence (1966) mentioned that the Diaper Sandstone, later to be renamed the Parilla Sand, contained “up to 2% by weight of heavy minerals including limonitecoated quartz grains, zircon, and tourmaline”. This could be the first published reference to significant heavy mineral content in the sediments of the Murray Basin. In 1969, Phil Macumber, of the water section of the GSV, published a brief note on the inland limits of the Murravian marine transgression in Victoria describing the Parilla Sand along the Gredgwin Ridge. His notes mentioned a quarry eight miles west of Kerang where the workings revealed a “continuous heavy mineral band up to 3 feet thick and extending along all walls of the quarry”.
Phase One (1970-73) Macumber’s article attracted the attention of geologist Colin Adamson who was familiar with the beach sands industry and its players. He had seen the Pilliga Scrub and was interested in the deposition of heavy minerals west of the great divide. After a rapid inspection of the Kerang quarry, where he found heavy mineral concentration of up to 30% over a one-metre interval, he applied for an exploration licence over the area. Reconnaissance work revealed other quarries with heavy mineral layers at OakvaleQuambatook, Boort, Lake Marmal, Meatian, Lalbert and Cannie. Drilling in 1971 and 1972 eliminated the Oakvale area but outlined potentially commercial resources at Boort, although a detailed appraisal study showed the accumulations were uneconomic and the title was relinquished in 1970.
Phase Two (1976 - 1982) During 1974/75, the price of zircon skyrocketed from $36.90/tonne to $194.6/tonne while rutile rose from $120.5 to $188.10 and later in 1977 to $216.60/tonne. This sparked renewed interest in the Murray Basin for heavy mineral sands with companies applying for exploration licences around Kerang and Boort in 1976. The lack of outcropping sands made exploration difficult and after drilling 17 inconclusive holes the area was relinquished in 1977. In 1976, Tioxide Australia and its partner, Austiex Pty Ltd, took a different tack. They
The disused Kerang quarry clearly shows the dark band of heavy minerals in the walls providing a vital clue for modern explorers.
21
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT believed the prominent north-trending ridges represented stranded coastal features, a concept first put forward in 1962. The partnership drilled 16,000 metres in 1,005 RAB holes. Fences of holes were developed normal to the strike of the ridges at Gredgwin Cannie, the Tyrell Ridge, two ridges at Warracknabeal and at Goroke. Traces of heavy mineral sands were located along most of the ridges but a major strand line 52 km long with an average width of 150 metres and thickness of 3.6 metres was delineated along the Tyrell Ridge. An inferred resource of 5.7 million tonnes averaging 13.7% heavy mineral was calculated. Commercial heavy mineral in the concentrate averaged 60%, but ilmenite with a high chrome content was thought likely to cause treatment difficulties. In 1982, Westralian Sands Ltd redrilled five traverses on the Tyrell Ridge resource and, as a result, the width of the mineralised zone was halved and the overburden thickness increased while the average thickness of the mineralised intersection dropped from 3.3 to 2.9 metres making the deposit uneconomic.
Phase 3 (1982 - 1992) Phase 3 was dominated by the discovery of the WIM style of mineralisation but was also helped by a big rise in rutile prices from $247.70 in 1983 to $775.30 a tonne by 1990. Zircon prices also jumped from $128.80 per tonne to $641.20 by 1989. CRA Ltd, now called Rio Tinto Ltd, entered the heavy mineral search in the Murray Basin largely through chance. With the oil shocks of the late 1970’s the group, now the world’s biggest mining company, went on a major search for energy - oil and gas, coal; anything that would burn or could perhaps be converted to liquid fuels. CRA applied for title to all the shallow section (out to 200 metres depth) of the Murray Basin in Victoria extending from the South Australian border right through to the Goulburn River valley and Numurkah. After reviewing all existing water bores and conducting an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey, it commenced exploration drilling on roughly 10km centres. Very large brown coal resources were located at Kerang and at Torrumbery-Tandara but by then the oil crisis was over and nobody wanted to know about brown coal. All the holes drilled had been geophysically logged and a consistent strong gamma ray peak was noted near the tops of many of the holes. Analysis revealed a significant heavy mineral concentration corresponding to the zone of anomalous gamma levels. These gamma anomalies were reassessed in bores over a wide area of western Kerang and two areas near Lalbert and Dumosa were selected for drill testing in May, 1982.
The mineral sands boom has produced a technology rush. Hal Aral, (left) from CSIRO Minerals, learns the finer points of a new mineral separator from Malcolm Day, national sales manager of Eriez Magnetics Pty Ltd at the Mildura conference.
The heavy mineral layer they found appeared to be very widespread and not at all like the typical narrow strand line deposits. This was something new and potentially very large, just the sort of thing CRA desired, so it embarked on a major regional program with traverses of holes around any significant gamma peak recorded in the original coal drilling. In early 1983, a series of 11 holes east of Horsham encountered narrow but very high grade zones of heavy mineral and a follow up program in early 1984 confirmed the presence of a major heavy mineral concentration in the area, which eventually became known as WIM 150. The deposit was different from the typical strand line deposits of the east and west costs of Australia. It covers a large area of over 200 square kilometres but the heavy mineral grain size ranges from 1000 to just 38 microns with most of the valuable minerals in the finer part of the range. It contains about 4,900 million tonnes of mineralised sand averaging approximately 2.8% heavy minerals, including a higher grade core of about 44 sq km containing 250 million tonnes of mineralised sand at 4% heavy mineral. In April 1990, CRA announced the discovery of the WIM 50, 100, 200, and 250 deposits to the north-east and south west of WIM 150. Table 1 Average composition of heavy mineral fraction, WIM 150 deposit % Light heavies (density <3.32 porous iron oxide aggregates, tourmaline, sillimanite, andalusite) 23.8 Xenotime 0.4 Ilmenite 31.6 Spinel 0.1 Goethite (less porous than iron oxide in light heavies) 6.7 Monazite 1.4 Zircon 13.3 Rutile and anatase 8.7 Leucoxene 11.6 Others (staurolite, topaz, pyrite/marcasite) 2.4 TOTAL 100
22
In all, 20 separate deposits were discovered with a combined resource well in excess of 13,000 million tonnes of mineralised sand. CRA formed a new company, Wimmera Industrial Minerals Pty Ltd, to overcome the problem of the very fine grain size of the material and to attempt to bring the WIM series of deposits into production. The company obtained bulk samples, set up a large pilot plant on site and commenced a major series of metallurgical tests but, at present, the deposits are not commercially viable. CRA’s exploration success and the steeply rising rutile prices between 1984 and 1998 encouraged further interest in the Murray Basin, particularly in the Victorian sector. Major mineral sand producer, RGC Ltd, took an interest an the Murray Basin for the first time between 1989-92 exploring for both strandline and WIM 150 type targets. Its efforts were concentrated at Bringalbert on the South Australian border, at Charlton and in the Kerang-Swan Hill area. Several small, low-grade strandlines were located west of Swan Hill, along the strike of the Cannie Ridge to the south. The other area of interest was at the old Kerang Quarry where an inferred resource of 2.8 million tonnes of 1.5% HM was calculated. However, none of the deposits were economic and titles were progressively relinquished up to 1992.
