Australian Offshore Mineral Locations Map from 2006

A geospatial map shows mineral occurrences and deposits within Australia's 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf. The map draws together data from published and unpublished marine research surveys and government records, covering minerals like manganese nodules, heavy mineral sand, phosphorites, diamonds, tin, copper, gold, and coal. It was produced in August 2006 through a collaborative project involving Geoscience Australia, CSIRO, and State and Territory Geological Surveys.

Use Cases

• Assess mineral prospectivity for exploration based on mapped mineral occurrences.
• Inform marine spatial planning and decision-making by integrating mineral location data with other marine information layers.
• Study the depositional settings and seafloor physiography context for specific mineral types like manganese crusts on the East Tasman Plateau.

Strengths

• Covers a vast marine jurisdiction of 14.4 million square kilometers, larger than Australia's land area.
• Integrates data from multiple authoritative sources, including Geoscience Australia, CSIRO, and state geological surveys.
• Includes bathymetry data to show seafloor physiography and contextual settings for mineral deposits.

Limitations

• Data is from August 2006; freshness should be verified for current applications.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Some mineralisation types are interpreted from limited information, which may affect accuracy.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data, in collaboration with CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Flagship and Division of Exploration and Mining, and State and Northern Territory Geological Surveys.

Collection Method

Data compiled from published and unpublished marine research surveys and federal and state government records.

Time Range

August 2006.

Freshness

Last updated metadata indicates 2026-05-14, but the core map data is from August 2006.

Geography

Australia's 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf.