More than 20 of Australia’s leading geoscientists have travelled to Darwin for a three day workshop to discuss the findings of collaborative projects with the NT Geological Survey under the Government’s Creating Opportunities for Resource Exploration (CORE) initiative.

Executive Director Geological Survey, Ian Scrimgeour said the projects were designed to provide new understanding of the Territory’s geology and resource potential.

“The projects provide critical new information to attract investment in minerals and energy exploration in the Territory and assist industry to make the next generation of resource discoveries in the Territory,” Mr Scrimgeour said.

The workshop includes senior geoscientists from organisations collaborating with the Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS) such as Geoscience Australia, CSIRO, the University of Adelaide and the Geological Surveys of WA and Qld.

“It’s been an extremely successful workshop. We discussed the findings from a diverse range of innovative projects, including major new geoscience programs across the Barkly region under the Commonwealth’s Exploring for the Future initiative.

“We spoke on the findings from the work of CSIRO researchers who are embedded with NTGS in Darwin to apply CSIRO’s cutting edge technologies to interpret new data generated through the CORE initiative, as well as the cross-border collaboration with WA and Qld to ensure consistency of geological understanding across northern Australia.”

A key element of the CORE initiative has been to develop collaborative partnerships to bring in valuable resources and expertise from the Commonwealth and other research partners to maximise the value of investment in new pre-competitive geoscience.

A recent independent review of the CORE initiative found that it has leveraged around $14 million in investment from external organisations into studies of the Territory’s geology and resource potential.

The results of many of the programs will be released to industry and the public at the NT Geological Survey’s Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) in Alice Springs on March 20-21.

Media contact: Lucy Buhr 0419 106 309