Phase four (1994 to present) The fourth phase of exploration was initiated by the perseverance of Aberfoyle Ltd, recently taken over, and by 1996 an opportune return of rutile and zircon prices to around 1990 levels. Aberfoyle had maintained its interest in heavy minerals even after the 1992 price downturn, concentrating its efforts in the Spring Hill area of New South Wales on the Jack’s Tank prospect which it finally inherited from CRA. Aberfoyle explored for coarse grained strandlines along two well-defined topographic highs, the Neckarboo and Iona Ridges on either side of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area in NSW and followed the extension of these features, the Robinvale Ridge, into Victoria. In early 1995, Aberfoyle signed a joint venture deal with RZM Pty Ltd and the first drill hole hit the Wemen orebody in November, 1995 intersecting several metres of high-grade heavy mineral. The Wemen orebody, likely to be the first commercial heavy mineral producer in the entire Murray Basin, extends almost to the Murray River. It is 12km long, averages 200
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT metres in width and 7m in thickness. The measured resource is 9.16 million tonnes at 5% HM containing 28% rutile, 12% zircon and 44% ilmenite. CRA drilled one hole within 650 metres of Wemen in early 1987. But more importantly, a regional water bore was placed right into the middle of the body in early 1984. During the drilling, the geologist panned off heavy mineral in the Parilla Sand, estimating 2 metres at 10% heavy mineral. This report came to the attention of Aberfoyle geologists in 1995 who quickly pegged and later drilled the area. RGC re-entered the Victorian heavy mineral search in 1996 applying for five titles immediately south of Aberfoyle’s Wemen tenements. The Kulwin and Woornack deposits were discovered in December, 1996 and the company acquired major tenement holdings in January, 1997 with the Rownack deposit discovered in February, 1997. The first mineral resource estimates for the bodies were released in August, 1997 at 1 million tonnes rutile at 3%, 0.6 million tonnes of zircon at 2% and 1.8 million tonnes of ilmenite at 6% in-situ. Since then, additional deposits have been recognised at Boorongie, Ninda, Barbary and Banyan. This spate of new high-grade discoveries has caused a rush to the whole of the Murray Basin in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Almost the whole Basin is currently covered by titles. It seems certain that this fourth phase of exploration will lead to commercial production 30 years after the initial discovery at Kerang.
Commercial production Mineral sands exploration in the Victorian section of the Murray Basin has been extremely successful in locating a huge volume of individual prospects and resources. The available resources of the east coast and the west coast are starting to run down and the Murray Basin finds are extremely timely for the future of the industry in Australia. Many chance discoveries have been made by explorers. But in many cases alert explorers have seized on hints contained in various government reports and it is likely that high-grade strandline intersections that were not followed up by CRA, could reveal new commercial deposits. All CRA’s data and records from other companies, are now available on CD from the Geological Survey of Victoria. Thirty years ago only a few people thought there was any prospects of heavy minerals in the Murray Basin. Now it is poised to become a major heavy mineral province. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Tom Dickson- Manager Geological Survey of Victoria Telephone (03) 9412 5035
New discovery adds to Basin boom
B
Basin Minerals NL has found a series of new heavy mineral sand deposits in Victoria which could ultimately eclipse many of the major Western Australian heavy mineral deposits currently being mined. Intensive drilling by Basin Minerals, a subsidiary of the listed company Craton Resources NL, had discovered a series of deposits which, “have the potential within 10 years to see the Murray Basin usurp WA’s position as the major contributor to Australia’s status as the world’s largest heavy mineral sands producer,” according to Managing Director, Dr Brad Farrell (pictured right). The Douglas mineral sands deposits lie about 40 km west of Horsham and 150 km north of Portland and incorporate a series of coarsegrained, strandline deposits formed from ancient beaches. A second discovery at the Culgoa project near Swan Hill has also been discovered. “The discoveries at the Douglas project area are highly significant and are indicative of a major, world-class ilmenite province, which coincidentally, bears close comparison with the prominent, but aging, WA mineral sands fields at Eneabba and Capel, Australia’s biggest producers,” Dr Farrell told the Murray Basin mineral sands conference. The Douglas deposits were characterised by cross-sectional widths of a few hundred metres to over 1,000 metres, featured strike lengths of tens of kilometres and ore thickness of between 10 and 20 metres, he said. The deposits are near surface and in some cases at surface, strongly ilmenite dominated with significant rutile and zircon grades and are coarse grained, allowing for low-cost mining and processing. The largest of the four Douglas deposits has been named Bondi and, according to Dr Farrell, forms the largest beach placer deposit yet found in the Murray Basin. Bondi comprises several stacked strands with a width in excess of one kilometre. Recent drilling has yielded shallow heavy mineral grades from different holes of 12.2 per cent over a thickness of 11 metres from the surface. “The Douglas area sits within a well developed infrastructure with the deep water port of Portland just 150 km away, an obvious loca23
tion for a dry mill and other value adding activities,” Dr Farrell said. “Importantly, the project is predominantly freehold and thus not subject to Native Title.” he added. In the Culgoa project area, high grade, narrow strandlines with cross sectional widths of up to 140 metres have been discovered. These have dimensions and grades comparable to RGC Ltd’s Kulwin and Woornack/ Rownack discoveries, which are heading quickly towards commercial development. Those discoveries have a combined indicated resource of 64.5 million tonnes grading 10.1 per cent heavy mineral worth over $1 billion in the ground. Basin Minerals ‘ discovery of the Douglas and Culgoa deposits follows nine months of systematic exploration and the expenditure of more than $1.8 million including the drilling of more than 62,000 metres of reverse-circulation aircore drilling . “There is a lot more work to do but, with what the big players like RGC and RZM have already announced and what we have found, there seems little doubt that the Murray Basin is a major new greenfields heavy mineral sands province, one that could carry Australia’s production banner into the next century,” Dr Farrell said. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Dr Brad Farrell Managing Director - Basin Minerals NL Telephone (08) 9481 3638 or 0418 925 113
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT believed the prominent north-trending ridges represented stranded coastal features, a concept first put forward in 1962. The partnership drilled 16,000 metres in 1,005 RAB holes. Fences of holes were developed normal to the strike of the ridges at Gredgwin Cannie, the Tyrell Ridge, two ridges at Warracknabeal and at Goroke. Traces of heavy mineral sands were located along most of the ridges but a major strand line 52 km long with an average width of 150 metres and thickness of 3.6 metres was delineated along the Tyrell Ridge. An inferred resource of 5.7 million tonnes averaging 13.7% heavy mineral was calculated. Commercial heavy mineral in the concentrate averaged 60%, but ilmenite with a high chrome content was thought likely to cause treatment difficulties. In 1982, Westralian Sands Ltd redrilled five traverses on the Tyrell Ridge resource and, as a result, the width of the mineralised zone was halved and the overburden thickness increased while the average thickness of the mineralised intersection dropped from 3.3 to 2.9 metres making the deposit uneconomic.
