Adavale Basin region: Other resource potential data guide

Publicly available geological data in the Adavale Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This data guide also contains an assessment of the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage and minerals in the basin region. Geochemical analysis of gas samples from petroleum boreholes in the basin shows various concentrations of natural hydrogen. However, the generation mechanism of the observed natural hydrogen concentration is still unknown. The Adavale Basin also has the potential for underground hydrogen storage in the Boree Salt. Given the depth of the Boree Salt (wells have intersected the salt at depths below 1800 m) and the high fluid pressure gradient in the basin, the construction of underground salt caverns should include consideration of stability and volume shrinkage. Mineral occurrences are all found in the basins overlying the Adavale region. However, they are small (thousands of tonnes range) and not currently of economic interest. The Adavale Basin has potential for base and precious metal deposits due to suitable formation conditions, but the depth of the basin makes exploration and mining difficult and expensive. There are no identified occurrences or resources of coal in the Adavale Basin. Given the depth of the basin, extraction of any identified coal would probably be uneconomic, with the potential exception of coal seam gas extraction. An assessment of CO2 geological storage also shows prospective storage areas in the Eromanga Basin within the Adavale Basin region in the Namur-Murta and Adori-Westbourne play intervals.