Output Group 6
MINERAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Mineral Resources Tasmania (MRT) provides services to the mineral exploration, mining, quarrying and mineral processing industries, for infrastructure development, and to land management groups for geohazards, construction materials and groundwater.
The primary role of MRT is to ensure that Tasmania's natural resources are managed in a sustainable way now and for future generations in accordance with the goals of Tasmania Together, and to ensure that there is a fair and sustainable return to the community when mineral or petroleum resources are developed.
MRT is responsible for the:
collection, integration, interpretation, publication and presentation of geoscientific information;
collection, integration, interpretation, publication and presentation of information promoting Tasmania's mineral resource potential, and land stability and groundwater issues;
issue of legal titles to mining tenements, collation and recording of statistics relating to mining production, collection of fees and rentals, management of royalty regimes, and recording of mining tenements.
regulation of mineral and petroleum exploration in Tasmania, including offshore waters administered by the State, and the promotion of vacant areas available for onshore and offshore exploration;
environmental appraisal and monitoring and management of mining heritage and land access issues; and
setting and monitoring of standards for both the performance of exploration activities and the technical reporting of exploration records and case histories.
Growth in mineral exploration activity is essential for the future development of the mineral sector and for the economic well-being of Tasmania. Mining and mineral processing accounts for over 40% of Tasmania's export capacity. MRT, by providing information on areas of high mineral and hydrocarbon resource potential in Tasmania, encourages private sector exploration which will lead to new operations coming on stream as the economic life of existing operations declines. By ensuring an adequate return from our mineral resources, all Tasmanians can share the benefits of our mineral wealth.
The mining industry in Tasmania continued to experience difficult conditions during the year, with low commodity prices and, in a number of cases, the mitigating effect of the low Australian dollar being offset by company hedging arrangements. Pasminco and Allstate Explorations NL were placed in the hands of Administrators during 2001 and Beaconsfield Gold NL was placed in the hands of a receiver.
Nonetheless, both the Rosebery zinc and Beaconsfield gold mines continued to operate and there was substantial improvement in the performance of both mines. By the end of 2001-02, some metal prices had started to recover and the short term outlook had improved. Exploration of the Avebury nickel deposit by Allegiance Mining NL continued to be successful, with the company successfully raising capital for a drilling program to define resources to a stage at which a decision to proceed with underground development could be made. AurionGold continued to obtain promising intersections of gold mineralisation near the Henty mine, which promise to significantly extend the mine's life. Overall levels of investment in mineral exploration remained low.
The Thylacine gas discovery in permit T/30P and the Yolla gasfield are both in Tasmanian waters and are to be developed. The gas from both these fields will be piped to Victoria.
The major issues affecting MRT in 2001-02 included:
Progressing Phase Four of Project TIGER (Tasmanian Information on Geoscientific and Exploration Resources) within the given time frame and budget;
The implementation of the recommendations of the first phase of the Western Tasmanian Regional Minerals Program using funds allocated by the Commonwealth for this purpose;
Provision of an appropriate level of resources for environmental monitoring of exploration and mining tenements, and for inspection of mines and quarries; and
Completion of the Core Library extension.
Mineral Resources Management and Administration
This Output Group supplies services to the mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, mining, quarrying and mineral processing industries, as well as to the government and general public. The major Outputs relate to:
collection, integration, interpretation, publication and presentation of geoscientific information;
collection, integration, interpretation, publication and presentation of information promoting Tasmania's mineral resource potential, and land stability and groundwater issues;
issue of legal titles to mining tenements, collation and recording of statistics relating to mining production, collection of fees and rentals, management of royalty regimes, and recording of mining tenements.
regulation of mineral and petroleum exploration in Tasmania, including offshore waters administered by the State, and the promotion of vacant areas available for onshore and offshore exploration;
environmental appraisal and monitoring and management of mining heritage and land access issues; and
setting and monitoring of standards for both the performance of exploration activities and the technical reporting of exploration records and case histories.
This Output Group contributes to the Department's goals of dynamic mineral exploration and land management for Tasmanian land and offshore waters, and effective and efficient tenement management of the exploration and minerals industry for the Tasmanian community.