Phase 3 (1982 - 1992) Phase 3 was dominated by the discovery of the WIM style of mineralisation but was also helped by a big rise in rutile prices from $247.70 in 1983 to $775.30 a tonne by 1990. Zircon prices also jumped from $128.80 per tonne to $641.20 by 1989. CRA Ltd, now called Rio Tinto Ltd, entered the heavy mineral search in the Murray Basin largely through chance. With the oil shocks of the late 1970’s the group, now the world’s biggest mining company, went on a major search for energy - oil and gas, coal; anything that would burn or could perhaps be converted to liquid fuels. CRA applied for title to all the shallow section (out to 200 metres depth) of the Murray Basin in Victoria extending from the South Australian border right through to the Goulburn River valley and Numurkah. After reviewing all existing water bores and conducting an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey, it commenced exploration drilling on roughly 10km centres. Very large brown coal resources were located at Kerang and at Torrumbery-Tandara but by then the oil crisis was over and nobody wanted to know about brown coal. All the holes drilled had been geophysically logged and a consistent strong gamma ray peak was noted near the tops of many of the holes. Analysis revealed a significant heavy mineral concentration corresponding to the zone of anomalous gamma levels. These gamma anomalies were reassessed in bores over a wide area of western Kerang and two areas near Lalbert and Dumosa were selected for drill testing in May, 1982.
The mineral sands boom has produced a technology rush. Hal Aral, (left) from CSIRO Minerals, learns the finer points of a new mineral separator from Malcolm Day, national sales manager of Eriez Magnetics Pty Ltd at the Mildura conference.
The heavy mineral layer they found appeared to be very widespread and not at all like the typical narrow strand line deposits. This was something new and potentially very large, just the sort of thing CRA desired, so it embarked on a major regional program with traverses of holes around any significant gamma peak recorded in the original coal drilling. In early 1983, a series of 11 holes east of Horsham encountered narrow but very high grade zones of heavy mineral and a follow up program in early 1984 confirmed the presence of a major heavy mineral concentration in the area, which eventually became known as WIM 150. The deposit was different from the typical strand line deposits of the east and west costs of Australia. It covers a large area of over 200 square kilometres but the heavy mineral grain size ranges from 1000 to just 38 microns with most of the valuable minerals in the finer part of the range. It contains about 4,900 million tonnes of mineralised sand averaging approximately 2.8% heavy minerals, including a higher grade core of about 44 sq km containing 250 million tonnes of mineralised sand at 4% heavy mineral. In April 1990, CRA announced the discovery of the WIM 50, 100, 200, and 250 deposits to the north-east and south west of WIM 150. Table 1 Average composition of heavy mineral fraction, WIM 150 deposit % Light heavies (density <3.32 porous iron oxide aggregates, tourmaline, sillimanite, andalusite) 23.8 Xenotime 0.4 Ilmenite 31.6 Spinel 0.1 Goethite (less porous than iron oxide in light heavies) 6.7 Monazite 1.4 Zircon 13.3 Rutile and anatase 8.7 Leucoxene 11.6 Others (staurolite, topaz, pyrite/marcasite) 2.4 TOTAL 100
22
In all, 20 separate deposits were discovered with a combined resource well in excess of 13,000 million tonnes of mineralised sand. CRA formed a new company, Wimmera Industrial Minerals Pty Ltd, to overcome the problem of the very fine grain size of the material and to attempt to bring the WIM series of deposits into production. The company obtained bulk samples, set up a large pilot plant on site and commenced a major series of metallurgical tests but, at present, the deposits are not commercially viable. CRA’s exploration success and the steeply rising rutile prices between 1984 and 1998 encouraged further interest in the Murray Basin, particularly in the Victorian sector. Major mineral sand producer, RGC Ltd, took an interest an the Murray Basin for the first time between 1989-92 exploring for both strandline and WIM 150 type targets. Its efforts were concentrated at Bringalbert on the South Australian border, at Charlton and in the Kerang-Swan Hill area. Several small, low-grade strandlines were located west of Swan Hill, along the strike of the Cannie Ridge to the south. The other area of interest was at the old Kerang Quarry where an inferred resource of 2.8 million tonnes of 1.5% HM was calculated. However, none of the deposits were economic and titles were progressively relinquished up to 1992.
Phase four (1994 to present) The fourth phase of exploration was initiated by the perseverance of Aberfoyle Ltd, recently taken over, and by 1996 an opportune return of rutile and zircon prices to around 1990 levels. Aberfoyle had maintained its interest in heavy minerals even after the 1992 price downturn, concentrating its efforts in the Spring Hill area of New South Wales on the Jack’s Tank prospect which it finally inherited from CRA. Aberfoyle explored for coarse grained strandlines along two well-defined topographic highs, the Neckarboo and Iona Ridges on either side of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area in NSW and followed the extension of these features, the Robinvale Ridge, into Victoria. In early 1995, Aberfoyle signed a joint venture deal with RZM Pty Ltd and the first drill hole hit the Wemen orebody in November, 1995 intersecting several metres of high-grade heavy mineral. The Wemen orebody, likely to be the first commercial heavy mineral producer in the entire Murray Basin, extends almost to the Murray River. It is 12km long, averages 200
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT metres in width and 7m in thickness. The measured resource is 9.16 million tonnes at 5% HM containing 28% rutile, 12% zircon and 44% ilmenite. CRA drilled one hole within 650 metres of Wemen in early 1987. But more importantly, a regional water bore was placed right into the middle of the body in early 1984. During the drilling, the geologist panned off heavy mineral in the Parilla Sand, estimating 2 metres at 10% heavy mineral. This report came to the attention of Aberfoyle geologists in 1995 who quickly pegged and later drilled the area. RGC re-entered the Victorian heavy mineral search in 1996 applying for five titles immediately south of Aberfoyle’s Wemen tenements. The Kulwin and Woornack deposits were discovered in December, 1996 and the company acquired major tenement holdings in January, 1997 with the Rownack deposit discovered in February, 1997. The first mineral resource estimates for the bodies were released in August, 1997 at 1 million tonnes rutile at 3%, 0.6 million tonnes of zircon at 2% and 1.8 million tonnes of ilmenite at 6% in-situ. Since then, additional deposits have been recognised at Boorongie, Ninda, Barbary and Banyan. This spate of new high-grade discoveries has caused a rush to the whole of the Murray Basin in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Almost the whole Basin is currently covered by titles. It seems certain that this fourth phase of exploration will lead to commercial production 30 years after the initial discovery at Kerang.
