The Mineral Resources Audit is a five-year Program established to
produce a comprehensive and objective assessment of the mineral
resources of New South Wales, including prospective resources. The
goals of the Program are to improve planning and land use
decision-making; attract exploration and minerals related investment;
help the Department to identify and fill gaps in knowledge; and develop
methods to identify and quantify resource potential and prospectivity. To achieve the goals of the Audit it is necessary to assemble and
enhance a large amount of information and it is necessary to spatially
analyse this information using computer-based Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) which allow the collection, storage, transformation and
display of large quantities of spatial data. An extensive range of both
map-based and textual data can be employed in spatial analysis and
resources and geoscience modelling. In order to use this information,
data sets have to be corrected and standardised. Many data sets need to
be classified. An objective of the Audit Program is the spatial analysis of the State,
region-by-region, and the release of cleaned-up multiple digital data sets
as packages which include upgraded mineral deposit information,
'seamless' geological map layers showing lithology, structures and
stratigraphy, and processed and classified geophysical map layers. These
regional packages are important reference sets for the mineral resources
industry and will assist delineation of regional exploration targets.