Key client
The major clients of this Output Group include the Minister for Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, the various levels of government, the mining and mineral processing industries, and the general public.
How this Output Group is delivered
This Output Group is delivered by Departmental officers, in close liaison with industry bodies and other government departments.
Achievements Against Strategies Identified For 2001-2002
Promotion of Mineral and Petroleum Potential
MRT staff prepared and attended a promotional booth at the Mining 2001 exhibition and conference in Melbourne in November 2001. The display highlighted the new geophysical data being acquired under the Western Tasmanian Regional Minerals Program, and the event was successful in attracting a new exploration company to Tasmania.
Promotional material was also presented at a booth at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) meeting in Toronto in March 2002. As part of the visit to support the booth, two MRT staff members visited ten mining and two finance companies in Vancouver and Toronto as part of an Australian delegation, as well as having a meeting with the editor of North America's leading industry newspaper, the Northern Miner. The latter meeting resulted in favourable publicity for a company's Tasmanian exploration program.
Four offshore petroleum areas were released for bidding in 2002. These areas, in the Sorell Basin off the west coast and in the Bass Basin to the north of Tasmania, were actively promoted at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Conference in Houston (USA) and at the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference held in Adelaide in April 2002. Bids were received for two of the 2001 release areas.
Collection, Integration, Interpretation, Publication and Presentation of Data
Development of Project TIGER Phase 4 resumed early in the year. The MRT website was physically relocated to allow a greater range of client information to be hosted and the site reconstructed using a content management system. An Internet Tenement Information System, which includes a map viewer and spatial search facility, provides a valuable research tool for a range of MRT clients.
In conjunction with the Western Tasmanian Regional Minerals Program, Project TIGER has added document viewing and download facilities to the previously developed document searching facility. This allows remote clients to view reports and documents held by MRT. Development of a Spatial Data Editing System is in progress and tenders for the creation of a Geoscience Data Model close in early July 2002.
The collection and presentation of information on Tasmania's mineral wealth and geoscientific nature continues. Fifteen 1:25 000 scale geological maps were prepared for digital capture compared with the target of twelve sheets, and data capture/output was completed for twelve of these areas.
A significant amount of work was undertaken in the preparation of a seamless 1:250 000 scale digital geological compilation of Tasmania. Because priority was given to field checking of Western Tasmanian Regional Minerals Program geophysical data, primary geoscientific data acquisition was suspended for the year. Compilation of four sheets, on which field work was finalised during the previous year, was completed during the year.
The 1:500 000 scale digital Groundwater Prospectivity Map of Tasmania was revised and as part of the Groundwater Prospectivity of River Catchments Project. A 1:100 000 scale digital map of the Great Forester River catchment area was produced. Six detailed digital maps of slope stability of the Tamar Valley region were produced.
A series of maps, designed to provide information to land use planners in an easily understood format, has been prepared. The information will allow local government and land and infrastructure planners to make informed decisions relating to development, zoning and land use activities.
The maps include information on mineral prospectivity, location of mines and quarries, location of current exploration licences and mining leases, construction material locations and areas subject to land stability problems. Information on groundwater prospectivity is also being gathered. Forty-nine 1:100 000 scale maps, in three themes, cover Tasmania.
Recent developments in regional land stability hazard assessment have been designed to allow the incorporation of data into quantitative risk assessments for planning purposes. MRT is in the process of developing and testing a methodology for land stability hazard assessment that will be used to maintain the uniformity of future hazard mapping. A predictive GIS-based system is being developed, with known areas of instability being used to test the methodology.
Western Tasmanian Regional Minerals Program (WTRMP)
A Reference Group, with an independent chairman and members drawn from the Tasmanian Minerals Council, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources and MRT, developed a series of projects to implement the geoscience infrastructure recommendations of the Final Regional Development Plan of the Western Tasmanian Regional Minerals Program.
Aeromagnetic and radiometric data acquired over King Island and western and northwestern Tasmania were released in October 2001 and promoted at the Mining 2001 and PDAC 2002 conferences. The data has provided a new insight into the geology of the area and form the basis for a number of value-adding sub-projects.