Commercial production Mineral sands exploration in the Victorian section of the Murray Basin has been extremely successful in locating a huge volume of individual prospects and resources. The available resources of the east coast and the west coast are starting to run down and the Murray Basin finds are extremely timely for the future of the industry in Australia. Many chance discoveries have been made by explorers. But in many cases alert explorers have seized on hints contained in various government reports and it is likely that high-grade strandline intersections that were not followed up by CRA, could reveal new commercial deposits. All CRA’s data and records from other companies, are now available on CD from the Geological Survey of Victoria. Thirty years ago only a few people thought there was any prospects of heavy minerals in the Murray Basin. Now it is poised to become a major heavy mineral province. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Tom Dickson- Manager Geological Survey of Victoria Telephone (03) 9412 5035
New discovery adds to Basin boom
B
Basin Minerals NL has found a series of new heavy mineral sand deposits in Victoria which could ultimately eclipse many of the major Western Australian heavy mineral deposits currently being mined. Intensive drilling by Basin Minerals, a subsidiary of the listed company Craton Resources NL, had discovered a series of deposits which, “have the potential within 10 years to see the Murray Basin usurp WA’s position as the major contributor to Australia’s status as the world’s largest heavy mineral sands producer,” according to Managing Director, Dr Brad Farrell (pictured right). The Douglas mineral sands deposits lie about 40 km west of Horsham and 150 km north of Portland and incorporate a series of coarsegrained, strandline deposits formed from ancient beaches. A second discovery at the Culgoa project near Swan Hill has also been discovered. “The discoveries at the Douglas project area are highly significant and are indicative of a major, world-class ilmenite province, which coincidentally, bears close comparison with the prominent, but aging, WA mineral sands fields at Eneabba and Capel, Australia’s biggest producers,” Dr Farrell told the Murray Basin mineral sands conference. The Douglas deposits were characterised by cross-sectional widths of a few hundred metres to over 1,000 metres, featured strike lengths of tens of kilometres and ore thickness of between 10 and 20 metres, he said. The deposits are near surface and in some cases at surface, strongly ilmenite dominated with significant rutile and zircon grades and are coarse grained, allowing for low-cost mining and processing. The largest of the four Douglas deposits has been named Bondi and, according to Dr Farrell, forms the largest beach placer deposit yet found in the Murray Basin. Bondi comprises several stacked strands with a width in excess of one kilometre. Recent drilling has yielded shallow heavy mineral grades from different holes of 12.2 per cent over a thickness of 11 metres from the surface. “The Douglas area sits within a well developed infrastructure with the deep water port of Portland just 150 km away, an obvious loca23
tion for a dry mill and other value adding activities,” Dr Farrell said. “Importantly, the project is predominantly freehold and thus not subject to Native Title.” he added. In the Culgoa project area, high grade, narrow strandlines with cross sectional widths of up to 140 metres have been discovered. These have dimensions and grades comparable to RGC Ltd’s Kulwin and Woornack/ Rownack discoveries, which are heading quickly towards commercial development. Those discoveries have a combined indicated resource of 64.5 million tonnes grading 10.1 per cent heavy mineral worth over $1 billion in the ground. Basin Minerals ‘ discovery of the Douglas and Culgoa deposits follows nine months of systematic exploration and the expenditure of more than $1.8 million including the drilling of more than 62,000 metres of reverse-circulation aircore drilling . “There is a lot more work to do but, with what the big players like RGC and RZM have already announced and what we have found, there seems little doubt that the Murray Basin is a major new greenfields heavy mineral sands province, one that could carry Australia’s production banner into the next century,” Dr Farrell said. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Dr Brad Farrell Managing Director - Basin Minerals NL Telephone (08) 9481 3638 or 0418 925 113
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT
OIL
Geological Survey of Victoria geologist, David Moore, explains how the geology of the Murray Basin contributed to the formation and location of the mineral sand deposits now being found in the region. Speaking at the recent mineral sands conference in Mildura, Mr Moore explained how the basement structure and topography has influenced the location of heavy mineral sand deposits through dropping and compaction of the overlying sediments. Magnetic, radiometric, digital terrain and gravity data obtained from the VIMP 2001 program allows a reappraisal of how the Murray Basin is reflected both at the surface and at the basement-basin interface.
Summary regional history The Murray Basin began to form in the Cretaceous period, presumably as a result of break up of the Australia-Antarctica landmass. During this time, the fluvial Warina Sand and the White Hills Gravel were deposited. In western Victoria, the marine parts of the Renmark Group were also laid down, followed by a quiet geological period in which weathering occurred. In the Late Oligocene period the sea covered most of the Murray Basin, depositing the sediments of the Murray Group.
This incursion was probably due to a rising sea level as there is no documented evidence of the widespread faulting needed to produce such a large inland sea. From the mid-Miocene to Pliocene age the shoreline retreated southwest across the Basin, depositing the Loxton-Parilla Sand, the primary host of the heavy mineral deposits. Because the Basin was so flat, small vertical ground movements produced large effects. Behind the retreating seas, rivers deposited the sediments of the Shepparton formation which continues to the present. Wind-blown sands and lunettes are also being deposited. Mineralisation A study in 1995 classified the Murray Basin mineral sand deposits into two types, the sheet and strand line styles. Sheet deposits Sheet deposits can be very large as shown by the WIM 150 discovery which covers about 220km2, and a length of 26km. Typically, it is 6m to 15m thick. Sheet deposits are also fine grained, with a grain size for the heavy minerals of 50 micron or less. Undulating to hummocky cross-stratification is common and most of the known deposits cluster close to the ancient Palaeozoic coastline. WIM 150 has long been known to lie just east of The Grampians in what was almost certainly a large Pliocene bay. Strand line deposits Strand line deposits occur right across the Murray Basin. The Tyrrell Ridge deposit and those presently being sought by explorers, are all strand line type deposits. The largest are 15km long and up to 10m thick, but are generally only 200m wide. They are coarser than the sheet deposits, typically with a median heavy mineral grain size of Faulting and mineralised strand lines on Bouuer gravity, Wemen - Tyrell region.
24
Seismic survey opens new potential
120mm to 180mm. They also contain a higher proportion of rutile, 28% at Wemen compared to 8.7% for WIM 150. Basement-basin relationships for strand line deposits are more subtle than for sheet deposits. The generally north-south gradients in the gravity data are probably due, in part, to faults with Cainozoic movement, reflecting differing thicknesses of less dense Murray Basin sediments. The general pattern of the gravity gradients is consistent with extensional faulting that generated a series of half-grabens.
E
Speculative synthesis
Major petroleum companies are keen to venture beyond the shallows of Australia’s continental shelf waters as they seek major new oil and gas reserves in these unexplored regions.
If there were north-south grabens present in the Pliocene age Murray Basin in Victoria, they would have acted like riffles on a Wilfley table under a pattern of a clockwise longshore drift and storms from the west. This combination would have produced relatively slack water just east of each headland allowing sediments to settle to the sea floor. Storms would have winnowed out the finer sands and heavy minerals, leaving strand style heavy-mineral deposits. The finer heavy minerals and sands moved south along the coastline until they came to the Palaeozoic foreshore. Clockwise longshore drift would have been a less efficient sorting mechanism here because the storms from the west would have been directly into the longshore drift. The headlands also may have been more prominent, allowing more efficient capture of the fine heavy minerals into sheet style deposits. Further fine heavy minerals may have been added by eroding the tops from the Palaeozoic granites and associated volcanic rocks. Such a mechanism explains the predominance of fine-grained deposits along the old coastline with Palaeozoic rocks. One implication of the model is that the finer grained deposits along the shore may be general indicators of mineralised pulses into this part of the Murray Basin. Tracing the northern extremities of these deposits north to northwest along similar structures might increase the chances of exploration success. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
David Moore Geological Survey of Victoria Telephone (03) 9412 5085
GAS NEWS
xploration of the deepwater regions of the Gippsland Basin has taken a major step forward with the completion of the first substantial seismic survey in the area, conducted by Minerals and Petroleum Victoria in a collaborative joint venture with Seismic Australia (SA). The survey, in the deep-water region of the Gippsland Basin, comprised initial seismic data acquisition with the data currently being processed before being offered to the market place, both locally and internationally.
Around the world deepwater exploration beyond the continental shelf is beginning to reveal many new discoveries, sometimes of giant fields, previously unknown or beyond the reach of current technology. Conducted under the umbrella of the Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP 2001), the deep water Bass Strait survey encompasses part of the shelf break and upper slope, which is largely unexplored. The Federal Government controlled Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) recently completed an ocean floor dredging program over the same area to further build the knowledge bank of this highly prospective region. Seismic Australia exercised a Minerals and Petroleum Victoria tender option of expanding the initial planned program to make it part of a larger multi-client survey. The core contract guaranteed coverage of 400 line km, funded by VIMP 2001, but was subsequently increased to 960 km under the expansion program. The survey, named Gippsland Deep Water (GDW99), was completed during March by the seismic survey vessel Sea Challenger, operated by GHD-Gardline. The traverses of the survey were designed to provide infill data to the existing sparse seismic coverage over the area. The lines are tied to the Blackback, Basker and Angler oil and gas discoveries in order to assist explorers to identify further, potentially economic hydrocarbons. Seismic Australia entered into a separate agreement with GHD-Gardline Surveys Ltd which were responsible for acquiring the data. The seismic data processing has been subcontracted to Robertson Research Australia Pty
Ltd in Perth. Acquiring high-resolution data in the deep water Bass Strait region is needed to help provide a foundation for future, more detailed, seismic surveys in the area, targetting more specific prospects. For this reason, the acquisition and processing phases have been designed to address problems associated with imaging deeper reservoir potential, where particular attention was given to energy penetration and the accurate recording of associated survey information including navigation and bathymetric soundings.
The seismic survey vessel, Sea Challenger, operated by GHD Gardline, conducted the first deepwater seismic survey for the Victorian Department of Natural resources and Environment under the Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum.
ani Mills for mines around the world
Data interpretation will help delineate source rock kitchens, map seal units within the Bass Canyon region, as well as confirm the presence of such seals where the Latrobe Group sediments are not eroded. The GDW99 survey recorded TWT is 10 seconds, being the same as deployed on other projects in similar water depths. The seismic data produced from this survey will be marketed nationally and internationally in a collaborative effort between MPV and SA. Both organisations will jointly promote the area to the oil industry to encourage competitive bidding for the acreage when it is released. The survey results will assist the Commonwealth-State Joint Authority which plans to recommend the release of this region in the year 2000 gazettal round. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Maher Megallaa, MPV, (03) 9412 5081 Email: [email protected] or Odd Arne Larsen, SA, (08) 9321 4400 Email: [email protected]
25
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Geological development of the Murray Basin mineral sand deposits
,
MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE REPORT
OIL
Geological Survey of Victoria geologist, David Moore, explains how the geology of the Murray Basin contributed to the formation and location of the mineral sand deposits now being found in the region. Speaking at the recent mineral sands conference in Mildura, Mr Moore explained how the basement structure and topography has influenced the location of heavy mineral sand deposits through dropping and compaction of the overlying sediments. Magnetic, radiometric, digital terrain and gravity data obtained from the VIMP 2001 program allows a reappraisal of how the Murray Basin is reflected both at the surface and at the basement-basin interface.
Summary regional history The Murray Basin began to form in the Cretaceous period, presumably as a result of break up of the Australia-Antarctica landmass. During this time, the fluvial Warina Sand and the White Hills Gravel were deposited. In western Victoria, the marine parts of the Renmark Group were also laid down, followed by a quiet geological period in which weathering occurred. In the Late Oligocene period the sea covered most of the Murray Basin, depositing the sediments of the Murray Group.
This incursion was probably due to a rising sea level as there is no documented evidence of the widespread faulting needed to produce such a large inland sea. From the mid-Miocene to Pliocene age the shoreline retreated southwest across the Basin, depositing the Loxton-Parilla Sand, the primary host of the heavy mineral deposits. Because the Basin was so flat, small vertical ground movements produced large effects. Behind the retreating seas, rivers deposited the sediments of the Shepparton formation which continues to the present. Wind-blown sands and lunettes are also being deposited. Mineralisation A study in 1995 classified the Murray Basin mineral sand deposits into two types, the sheet and strand line styles. Sheet deposits Sheet deposits can be very large as shown by the WIM 150 discovery which covers about 220km2, and a length of 26km. Typically, it is 6m to 15m thick. Sheet deposits are also fine grained, with a grain size for the heavy minerals of 50 micron or less. Undulating to hummocky cross-stratification is common and most of the known deposits cluster close to the ancient Palaeozoic coastline. WIM 150 has long been known to lie just east of The Grampians in what was almost certainly a large Pliocene bay. Strand line deposits Strand line deposits occur right across the Murray Basin. The Tyrrell Ridge deposit and those presently being sought by explorers, are all strand line type deposits. The largest are 15km long and up to 10m thick, but are generally only 200m wide. They are coarser than the sheet deposits, typically with a median heavy mineral grain size of Faulting and mineralised strand lines on Bouuer gravity, Wemen - Tyrell region.
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Seismic survey opens new potential
120mm to 180mm. They also contain a higher proportion of rutile, 28% at Wemen compared to 8.7% for WIM 150. Basement-basin relationships for strand line deposits are more subtle than for sheet deposits. The generally north-south gradients in the gravity data are probably due, in part, to faults with Cainozoic movement, reflecting differing thicknesses of less dense Murray Basin sediments. The general pattern of the gravity gradients is consistent with extensional faulting that generated a series of half-grabens.
E
Speculative synthesis
Major petroleum companies are keen to venture beyond the shallows of Australia’s continental shelf waters as they seek major new oil and gas reserves in these unexplored regions.
If there were north-south grabens present in the Pliocene age Murray Basin in Victoria, they would have acted like riffles on a Wilfley table under a pattern of a clockwise longshore drift and storms from the west. This combination would have produced relatively slack water just east of each headland allowing sediments to settle to the sea floor. Storms would have winnowed out the finer sands and heavy minerals, leaving strand style heavy-mineral deposits. The finer heavy minerals and sands moved south along the coastline until they came to the Palaeozoic foreshore. Clockwise longshore drift would have been a less efficient sorting mechanism here because the storms from the west would have been directly into the longshore drift. The headlands also may have been more prominent, allowing more efficient capture of the fine heavy minerals into sheet style deposits. Further fine heavy minerals may have been added by eroding the tops from the Palaeozoic granites and associated volcanic rocks. Such a mechanism explains the predominance of fine-grained deposits along the old coastline with Palaeozoic rocks. One implication of the model is that the finer grained deposits along the shore may be general indicators of mineralised pulses into this part of the Murray Basin. Tracing the northern extremities of these deposits north to northwest along similar structures might increase the chances of exploration success. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
David Moore Geological Survey of Victoria Telephone (03) 9412 5085
GAS NEWS
xploration of the deepwater regions of the Gippsland Basin has taken a major step forward with the completion of the first substantial seismic survey in the area, conducted by Minerals and Petroleum Victoria in a collaborative joint venture with Seismic Australia (SA). The survey, in the deep-water region of the Gippsland Basin, comprised initial seismic data acquisition with the data currently being processed before being offered to the market place, both locally and internationally.
