Assistance in the search for new onshore mineral and petroleum resources, and Commonwealth controlled offshore petroleum in WA, is a step closer following the awarding of a $5 million contract as part of the expansion of the Perth Core Library.
| Date: | Friday, 11 December 2015 |
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Assistance in the search for new onshore mineral and petroleum resources, and Commonwealth controlled offshore petroleum in Western Australia, is a step closer following the awarding of a $5 million contract to Firm Construction Pty Ltd as part of the expansion of the Perth Core Library.
The contract is for a major part of the $7.3 million expansion project which will transform a vital resource for exploration of resources.
Operated by the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP), the Carlisle facility archives State and Commonwealth drill samples crucial to new exploration research.
The expansion will enlarge the library’s warehouse for drill core samples by about 50 per cent, or 3,500 square metres.
The expansion will also create extra viewing space for geologists to examine drill core, a conference room, and extend the area housing a sophisticated rapid spectroscopic logging and imaging system known as a HyLogger core scanner.
The world-class facility is in constant use by companies and prospectors working to find new mines and petroleum fields and already boasts more than 400 kilometres of core.
The library houses an important collection of samples of Western Australia’s geology, including its mineral and petroleum endowment, sourced over many decades from government-funded stratigraphic drilling, mineral industry donations, industry onshore and offshore petroleum drilling, and the State Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) co-funded drilling.
The Perth Core Library is also the western hub of the National Offshore Petroleum Data and Core Repository and does store two-thirds of all Commonwealth-managed petroleum core derived from offshore drilling, under a joint agreement between the Geological Survey of Western Australia, Geoscience Australia (GA), and the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA).
The Commonwealth Government has contributed $1.2 million to the project through the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator.
