UNCOVER: unlocking Australia’s hidden mineral wealth

The Australian Academy of Science has welcomed the launch of UNCOVER: Searching the deep earth, a visionary new project to unlock Australia’s enormous potential mineral wealth.

Launched by Resources Minister Martin Ferguson at the International Geological Congress in Brisbane last week, the project arose from the Academy’s 2010 Theo Murphy High Flyers Think Tank ‘Searching the deep earth: the future of Australian resource discovery and utilisation’.

“Australia’s resources industry is based on research conducted in the late 19th and 20th centuries but around 80% of Australia still remains underexplored. This represents an enormous opportunity for Australia,” said the academy’s Secretary for Science Policy, Professor Bob Williamson.

“The academy recognised this opportunity and convened the 2010 Theo Murphy High Flyers Think Tank to identify the scientific steps necessary to improve exploration success.

“UNCOVER arose from our Think Tank. It brings together scientists from government research institutes, universities and industry in an unprecedented level of collaboration to address a national challenge.”

Operating under the aegis of the Australian Academy of Science, UNCOVER aims to pool knowledge and use new technologies to better explore beneath Australia’s cover.

“Traditionally we’ve seen cover as a barrier that masks the signature of buried mineral systems,” said Professor Mike McWilliams, a member of the UNCOVER group.

“However, cover can also disperse the geochemical signals of a large mineral system, expanding the potential geographic footprint of a buried resource to make it more discoverable. We want to turn cover into an exploration opportunity, not an impediment.”

UNCOVER will have much broader implications than minerals exploration.

“The knowledge and data generated by collaborators will enhance our understanding of Australia’s mineral, energy and groundwater resources for the benefit of future generations,” Professor McWilliams said.

“It will contribute to better management of natural resources to benefit all Australians.

“It is also an excellent opportunity to improve communication and knowledge transfer across the community and to train the next generation of scientific leaders.”

The UNCOVER document is available at www.science.org.au/policy/uncover.html/.