The NSW Government has ruled out considering a significant proportion of the state’s coal regions for proactive release under the Strategic Release Framework for Coal and Petroleum Exploration. In these mapped areas, new coal exploration can continue to occur directly adjacent to an existing coal title, if an exploration licence applicant meets approval requirements. If a coal exploration licence is granted, an operator is not permitted to access the land unless they have an access arrangement with the landholder. The grant of a coal exploration licence is not a guarantee of mining. An operator would still need to obtain development consent under the planning framework.

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 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.

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.

The Geological Survey of NSW developed a Seamless Geology of UTM Zone 56 during 2014 as part of a project to develop a seamless vector geology dataset of the best available geological mapping data covering the whole of NSW.The overarching aims of the Statewide Seamless Geology Project were to: (i) compile the different original scales, formats and rock unit naming conventions into a consistent, statewide format; (ii) edge-match the geology across existing map sheets; and (iii) interpret the basement geology under cover. The resulting geodatabase comprises a series of layers which include: (i) solid basement geology; (ii) cover rocks (defined as undeformed and unmetamorphosed); (iii) Mesozoic igneous rocks; and (iv) Cenozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks. The project was divided into 3 major stages corresponding to the UTM zones which divide New South Wales. This dataset includes the seamless geology layers from the NSW portion of UTM Zone 56 (ie.east of 150 degrees longitude to the coast).

This is the coal subset of the NSW drilling dataset available from Geoscientific Data Warehouse. The drillhole data has been compiled over time from various sources including mineral exploration reports and departmental records.It provides drill collar information for coal drillholes and associated data including classification of drilling purpose, drill type, licencee/driller information, date the hole was drilled, depth of hole drilled and references. This data is part of the New South Wales Geoscientific Data Warehouse (NSW GDW) series.

Pseudocolour image of the concentration of uranium in parts per million within in the upper 20 centimetres of the ground. Cooler colours indicate lower abundances of uranium and warmer colours represent higher abundances. Variations in uranium values are caused by varied mineral compositions in host rocks and soils. This statewide image was generated by merging many individual airborne radiometric surveys.

Represent areas where the Department has declared reserves over which titles cannot be granted, or can only be granted provided that special conditions are met. The layer outlines these areas, and the restrictions which apply to each of them.

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

Location of opal fields in Lightning Ridge, NSW.