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.

Recent exploration results, in the form of drilling intercepts and resource figures, are presented along with resource figures for operating mines on this map. The information is sourced from selected exploration results and resource calculations published in company reports available to the public.

The NSW mineral occurrence dataset records locations across NSW where minerals of economic interest have been identified and provides summary information on the geological characteristics of the sites. There are currently over 30,000 known mineral occurrences in the dataset which range in size from exploration drilling intercepts to full-scale mining operations, approximately 15% of the sites contain resource and / or production information. The primary source of the data is from statewide mapping programs undertaken by the Geological Survey of NSW since the late 1960’s. In addition, data is collected from company exploration reports submitted to the Department as part of the statutory reporting requirements on exploration licences, and from press releases made to the Australian Stock Exchange. The alternative name for this dataset is MetIndEx which refers to the METallic minerals, INDustrial minerals and EXploration discoveries in New South Wales. The size of a mineral deposit is based on the cumulative value of the contained commodity (considering total production and estimated global resource) as estimated at November 2009. Commodity prices used to calculate these monetary values are based on the average metal (commodity) price for January 2009 converted to Australian dollars. Based on this definition, the size of an individual Mineral Occurrence site is classified according to the scale provided below: Occurrence (OCC) = Occurrence = no production and/or resource known (or evident) Small (SML) > $10,000 to < $10,000,000 Medium (MED) > $10,000,000 to < $100,000,000 Large (LGE) > $100,000,000 to < $1,000,000,000 Very Large (VLGE) > $1,000,000,000 (AUD) Metallic deposits have been classified using the terms in the Mineral Systems of New South Wales schema.Individual deposits have been assigned to a specific deposit-type based on a range of criteria including, but not limited to: ore and gangue mineralogy, alteration, host lithology, age constraints, lead and sulfur isotope characteristics, deposit and vein morphology and geological setting.