Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the success of Discovery Day 2024!

From our passionate GSSA speakers and external presenters, to our dedicated organisers and enthusiastic attendees, we couldn't have done it without you.

Since 2016, Discovery Day has been an integral part of the Geological Survey of South Australia's calendar. Thank you for joining us again this year!

Registration

  • Registrations closed Sunday 24 November 2024
  • If you have any questions about registration, please contact DEM.Events@sa.gov.au

Our theme for 2024

“Trends come and go, geoscience is foundational.”
This year we focused on new developments in fundamental geoscience that will underpin future exploration, investment, and land-use planning decisions.

The program for this year’s event was a diverse showcase of new information on the geology and commodity potential of South Australia.

Come, learn, discuss, act.

View the program and presentations

Take a look at the program, presentations, and previews of some of our speakers.
PDF and video versions of the presentations are available below also.

8:00am Registration and event opens

Session 1 - Looking ahead: Initiatives and commodities

8:30am Welcome to Country
Cliffy Wilson, Kuma Kaaru
8:40am

Opening address
Paul Heithersay, Department for Energy and Mining

8:50am

Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity Initiative, Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of South Australia working together
Karol Czarnota, Geoscience Australia

9:10am

GSSA Director’s 2024 highlights
Bronwyn Camac, Department for Energy and Mining

9:30am

Magnesium and Manganese opportunities in South Australia for facilitating the increasing global Critical Minerals demand
Carmen Krapf, Department for Energy and Mining

9:45am

An update on natural hydrogen exploration in South Australia
Chris Cubitt, Department for Energy and Mining

Session 2 - The sedimentary search space

10:45am

Linking South Australia’s geology - fostering new workflows through digital report data (Officer Basin Case Study)
Sam Connell, Department for Energy and Mining

11:00am

Paleovalleys and sedimentary characteristics of the northwestern Gawler Craton
Baohong Hou, Department for Energy and Mining

11:15am

A new turbidite play in the Otway Basin - The value of revisiting the rocks
Sharon Tiainen, Department for Energy and Mining

11:30am

Play mapping workflow; a practical example from the onshore Otway Basin, South Australia
Paul Strong, Department for Energy and Mining

11:45am

Stack ‘em, hack ‘em and smack ‘em: Seismic stories of basins building an orogen
Tom Wise, Department for Energy and Mining

12:00pm

Narrowing the search space: A wrap up of the sedimentary Copper project
Adrian Fabris, Department for Energy and Mining

Session 3 - Core, copper and complexities

1:35pm

Keynote: A Beautiful Science
Lee Harrop

2:00pm

Unravelling complex basement geology via SADM: an example from the Mount Woods Domain, Gawler Craton
Rashed Abdullah, Department for Energy and Mining

2:15pm

Just how relevant is the IOCG model to the Curnamona Province?
Tobias Schlegel, CSIRO

2:30pm

Where are South Australia’s Carbonatites?
Mitchell Bockmann, Department for Energy and Mining

2:45pm

Northern Gawler National Drilling Initiative
Claire Wade, Department for Energy and Mining

Session 4 - Making time and space for mineral systems

3:45pm

Refining Uranium exploration models with field data
Steve Hore, Department for Energy and Mining

4:00pm

HyLogger Hy-lights 2024
Alicia Caruso, Department for Energy and Mining

4:15pm

Geochronology of the Middleback Range metasediments and implications for the Hutchison Group stratigraphy
Mario Werner, Department for Energy and Mining

4:30pm

Aeromagnetic Character and Kinematics of the Yarlbrinda Shear Zone, Eastern Nuyts Domain
Frank Rarity, Department for Energy and Mining

4:45pm

Polymetamorphism and gold (re)mobilisation in the central-western Gawler Craton
Alex Van Leeuwen, Department for Energy and Mining

5:00pmClosing remarks

Dr. Lee Harrop is an innovative ecologically-oriented artist and researcher known for her collaborative interdisciplinary projects.

For over a decade, Dr. Harrop has collaborated with geologists and core libraries across Australia, incorporating geological core samples into her art. With a diverse publication record in both traditional and non-traditional formats, she has received several prestigious awards and grants, including recent funding for a public art project in Darwin.

Recently, our South Australia Drill Core Library hosted Dr. Harrop for a three-week residency, which culminated in the inaugural viewing of her research for the Mapping Shadows of the Bight (MSB) project. One of her research outputs is an engraved core sample featuring a line from T.S. Eliot’s poem "Little Gidding," the final poem in Four Quartets. This engraved core will remain in its original library core tray (hidden in the shadows) and can be viewed at the drill core library upon request.

View Dr Harrop's keynote speech 'A Beautiful Science' in the Program and presentations section above.

Dr Carmen Krapf
Carmen’s talks were around two Critical Minerals. Carmen discussed Magnesium and Manganese opportunities in South Australia for facilitating their increasing global demand.

Adrian Fabris
Adrian discussed the results of a prospectivity assessment for sedimentary-hosted copper on the Stuart Shelf. Adrian talked through recent results from the GSSA’s SedCu project.

Tom Wise
Tom talked through Geoscience Australia’s seismic line 22GA-DL1, from the Gawler Craton to the Victorian border. Tom discussed the outcomes of a collaborative interpretation project and highlights surprises hidden deep beneath the Flinders-Mount Lofty Ranges.

View these talks in the Program and presentations section above.

Dr Karol Czarnota
Karol is the Principal Science Advisor for minerals, energy, and groundwater at Geoscience Australia focused on shaping strategic science direction. He has over 20 years of experience in undertaking and leading precompetitive geoscience programs focused on understanding Australia’s geology and its resource potential.
Karol talked through Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity, an initiative by the Australian Government to accelerate precompetitive geoscience, support the net zero transition, and build a ‘Future Made in Australia’ over the next 35 years.

Dr Tobias Schlegel
Tobias is an Economic Geologist and Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO Mineral Resources. He works on IOCG-REE systems, Fe-Au skarns, and genetically related ore deposits mostly in the Gawler and Curnamona Cratons as well as in the Cloncurry region.
Tobias discussed the IOGC model, and how relevant it is to the Curnamona Province.

View these talks in the Program and presentations section above.

Partner events

Each year, accompanying events are also held in South Australia the same week as Discovery Day.

SAEMC is an annual collaborative event that brings together both the exploration and mining industries in South Australia.

Previous Discovery Day events

Watch the Discovery Day presentations from 2023

Watch the Discovery Day presentations from 2022