South Australian government launches exploration game-changer at PDAC

The Marshall Liberal Government was the first government globally to launch an AU$250,000 crowdsourced competition to fast-track the discovery of mineral deposits in South Australia. ExploreSA: The Gawler Challenge went live at a launch even in the Australian Pavilion at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention on Monday 2 March 2020. ExploreSA: The Gawler Challenge is a partnership between the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining and open innovation platform Unearthed, in a global call for geologists and data scientists to interrogate world class open-file datasets to uncover new exploration targets in the highly prospective Gawler Craton region, in a state rich in copper, gold, uranium, zinc and iron ore.

Minister for Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the worldwide competition throws an international spotlight on South Australia’s huge mineral resource opportunities and the quality data compiled by our world recognised Geological Survey of South Australia.

The South Australian Government is fully committed to maximising the immense benefits for our state which exist within the Gawler Craton region, where we have just completed the world’s largest airborne geophysical survey, offering exciting new datasets for innovators and industry alike,” said Minister van Holst Pellekaan.

We intend to harness local and international expertise, innovation and technology for the benefit of our state’s regional development and economy as a whole.”

Unearthed Director Justin Strharsky said ExploreSA: The Gawler Challenge gives the world’s leading innovators a rare opportunity to put their skills into practice and identify untapped resources for new mineral discoveries.

In a world where mineral and metal deposits are becoming increasingly difficult to find, South Australia is incredibly endowed with resources. Unearthed is the largest community of innovators helping the resources sector dig deeper. We connect big players in the sector, to a community with the digital skills they need to solve big challenges,” said Mr Strharsky.

Using the Department for Energy and Mining’s wealth of historical records, data, and research, the competition offers the chance to combine geological expertise with new mathematical, machine learning and artificial intelligence to accelerate mineral discovery in the mineral rich Gawler Craton.”

South Australia is a major contributor to Australia’s mineral exports, and the Gawler Craton hosts significant resources such as Olympic Dam, one of the world’s largest copper deposits.

All mineral targets generated during this state-of-the-art challenge from the Department for Mining and Energy’s extensive open-file data will be made publicly available, to further incentivise companies to undertake exploration of new deposits in the Gawler,” added Unearthed Industry Lead - Crowdsourcing Holly Bridgwater.

The challenge gives entrants five months to search through a range of data sets including geophysics, geology and topography, to produce new mineral exploration targets.

ExploreSA: The Gawler Challenge is live and runs from 2 March until 31 July 2020.

Register for the challenge to access a detailed challenge description, all curated exploration datasets and additional resources: https://unearthed.link/ExploreSA