Building a better picture beneath the surface

It’s Earth Science Week which makes it a great time to acknowledge the geological partnerships that advance our knowledge of the State's mineral and groundwater resources.

It’s Earth Science Week which makes it a great time to acknowledge the geological partnerships that advance our knowledge of the State's mineral and groundwater resources.

The Geological Survey of Victoria and Geoscience Australia have flown about 11,000km across central Victoria this year, boosting the state’s coverage of the national-scale electromagnetic survey (AusAEM) to 60 per cent.

Electromagnetic surveying measures how easily electric current flows through the ground, which helps identify what’s beneath the surface.

The survey results support delivery of the Victorian Critical Minerals Roadmap by helping to improve mapping of the rocks, faults and distribution of the state's mineral occurrences.

It not just about the rocks, though.

Data gathered during the survey is also providing insights about the presence and quality of groundwater across central Victoria, including the extent of saline or freshwater aquifers.

Processing the data will take several months and the results will be made publicly available through Geoscience Australia’s open-data portals.