Around the world deepwater exploration beyond the continental shelf is beginning to reveal many new discoveries, sometimes of giant fields, previously unknown or beyond the reach of current technology. Conducted under the umbrella of the Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum (VIMP 2001), the deep water Bass Strait survey encompasses part of the shelf break and upper slope, which is largely unexplored. The Federal Government controlled Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) recently completed an ocean floor dredging program over the same area to further build the knowledge bank of this highly prospective region. Seismic Australia exercised a Minerals and Petroleum Victoria tender option of expanding the initial planned program to make it part of a larger multi-client survey. The core contract guaranteed coverage of 400 line km, funded by VIMP 2001, but was subsequently increased to 960 km under the expansion program. The survey, named Gippsland Deep Water (GDW99), was completed during March by the seismic survey vessel Sea Challenger, operated by GHD-Gardline. The traverses of the survey were designed to provide infill data to the existing sparse seismic coverage over the area. The lines are tied to the Blackback, Basker and Angler oil and gas discoveries in order to assist explorers to identify further, potentially economic hydrocarbons. Seismic Australia entered into a separate agreement with GHD-Gardline Surveys Ltd which were responsible for acquiring the data. The seismic data processing has been subcontracted to Robertson Research Australia Pty
Ltd in Perth. Acquiring high-resolution data in the deep water Bass Strait region is needed to help provide a foundation for future, more detailed, seismic surveys in the area, targetting more specific prospects. For this reason, the acquisition and processing phases have been designed to address problems associated with imaging deeper reservoir potential, where particular attention was given to energy penetration and the accurate recording of associated survey information including navigation and bathymetric soundings.
The seismic survey vessel, Sea Challenger, operated by GHD Gardline, conducted the first deepwater seismic survey for the Victorian Department of Natural resources and Environment under the Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum.
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Data interpretation will help delineate source rock kitchens, map seal units within the Bass Canyon region, as well as confirm the presence of such seals where the Latrobe Group sediments are not eroded. The GDW99 survey recorded TWT is 10 seconds, being the same as deployed on other projects in similar water depths. The seismic data produced from this survey will be marketed nationally and internationally in a collaborative effort between MPV and SA. Both organisations will jointly promote the area to the oil industry to encourage competitive bidding for the acreage when it is released. The survey results will assist the Commonwealth-State Joint Authority which plans to recommend the release of this region in the year 2000 gazettal round. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Maher Megallaa, MPV, (03) 9412 5081 Email: [email protected] or Odd Arne Larsen, SA, (08) 9321 4400 Email: [email protected]
25
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Geological development of the Murray Basin mineral sand deposits
,
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
Wildlife thrives in sandmine
A
requiring topsoil and revegetation.
dense cover of native trees and scrub sheltering a host of native birds, mammals and insects covers most of the foothills outside Lang Lang 95 km south east of Melbourne, a tiny South Gippsland settlement not far from Phillip Island.
Progress has been remarkable in the past decade. Mr Vanina established a nursery where he has propagated thousands of trees and shrubs using seed collected within the mine lease. Four principal types of eucalypts occur on the site, Eucalyptus Ovata (Swamp Gum), Eucalyptus Viminalis (Manna Gum), Eucalyptus Radiata (Narrow-Leaved Peppermint Gum) and Eucalyptus Obliqua (Messmate Stringybark).
The bush covered hills present one of the few remaining pockets of natural scrub remaining in South Gippsland, a vital part of Victoria’s intense dairy and general farming regions. One of the best protected areas of native scrub near Lang Lang lies on the mining lease of ACI Industrial Minerals, which has been mining sand in the area for almost 50 years.
Thousands of each type have been propagated and planted across broad areas of the site with about 5,000 replanted each year. Two principal methods of restoring the vegetation cover are used. Each year, as topsoil is spread across the restored areas, Brian Vanina and his assistants chop large amounts of seed bearing boughs from a wide variety of plants growing on the site. These are laid down over the topsoil and the seeds allowed to fall into the ground.
A comprehensive rehabilitation program to restore mined areas to their former state, in which more than 70,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted, has created a bush park, isolating the mine and creating a haven for wildlife. ACI’s Lang Lang rehabilitation program is a model for the mining industry, often wrongly maligned for its environmental record. The Lang Lang mine produces fine silica sand for ACI’s glass making operations based at Dandenong and Spotswood. Initially, the area was mined using dry mining techniques on the upper layers of the sand resource. Later, the company developed wet mining operations using dredges floating in large ponds to extract the thicker and deeper sand deposits. However, the wet mining technique causes a far greater environmental impact requiring a comprehensive plan to manage the impact, restore the mined area and ultimately replant the region to rebuild the natural habitat which previously existed. Since starting its environmental rehabilitation program in 1978, ACI has achieved a dramatic result. Two recent surveys have measured the success of the rehabilitation program.
A fauna survey in the natural bushland in the area around Lang Lang, both outside ACI’s mining lease and on restored areas within the lease, found a higher concentration of native mammals on the mining lease. The restoration of the native bush has also helped improve the water quality in the Adams Creek, which flows through the mine lease. Water sampling conducted recently for ACI showed a reduction in the level of nutrients and e-coli bacteria in the creek as it leaves the mine site compared with the point where the creek enters the mine lease. Adams Creek runs through cleared areas and farmland where it accumulates animal waste and excess fertilisers before entering the natural bush setting on the mine lease which appears to help in clarifying the water as it passes through Left: Brian Vanina, ACI Industrial Minerals environmental rehabilitation officer, has established a nursery at Lang Lang to propagate new plant for the minesite. Above: Brush matting in rehabilitation areas provides natural seeds and vital cover to stimulate new growth. In two years recently mined areas feature a strong cover of native plants providing a haven for birds, animals and insects.
26
the natural vegetation still lining the banks. ACI’s objective is to leave the Lang Lang mine lease, covering several hundred hectares, in the same condition it was in when mining began in the early 1950’s - essentially pristine native bushland. Its ambition is being realised largely through the efforts of ACI Industrial Minerals’ environmental rehabilitation officer, Brian Vanina. Mr Vanina, a former teacher and school principal at Lang Lang for 12 years, has spent the last 10 years patiently restoring the vegetation at the site. The rehabilitation program began in 1977 when ACI commissioned a detailed ecological evaluation of the entire site. The evaluation included a complete list of the native plant species on the site and provided descriptive information on which the management strategies of the last 12 years have been based. A further survey of the rehabilitation work at other sand mines around Australia was also compiled. When Brian Vanina joined ACI in 1989, the mine management had already begun work on restoring the surface profile of some of the mined areas but large tracts remained barren,
The leaves and sticks provide protection for the seeds which grow vigorously on the freshly prepared soil. This ‘brush matting’ technique has proved to be a highly successful method of re-establishing the understorey layer of plants. Hand planting of larger trees and shrubs is combined with the brush matting to create a diverse and vigorous bush setting. When an area is prepared for mining, the valuable topsoil containing vital seeds and organic matter, is stockpiled for spreading on restoration areas. ACI is careful to retain all the dead tree stumps, logs and other bush litter along with the soil to help in the rehabilitation of mined areas.
tected from rabbits which have increased in numbers despite the recent release of viral control methods.
