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Project activity AusAEM

AusAEM is the world’s largest airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey undertaken.

AusAEM started in 2017 in northern Australia and continues to be extended across the continent. The AEM technique enables mapping of the subsurface electrical conductivity of rocks, sediments and waters, to depths of up to several hundred metres, depending on factors such as the AEM system used and the electrical conductivity of the sub-surface.

What is AEM?

AEM is a non-invasive testing technique that can detect variations in the conductivity of the ground to a depth of several hundred metres. The conductivity response in the ground is commonly caused by the presence of electrically conductive materials, such as salt or saline water, graphite, clays and sulphide minerals.

Using the data 

AusAEM data and derived products are used to map the thickness and character of sedimentary and regolith cover in regions overlying crystalline basement outcrop. Previous surveys by Geoscience Australia using wide line spacing (e.g. 6 km) have shown the utility of the method in mapping cover thickness and its character. The survey results are also used by the groundwater community to assess the potential for groundwater resources in Australia's arid zones to support remote communities in the survey areas.

The early national AusAEM surveys flown from 2017 to 2019 were divided into 2 blocks denoted AusAEM1 and AusAEM2, based approximately on 1:1 million map sheets. The state of Western Australia continued the regional coverage in 2019 with the AusAEM20-WA program under a state government funded exploration incentive scheme.  This saw blocks flown across the southwestern portion of the state, including East Yilgarn, Eastern Goldfields, Earaheedy and Desert strip. When combined with AusAEM2 data, the AusAEM20-WA survey program will make Western Australia the first state with 100% coverage, when it finishes at the end of 2022. 

In 2021 we flew the Eastern Resources Corridor along the Queensland, South Australian, New South Wales and Victorian borders. 

As of July 2022, we had finished the Upper Darling Floodplain, and are in the process of acquiring the Western Corridor and the Darling–Curnamona–Delamerian AEM survey programs (see the map below).

Data for the completed AusAEM programs are freely available from the Geoscience Australia's electronic catalogue:

Map of Australia showing the current coverage with AEM surveys

Geoscience Australia, with our partner state and territory geological surveys, have systematically acquired and merged geophysical surveys to cover most of the Australian continent. The current coverage with AEM is currently over 60% of Australia’s total land area
 

Collaboration

Along with funding from the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future program, the AusAEM program has been expanded with funding from the Geological Surveys of Western Australia and Queensland, combined with valuable in-kind support from all Australian state and territory geological surveys.

Outputs

The data and Geoscience Australia's conductivity-depth layered earth inversions from AusAEM have been released and are freely available from the Geoscience Australia's Data and Publications search. 

The data release packages contain the final deliverables produced by multiple contractors,  including:

  • the survey logistics and processing report
  • final processed electromagnetic, magnetic and elevation point located line data
  • final processed electromagnetic, magnetic and elevation grids
  • conductivity estimates generated by the contractor's preferred conductivity depth imaging algorithm
  • graphical multipoles of line data and conductivity sections
  • graphical stacked conductivity sections. 

Watch a video about the Airborne Electromagnetic data - mapping mineral and groundwater resources (2:18 min)

Related information

Data

Sediment-hosted base metal mineral potential maps

Cloutier, J., Ford, A., Huston, D., Doublier, M., Schofield, A., Waltenberg, K., de Caritat, P., Fraser, G., Beyer, E., Bastrakov, E., Czarnota, K. (2023)

Sediment-hosted base metal mineral potential maps View dataset
Kimberlite provinces of the South Australian Craton

Multi-Stage Evolution of the South Australian Craton: Petrological Constraints on the Architecture, Lithology, and Geochemistry of the Lithospheric Mantle

Sudholz, Z.J., Yaxley, G.M., Jaques, A.L., Cooper, S.A., Czarnota, K., Taylor, W.R., Chen, J., Knowles, B.M. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (2022)

Multi-Stage Evolution of the South Australian Craton: Petrological Constraints on the Architecture, Lithology, and Geochemistry of the Lithospheric Mantle View paper
Histogram and probability density plot for all 36 date comparisons

Examination of the accuracy of SHRIMP U–Pb geochronology based on samples dated by both SHRIMP and CA-TIMS

Magee, C.W. Jr., Bodorkos, S., Lewis, C.J., Crowley, J.L., Wall, C.J., Friedman, R.M. Geochronology (2023)

Examination of the accuracy of SHRIMP U–Pb geochronology based on samples dated by both SHRIMP and CA-TIMS View paper