Skip to main content
 
  • Share this page on Facebook
  • Print this page

Gold Undercover - Unearth Victoria's Gold

Overview

Map: Gold Undercover
Map showing Gold Undercover initiative area

  • Developing Gold Undercover is a AUD$9 million initiative that commenced in July 2006 as part of the government's Provincial Victoria statement.
  • The Gold Undercover project has delivered a range of new geoscience insights and techniques required to assist exploration for the potentially large undiscovered gold resources presently concealed under cover. Delivery of the geoscience outputs will be completed by December 2009.
  • The outputs will continue to stimulate the research and exploration communities in Victoria and help re-establish regional Victoria as a leading gold producer.

Background

  • Existing research indicates that Victoria’s undiscovered gold endowment in covered areas could be as much as 80 million ounces, worth approximately AUD$80 billion at today’s prices.
  • Exploration is the lifeblood of the resources industry. Studies show that new geoscience information acts as a major stimulus to increased exploration and discovery. This project has produced new information and ideas to stimulate the exploration community leading to greater investment in resource expenditure in Victoria.
  • Each of the state’s current gold operations is located in regional Victoria and represents millions of dollars of investment, and many hundreds of jobs. New discoveries leading to new operations will repeat this beneficial cycle in regional Victoria.
  • Gold Undercover supports the Government's objective of encouraging investment in Innovation and in Provincial Victoria.

Key deliverables

Outputs for the Gold Undercover initiative will be produced as a series of reports and systems in six key thematic areas, each aimed at producing information or information management or delivery systems that will produce increased awareness of opportunities, reduced technical risk and improved access to data.

These themes are:

Photo: Gold bar in hands
  • Science
    • Data Capture and Analysis
      • Seismic line
      • Drill hole database
      • Geochemistry database
      • Gravity survey
      • MT geophysical survey
      • Helicopter-borne VTEM survey
    • Exploration Toolkit
      • Hylogger analysis
      • Deposit models
      • Exploration models
      • Geochronology study
      • Lithogeochemistry study
      • Hydrogeochemistry - Exploration for minerals undercover
    • Gold Resource Assessment
    • 3D and Predictive Mineralisation Models
      • 3D model management system
  • Information Communication Technology
    • Infrastructure
      • Upgrade GIS Toolkit
      • New / Improved GeoScience Databases
      • New Discoverability capability (searching)
    • Data Delivery
      • New Website
      • GeoVic Improvements
      • New Web Service Geoscience data on-line

Key contact

Paul McDonald
A/Director GeoScience Victoria
Department of Primary Industries
GPO Box 4440
Melbourne Victoria 3001
Australia
Tel +61 3 9658 4531
Fax +61 3 9658 4555
Email Paul.A.McDonald@dpi.vic.gov.au