Now the company is concentrating on restoring old wet mining pits and minimising its impact on areas yet to be mined.
Where fresh topsoil is used the rate of natural regeneration is astonishing. Many seeds, roots, rhizomes and propagules remain alive within the soil and sprout naturally once spread out minimising the need for brush matting.
That has two benefits. The first is that it is easier to rehabilitate the smaller areas of disturbance. But it also increases the amount of sand reserves which can be profitably mined by reducing the volume of reserves sterilised under settling ponds.
After about four years of growth the understorey species are generally well established. Koala’s regularly visit the site as they roam the nearby forests while many species of native rats and mice, bandicoots, possums and birds abound in the older restored areas. ACI is now associated with both the Lang Lang and Nyora/Lock landcare groups and is a member of the Land for Wildlife group. The land rehabilitation cost at the site is about $100,000 a year. Lang Lang plant superintendent, Col Pryor, said, “It’s not the amount of money, its how you spend it. You could spend $500,000 a year and not get the same results.”
Mr Pryor said that when ACI began operating at Lang Lang, it estimated a mine life of only 15 years. But with only about one quarter of the lease area mined to date, the company is set to be operating in the area for a long time yet. While the principal product from the Lang Lang mine is silica sand for glass making, other uses have been found for the coarser sand which is produced as a by-product. The coarse sand is often used in golf course management and most of the material used to upgrade the surface of the MCG in 1992 came from the Lang Lang quarry.
Mr Pryor said it was essential to incorporate the rehabilitation program into the overall mine plan to ensure the mining operations and rehabilitation work were complimentary.
Dried sand is also used on tennis courts, bowling greens, hockey fields and in the furnaces of the casting works at General Motors Holden.
Since the rehabilitation work began around 1978 the areas disturbed since the early 1950’s have virtually all been restored to a state almost impossible to discern from untouched bushland.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Silica sand is extracted using dredges floating in ponds established over the resource. These ponds are later filled and landscaped to provide unblemished native bushland.
or Brian Vanina, ACI Industrial Minerals Environmental Rehabilitation Officer. Telephone (03) 5997 5202
Restoring the dry mined areas was relatively easy. The surface was profiled by bulldozer and topsoil spread to allow replanting. The wet mined areas present a different challenge. Old pits are gradually refilled using waste coarse sand and slimes from the washing process. As the pit fills and settles, the surface is bulldozed to provide an approximation of the original profile. Pit walls are battered to remove dangerous cliffs and remove any potential erosion sites while topsoil is again spread across the entire area. The work to spread cut brush and hand planting is conducted during the winter so new growth is stimulated during spring. In the past year new plants have had to be pro27
Col Pryor, ACI Industrial Minerals Plant Superintendent Lang Lang Telephone (03) 5997 5202
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
Wildlife thrives in sandmine
A
requiring topsoil and revegetation.
dense cover of native trees and scrub sheltering a host of native birds, mammals and insects covers most of the foothills outside Lang Lang 95 km south east of Melbourne, a tiny South Gippsland settlement not far from Phillip Island.
Progress has been remarkable in the past decade. Mr Vanina established a nursery where he has propagated thousands of trees and shrubs using seed collected within the mine lease. Four principal types of eucalypts occur on the site, Eucalyptus Ovata (Swamp Gum), Eucalyptus Viminalis (Manna Gum), Eucalyptus Radiata (Narrow-Leaved Peppermint Gum) and Eucalyptus Obliqua (Messmate Stringybark).
The bush covered hills present one of the few remaining pockets of natural scrub remaining in South Gippsland, a vital part of Victoria’s intense dairy and general farming regions. One of the best protected areas of native scrub near Lang Lang lies on the mining lease of ACI Industrial Minerals, which has been mining sand in the area for almost 50 years.
Thousands of each type have been propagated and planted across broad areas of the site with about 5,000 replanted each year. Two principal methods of restoring the vegetation cover are used. Each year, as topsoil is spread across the restored areas, Brian Vanina and his assistants chop large amounts of seed bearing boughs from a wide variety of plants growing on the site. These are laid down over the topsoil and the seeds allowed to fall into the ground.
A comprehensive rehabilitation program to restore mined areas to their former state, in which more than 70,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted, has created a bush park, isolating the mine and creating a haven for wildlife. ACI’s Lang Lang rehabilitation program is a model for the mining industry, often wrongly maligned for its environmental record. The Lang Lang mine produces fine silica sand for ACI’s glass making operations based at Dandenong and Spotswood. Initially, the area was mined using dry mining techniques on the upper layers of the sand resource. Later, the company developed wet mining operations using dredges floating in large ponds to extract the thicker and deeper sand deposits. However, the wet mining technique causes a far greater environmental impact requiring a comprehensive plan to manage the impact, restore the mined area and ultimately replant the region to rebuild the natural habitat which previously existed. Since starting its environmental rehabilitation program in 1978, ACI has achieved a dramatic result. Two recent surveys have measured the success of the rehabilitation program.
A fauna survey in the natural bushland in the area around Lang Lang, both outside ACI’s mining lease and on restored areas within the lease, found a higher concentration of native mammals on the mining lease. The restoration of the native bush has also helped improve the water quality in the Adams Creek, which flows through the mine lease. Water sampling conducted recently for ACI showed a reduction in the level of nutrients and e-coli bacteria in the creek as it leaves the mine site compared with the point where the creek enters the mine lease. Adams Creek runs through cleared areas and farmland where it accumulates animal waste and excess fertilisers before entering the natural bush setting on the mine lease which appears to help in clarifying the water as it passes through Left: Brian Vanina, ACI Industrial Minerals environmental rehabilitation officer, has established a nursery at Lang Lang to propagate new plant for the minesite. Above: Brush matting in rehabilitation areas provides natural seeds and vital cover to stimulate new growth. In two years recently mined areas feature a strong cover of native plants providing a haven for birds, animals and insects.