Helicopter-based acquisition of approximately 15 600 line kilometres of electromagnetic data over several areas of western Tasmania was completed in April 2002, with the initial data considered of high quality with excellent information content. Field checking of the geophysical data has commenced, and includes four projects involving contract geologists. Two of these were completed by the end of the year.
The collaborative study between MRT, Geoscience Australia and the National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics to improve the knowledge relating to the petroleum potential of the offshore Bass and Sorell Basins continued during the year. The results of this study were launched at the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference in April 2002.
The technical documents relating to onshore and offshore exploration, and MRT technical reports, are being scanned to allow on-line viewing on the Internet and downloading for local viewing or hardcopy production. On line viewing was enabled in March 2002 allowing MRT clients from throughout the world to view or print open file technical documents held by MRT at their own location.
Setting and Monitoring of Standards for Exploration Activities
MRT is responsible for ensuring that all exploration activity in Tasmania achieves the highest environmental standards and complies with the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 and the requirements of other legislation which protects, for example, threatened species and cultural heritage. The fourth edition of the Mineral Exploration Code of Practice outlines the current requirements, the approvals process, and the controls and monitoring procedures that MRT has in place.
During the year 29 exploration work programs were submitted to and approved by MRT. Of these ten were in reserves derived from the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) and required assessment by the Mineral Exploration Working Group.
To comply with the Regional Forest Agreement, Mineral Resources Tasmania has developed a system to spatially record exploration activity and attributes that chart the process of approval of individual work programs. All work programs, whether on Crown Land, State Forest or private property, are entered on this system to give a complete record of all the environmental information relating to exploration.
The system has also been designed to provide ongoing information on the outcomes of rehabilitation of exploration activity. Compliance auditing of this system requires verification that the agreed approval process is adhered to and that derived statistics reflect the RFA and the recommendations of the Resource Planning and Development Commission.
Rehabilitation of Mining Lands Trust Fund
The funding to rehabilitate abandoned mines comes from an agreement with the mining and quarrying industries whereby a proportion of the royalty increase introduced in 1995 was to be allocated for rehabilitation.
In 2001-2002 major works were completed at abandoned mines near Gladstone in northeast Tasmania, and at Merrywood near Royal George. Erosion control and revegetation works were carried out at the Endurance mine, while regrading, cultivation and revegetation works were completed at Merrywood. A safe viewing area was constructed at the Blue Lake in partnership with the Parks and Wildlife Service
Abandoned mine shafts were capped at Bangor and in the Zeehan area.
Smaller scale works included revegetation at Melaleuca, drainage control at Lake Johnston Nature Reserve and gorse spraying at the Queensberry mine near Zeehan.
Special Initiative - Core Library
The upgrade of the core inspection facility was virtually complete by the end of 2001-02 apart from the completion of the inspection benches, which will be achieved in early 2002-03.
Royalty Assessment
MRT is responsible for the collection of mineral royalties from Crown land tenements. Royalty is not a tax but a payment to the community for the purchase of the State's non-renewable resources.
The Tasmanian royalty regime operates under two systems depending on the type of resource recovered. Companies producing a metallic mineral or coal pay under a two-tiered system where royalty is paid on the net sales and profit from a mine. Royalty on the recovery of non-metallic minerals on Crown leases is set on a per cubic metre or per tonne basis.
MRT conducts a royalty audit program to ensure tenement holders are paying in accordance with the legislation. Mine and quarry inspections are also undertaken by Inspectors of Mines to determine the quantity of material taken from a tenement.
Mineral royalties totalling $7.9 million were collected during the 2001-02 financial year, a decline from the $10.7 million collected in 2000-01. The 2001-02 financial year proved to be a difficult one for some Tasmanian mines, with commodity prices generally remaining low, although the gold price did improve during the year.
Centre for Ore Deposit Research, Special Research Centre (CODES-SRC)
Funding is provided under this Output for support for CODES-SRC at the University of Tasmania in conjunction with the Commonwealth Government and industry. The allocation is used to part-fund honours scholarships, and thus help increase the knowledge of Tasmanian geology, particularly in the important fields
