Survey equipment ... State-of-the-art Vibroseis energy source technology mounted on trucks.
By Lisa Anderson
May 25 2009 Country News
Two surveys in southern NSW over the next couple of months will assess whether the area has viable reserves of minerals or energy which can be developed. A geophysical survey is being undertaken by NSW DPI to assess the resource potential of the Riverina for petroleum, gas and geothermal energy.
The survey is looking for heatgenerating granitic rocks under the thick sedimentary cover of Oaklands Basin in the Riverina, an area stretching from Coleambally in the north-west to Lake Cullivel in the east, west to Tocumwal and down to northern Victoria.
One of the aims of the survey will be to locate granitic rock that has in-situ temperatures of more than 250C from which steam could be extracted to drive turbines and generate electricity.
Further gravity and seismic surveys could also identify whether petroleum or gas were underneath and it would then be up to industry to develop the resources.
The target completion date for the geophysical survey which recently began is June 1, with the results to be presented in about six months.
NSW DPI has contracted geodetic surveyors Daishsat to conduct a helicopter-borne gravity survey in the Hay, Deniliquin, Mathoura, Tocumwal, Finley, Berrigan, Jerilderie, Coleambally, Darlington Point, Hanwood, Griffith, Whitton, Narrandera, Urana, Lockhart, Corowa and Albury regions in southern-central NSW.
The survey would collect precise measurements of the earth's gravity field and provide important information on the distribution of different rock types at depth to assist with a better understanding of the geology in the area.
This survey is part of the New Frontiers Program, an initiative funded by NSW Government to undertake surveys to determine the resource potential of the state, and in particular areas which have had little exploration to date.
NSW DPI senior geophysicist Bob Musgrave said the survey measured slight variations in gravity from region to region and was a tool for mapping out what was underneath the surface.
"This information is used as background for further decision making by government and industry," Mr Musgrave said.
"From the data we collect we produce maps and these are available to interested parties to purchase."
The gravity survey is planned to start in early June and will be complete by mid-July.
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