26
the natural vegetation still lining the banks. ACI’s objective is to leave the Lang Lang mine lease, covering several hundred hectares, in the same condition it was in when mining began in the early 1950’s - essentially pristine native bushland. Its ambition is being realised largely through the efforts of ACI Industrial Minerals’ environmental rehabilitation officer, Brian Vanina. Mr Vanina, a former teacher and school principal at Lang Lang for 12 years, has spent the last 10 years patiently restoring the vegetation at the site. The rehabilitation program began in 1977 when ACI commissioned a detailed ecological evaluation of the entire site. The evaluation included a complete list of the native plant species on the site and provided descriptive information on which the management strategies of the last 12 years have been based. A further survey of the rehabilitation work at other sand mines around Australia was also compiled. When Brian Vanina joined ACI in 1989, the mine management had already begun work on restoring the surface profile of some of the mined areas but large tracts remained barren,
The leaves and sticks provide protection for the seeds which grow vigorously on the freshly prepared soil. This ‘brush matting’ technique has proved to be a highly successful method of re-establishing the understorey layer of plants. Hand planting of larger trees and shrubs is combined with the brush matting to create a diverse and vigorous bush setting. When an area is prepared for mining, the valuable topsoil containing vital seeds and organic matter, is stockpiled for spreading on restoration areas. ACI is careful to retain all the dead tree stumps, logs and other bush litter along with the soil to help in the rehabilitation of mined areas.
tected from rabbits which have increased in numbers despite the recent release of viral control methods.
Now the company is concentrating on restoring old wet mining pits and minimising its impact on areas yet to be mined.
Where fresh topsoil is used the rate of natural regeneration is astonishing. Many seeds, roots, rhizomes and propagules remain alive within the soil and sprout naturally once spread out minimising the need for brush matting.
That has two benefits. The first is that it is easier to rehabilitate the smaller areas of disturbance. But it also increases the amount of sand reserves which can be profitably mined by reducing the volume of reserves sterilised under settling ponds.
After about four years of growth the understorey species are generally well established. Koala’s regularly visit the site as they roam the nearby forests while many species of native rats and mice, bandicoots, possums and birds abound in the older restored areas. ACI is now associated with both the Lang Lang and Nyora/Lock landcare groups and is a member of the Land for Wildlife group. The land rehabilitation cost at the site is about $100,000 a year. Lang Lang plant superintendent, Col Pryor, said, “It’s not the amount of money, its how you spend it. You could spend $500,000 a year and not get the same results.”
Mr Pryor said that when ACI began operating at Lang Lang, it estimated a mine life of only 15 years. But with only about one quarter of the lease area mined to date, the company is set to be operating in the area for a long time yet. While the principal product from the Lang Lang mine is silica sand for glass making, other uses have been found for the coarser sand which is produced as a by-product. The coarse sand is often used in golf course management and most of the material used to upgrade the surface of the MCG in 1992 came from the Lang Lang quarry.
Mr Pryor said it was essential to incorporate the rehabilitation program into the overall mine plan to ensure the mining operations and rehabilitation work were complimentary.
Dried sand is also used on tennis courts, bowling greens, hockey fields and in the furnaces of the casting works at General Motors Holden.
Since the rehabilitation work began around 1978 the areas disturbed since the early 1950’s have virtually all been restored to a state almost impossible to discern from untouched bushland.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Silica sand is extracted using dredges floating in ponds established over the resource. These ponds are later filled and landscaped to provide unblemished native bushland.
or Brian Vanina, ACI Industrial Minerals Environmental Rehabilitation Officer. Telephone (03) 5997 5202
Restoring the dry mined areas was relatively easy. The surface was profiled by bulldozer and topsoil spread to allow replanting. The wet mined areas present a different challenge. Old pits are gradually refilled using waste coarse sand and slimes from the washing process. As the pit fills and settles, the surface is bulldozed to provide an approximation of the original profile. Pit walls are battered to remove dangerous cliffs and remove any potential erosion sites while topsoil is again spread across the entire area. The work to spread cut brush and hand planting is conducted during the winter so new growth is stimulated during spring. In the past year new plants have had to be pro27
Col Pryor, ACI Industrial Minerals Plant Superintendent Lang Lang Telephone (03) 5997 5202
REGULAR FEATURE
New Swan is a deep diver ne of Victoria’s biggest current resources projects, the $35 million construction of a 4.5 km tunnel beneath the historic gold workings of the Bendigo gold field, has been officially launched.
O
The Swan Decline, costing $35 million, will provide access to a resource containing a possible 10 million ounces of gold when completed in about two years time.
Bendigo Mining Ltd’s Swan decline was launched by the Victorian Minister for Agriculture and Resources, Pat McNamara, at a ceremony in February.
“The old-timers did a great job but they only mined the upper ribbons of ore and left the rest for us to exploit with the great technology available today.”
The Swan Decline is named in honor of the late Sir James Goldsmith, a significant contributor to rebirth of the Bendigo gold field and the recent history of the Victorian gold industry.
The Swan Decline is being dug to a length of 4.5 kilometres and will eventually reach a vertical depth of 700 metres after its two-year construction.
Bendigo Mining Managing Director, Doug Buerger, said Sir James had “backed his vision for the rebirth of the Bendigo goldfield with financial and moral support”.
The decline is designed to provide access to previously unmined sections of the Bendigo goldfield.
The swan emblem is part of the Goldsmith family crest and a plaque recognising Sir James’ support was unveiled by Ben Hunt, the 1999 Bendigo Young Citizen of the year.
Bendigo Mining estimates that 10 million ounces of gold remain to be produced from repetitions of the stacked reefs left behind by earlier miners.
Bendigo Mining Chairman, Peter Philip, a long time friend of Sir James, said Sir James had first taken an interest in the Bendigo goldfield in 1993. “His unstinting faith in the field’s potential had remained right through to his death in 1997,” Mr Philips said. “Sadly he was not able to see the successful completion of the capital raising for this project but his family interests remain the company’s largest shareholder. “Because of his efforts to give the redevelopment of the Bendigo Goldfield a realistic chance of success, we decided it was only fit
and proper to name the decline after him in some way or another.” Sir James was told about the plans to redevelop Bendigo by James Packer, the son of media magnate, Kerry Packer. “When he heard about Bendigo from young James Packer he envisioned the potential of a field that had lain fallow for 40 years of technological advances and then backed the redevelopment that followed,” Mr Philips said. Mr Philips said the studies into the Bendigo redevelopment showed the project was not as simple as expected. “Ultimately it was Jimmy’s (Sir James’) persistent trust in our ability to find an economic key that would unlock the riches that made the raising of $35 million possible,” he added. “We believe we are going to prove up the New Bendigo (goldfield) and that its millions of highgrade ounces of gold will make history once more. Ben Hunt (left), Bendigo Young Citizen of the Year, and Victorian Minister for Agriculture Resources, Pat McNamara at the naming ceremony of the Swan decline.
28
Work to construct the decline began in June last year with the tunnel expected to reach the Deborah and Sheepshead lines of reef by mid-2001. This will allow extensive underground exploration for new gold reserves and an early start to new mining which could contribute as much as $1 billion to the Bendigo and regional economy over 20 years. So far the tunnel has progressed almost 700 metres and reached a vertical depth of well over 140 metres. A road header machine was used for the early excavation work but the tunnelling is now being conducted by traditional drill and blast mining methods. Mr Buerger said the ground was considerably stronger in the deeper parts of the decline although two areas had required additional ground support with roof bolting and spray concrete to prevent any movement in the tunnel walls or roof. F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N C O N TA C T:
Doug Buerger Managing Director, Bendigo Mines NL Telephone: (03) 5447 1834
BALLARAT GOLDFIELDS AD FROM LAST ISSUE
