This layer shows the boundaries of each airborne gravity survey acquired by the NSW Government. Details on the spacing and age of the gravity data within each project area are in the attributes. The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at time of writing (April 2017). Because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that information upon which they rely is up to date. The information contained in this publication may not be or may no longer be aligned with government policy nor does the publication indicate or imply government policy.

A subset of the NSW water bore dataset focused specifically on Cobar.

Pseudocolour image of the ratio between uranium and thorium within the upper 20 centimetres of the ground. Cooler colours indicate lower abundances of uranium relative to thorium and warmer colours represent the opposite. Variations in U2/Th ratio are caused varied mineral compositions in host rocks and soils. This statewide image was generated by merging many individual airborne radiometric surveys.

This layer shows a depth slice from a 3D resistivity model of the crust derived from an inversion of the AusLAMP NSW long period MT data.

The government will consider releasing a limited number of new areas for coal exploration under the Strategic Release Framework for Coal and Petroleum Exploration. Under this Framework, the government may refer an area to the Advisory Body for Strategic Release (ABSR). If a coal exploration licence is granted, an operator is not permitted to access the land unless they have an access arrangement in place with the landholder. Release of an area for exploration is not a guarantee of mining. An operator would still need to obtain development consent under the planning framework.

This layer shows the boundary of the AusLAMP NSW survey and the station locations. Data were acquired by a collaboration between GSNSW and Geoscience Australia. Data were used to create a 3D resistivity model of the crust from 10 km depth to 200 km depth.

The Competitive Allocation Pathway is designed to maximise the value of a suitable unallocated coal resource through a competitive process. The Department of Regional NSW’s (Regional NSW) Guideline for the Competitive Allocation of Coal (December 2020) sets out when the Competitive Allocation Pathway applies.

Mineral Resource Areas (MRAs) are areas where NSW local councils has been notified in accordance with Ministerial Direction 1.3 under Section 9.1(2) of the EP&A Act 1979. The direction requires councils to consult with DRNSW if proposed Local Environment Plans (LEPs including planning proposals and re-zonings) are likely to prohibit or restrict development of coal, petroleum, mineral and extractive resources. The direction requires the state government to notify local councils of the locations of current operations and resources of state or regional significance. MRAs should also be used when undertaking the compatibility test required in accordance with Clause 13 of the Mining SEPP. The test must be carried out for any proposed development in the vicinity of existing mines, quarries and petroleum production facilities or resources of state or regional significance.

The semi-transparent Bouguer gravity image is displayed using cooler colours (blue) to indicate lower gravity values and warmer colours (red) represent higher values. The underlying greyscale tilt-angle filtered total magnetic intensity image has been reduced to the pole (Tilt TMI RTP). The tilt-angle filter of the total magnetic intensity produces a local positive maximum (white) over a magnetic source and is zero near the edge of the source (grey), and is useful for tracing geological structure below variable depths of cover. Both image layers were generated using a histogram-equalised colour-stretch. Attention: Please ensure your version of the NSW gravity merges contains the date ‘2024-10-30’ in their filename. An update was made to remedy location errors in the initial release. Apologies for any inconvenience.

The New South Wales 1:1 500 000 scale geology has been compiled from numerous geological maps and regional geological synthesis datasets from the Geological Survey of New South Wales and Geoscience Australia. As part of a project to produce a surface geology map of Australia, Geoscience Australia (Liu et al. 2005) undertook substantial simplification and generalisation of these datasets to produce a seamless geology dataset of New South Wales at 1:1 000 000. This 1:1 000 000 geology dataset has been further simplified, generalised and updated by the Geological Survey of New South Wales to produce the present data set at 1:1 500 000