News 2022 Showcase
8–10 August

The Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future program, led by Geoscience Australia, held a virtual public Showcase on 8–10 August 2022.
Since 2016, the Exploring for the Future program has produced precompetitive geoscience data, information and tools that are expanding our knowledge and understanding of Australia’s geology, Earth systems and processes.
Our vision leading this work is to contribute to a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians through a better understanding of our mineral, energy potential and groundwater resources.
The 2022 Showcase is a free online event, where Geoscience Australia’s senior leaders and geoscientists discussed scientific highlights, reflected on the value of the program and shared future plans. It also provided a unique opportunity to discuss topics of interest and engage directly with our scientists through an open Q&A forum.
Details of the 3-day event are below.
Exploring for the Future Showcase
Day One - Overview and Panel discussion
Monday, 8 August 2022 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm AEST
Time zone: (UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Moderator: Dr Steve Hill, Geoscience Australia Chief Scientist
This session highlighted program impacts on exploration by industry, improved decision-making and community awareness. The session also featured a panel discussion with senior leaders from industry, science and government sectors.
- Watch the Day One session (1:25:20 min)
- View or download the Overview talk and the presentation by Dr Andrew Heap
The value of precompetitive geoscience

Dr Andrew Heap
Chief of Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division, Geoscience Australia
Panel discussion

Dorothy Close
Director, Regional Geoscience, Northern Territory Geological Survey
Dorothy is a geologist with over 20 years of experience of working across the diverse geology of the Northern Territory.
She joined the Northern Territory Geological Survey in 1995 as a regional mapping geologist and currently holds the position of Director Regional Geoscience, overseeing regional geoscience and prospectivity assessment projects – an immensely rewarding job.

Dr David Close
Vice-President, Operations and External Affairs, Tamboran Resources
Dr David Close is currently the Vice President – Operations and External Affairs at Tamboran Resources. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and a B.Sc. from the University of Tasmania. David has worked in a range of interesting basins across the USA, Canada and Australia – but his favourite plays are the Proterozoic shales of northern Australia, where he has focused for the last decade. David has developed expertise in exploration and appraisal strategy, unconventional resource exploration and evaluation, and quantitative seismic interpretation.

Tania Constable
Chief Executive Officer, Minerals Council of Australia
Tania Constable PSM, joined the Minerals Council of Australia in July 2018, where she is proud to promote and advocate for a strong, vibrant and innovative minerals industry in Australia. Prior to this, Tania was Chief Executive Officer of the CO2CRC (Collaborative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies) a leading global research organisation, testing carbon capture and storage low emission technologies in Australia.
Tania previously worked as chief adviser in the Personal and Retirement Income Division of Treasury, working on tax-related matters and has had a long association with resources and energy, holding various senior executive roles in the Australian Government. Tania had responsibility for policy advice to the Minister for Industry on oil and gas regulation, exploration and development, and sustainable mining activities. During this time Ms Constable also had the privilege of being the Australian Joint Commissioner and Sunrise Commissioner for Australia and Timor Leste leading joint activities on the development of the Joint Petroleum Development Area and Greater Sunrise Project.
She was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2014 for outstanding public service in the development of Australia’s liquefied natural gas and other resource and energy industries.

Distinguished Professor Craig T. Simmons FAA FTSE
Flinders University
Distinguished Professor Craig T. Simmons FAA FTSE is a leading groundwater scientist, recognised for major contributions to groundwater science, science leadership, education and policy reform. Craig is Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor of Hydrogeology, Schultz Chair in the Environment at Flinders University and Foundation Director of the ARC National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training in Australia. From July 2020, he is seconded to the Australian Research Council in the role of Executive Director for Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences.
Craig is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). His work has been recognized by numerous national and international research and teaching awards including the Anton Hales Medal for distinguished contributions to research in the Earth Sciences awarded by the Australian Academy of Science, and an Australian Award for University Teaching. In 2015 Craig was named South Australian Scientist of the Year, and in 2017 he was awarded Australian Water Professional of the Year. He is a lead author of the United Nations World Water Development Report ‘Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible’ and a co-author of the IPCC 6th Assessment Report.
Day Two - Data, Toolbox and Geology
Tuesday, 9 August 2022 12:30 pm - 3:30 pm AEST
Time zone: (UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Moderator: Marina Costelloe, Branch Head – Mineral Systems
This session highlighted new data collection, including national surveys, such as AusAEM, AusArray and AusLAMP, as well as some of the tools being used and new geological insights from the program.
- Watch the Data and Toolbox session (55 min)
- Watch the Geology session (1:06:36 min)
- View or download the Day Two presentations
Data and Toolbox theme, 12:30 pm–1:40 pm
Data acquisition progress | Dr Laura Gow Program Manager Exploring for the Future |
Quantitative tool development — HiQGA.jl and HiPerSeis | Dr Anandaroop Ray AEM Geophysicist |
Data delivery advances — underpinned by careful data curation | Mark Webster Director and Divisional Information Officer |
Question and answer session |
Geology theme, 1:45 pm–3:30 pm
Mapping Australia’s geology — from the surface down to great depths | Dr Marie-Aude Bonnardot Director Integrated Geological Mapping |
Towards a national understanding of Groundwater
| Dr Hashim Carey Project Leader National Groundwater Systems |
Uncovering buried frontiers Tennant Creek to Mount Isa
| Anthony Schofield National Drilling Initiative Leader – MinEx CRC Dr Chris Carson Project Geologist |
Lithospheric characterisation — mapping the depths of the Australian tectonic plate | Dr Marcus Haynes Module Leader Lithospheric Geophysics |
Question and answer session |
Day Three - Systems and Resource Potential
Wednesday, 10 August 2022 12:30 pm - 3:00 pm AEST
Time zone: (UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Moderator: Dr David Robinson, Branch Head – Basin Systems
This session highlighted new insights into mineral, energy and groundwater systems, including the upper Darling River groundwater system. Discussions included economic assessments of Australian mineral potential, enhanced oil recovery, and the growing hydrogen and green steel industries.
- Watch the Systems session(53:40 min)
- Watch the Resource potential session (51:11 min)
- View or download the Day Three presentations
Systems theme, 12:30 pm–1:45 pm
Upper Darling River Floodplain — improving groundwater-surface water systems understanding | Dr Sarah Buckerfield Hydrogeologist |
Geoscience insights for Energy Resources
| Lidena Carr Module Leader Officer Musgrave |
Mineral systems insights — new concepts from old data | Dr David Huston Senior Economic Geologist |
Question and answer session |
Resource potential theme, 1:45 pm–3:00 pm
Mineral potential — narrowing the exploration search space | Dr Arianne Ford Activity Leader Integration and Prospectivity |
CO2-enhanced oil recovery — application to residual oil zones | Dr Aleks Kalinowski Assistant Director Low Carbon Geoscience and Advice |
Hydrogen and green steel
| Dr Andrew Feitz Director Low Carbon Geoscience and Advice |
Question and answer session |
Outputs
New data and publications featured at the 2022 Showcase.
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Have a question about the Exploring for the Future program or need help with using our data? Email us at clientservices@ga.gov.au or call 1800 800 173.
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