What is the future for Government Geoscience Initiatives in Australia?

Australia pioneered the concept of Exploration Incentive Programmes in the early nineties to provide the exploration sector with broad scale geoscientific data, specifically statewide airborne geophysics and campaigns of geological mapping. Since that time most mining jurisdictions worldwide have adopted similar approaches. In the last ten years Australian State Geological Surveys and the national survey, Geoscience Australia have made a significant investment in a range of programs such as the Plan for Accelerating Exploration in South Australia, Western Australia’s Exploration Incentive Scheme and New South Wales’ New Frontiers programme. This talk will review the results of these initiatives and propose some future directions for this type of government investment as company strategies change and community engagement increases in importance to ensure land access for new discoveries.

Dr Paul Heithersay Deputy Chief Executive, Resources & Energy Group, DMITRE, South Australia 2014 SEG Visiting Lecturer Rugby Club, Thursday, 27th February, 2014.