RB 202100017

The Gawler Craton Airborne Survey,
2017 – 2021: Final Report
Report Book
2021/00017
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Laszlo Katona, Gary Reed and

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Philip Heath
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The Gawler Craton Airborne
Survey, 2017 – 2021:
Final Report
Laszlo F Katona, Gary D Reed and Philip J Heath
Geological Survey of South Australia,

Department for Energy and Mining
November 2021
Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining
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Preferred way to cite this publication

Katona LF, Reed GD and Heath PJ 2021. The Gawler Craton Airborne Survey, 2017 – 2021: Final Report,
Report Book 2021/00017. Department for Energy and Mining, South Australia, Adelaide.
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 1
FIELD PROGRAM .......................................................................................................................... 1
LOCATION ..................................................................................................................................... 3
GSSA REVIEW OF SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS........................................................................... 4
SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS ...................................................................................................... 4
DIGITAL DATA DELIVERY FORMATS ...................................................................................... 4
WHYALLA TEST LINES ................................................................................................................ 4
COMMUNITY INFORMATION AND ENGAGEMENT ..................................................................... 5
LANDHOLDER NOTIFICATIONS............................................................................................... 5
COMMUNITY NOTICES ............................................................................................................ 5
GAWLER CRATON COMMUNITY INFORMATION WEBSITE .................................................. 6
RESULTS ....................................................................................................................................... 7
PERIODIC SUPPLY OF RAW DATA FOR QUALITY CONTROL ............................................... 7
DRAPE SURFACE ..................................................................................................................... 7
TOTAL MAGNETIC INTENSITY (TMI) ....................................................................................... 8
RADIOMETRICS ........................................................................................................................ 9
DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS .............................................................................................. 12
ENHANCED GRID PRODUCTS ................................................................................................... 13
COLLABORATION WITH CSIRO ............................................................................................. 13
MAGNETIC SOURCE MODELLING ............................................................................................ 14
MERGED GRIDS .......................................................................................................................... 16
DATA RELEASES........................................................................................................................ 17
DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 18
SURVEY FIELD PROGRAM .................................................................................................... 18
QUALITY CONTROL................................................................................................................ 18
SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS .................................................................................................... 19
WHYALLA TEST LINES ........................................................................................................... 19
GRID MERGE .......................................................................................................................... 20
INTEGRATING GCAS DATA IN A STATE-WIDE GRID MERGE ............................................. 22
DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS .............................................................................................. 23
COLLABORATION WITH CSIRO ............................................................................................. 23
MAGNETIC SOURCE MODELLING ........................................................................................ 23
DATA PACKAGES AND SUBSEQUENT RELEASES .............................................................. 24
CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................... 24
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. 25
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 26
APPENDIXES............................................................................................................................... 27
Department for Energy and Mining iii Report Book 2021/00017

APPENDIX 1. GCAS SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS AND EXCERPTS FROM GCAS
QUOTATION REQUEST (COURTESY OF GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA) ................................ 27
APPENDIX 2. GCAS DIGITAL DATA DELIVERY FORMATS .................................................. 41
APPENDIX 3. WHYALLA TEST LINES FINAL REPORT ......................................................... 51
APPENDIX 4. LANDHOLDER NOTIFICATION INFORMATION ............................................ 143
APPENDIX 5. COMMUNITY NOTICE EXAMPLE .................................................................. 149
APPENDIX 6. RADIOMETRIC REPROCESSING REPORT .................................................. 152
APPENDIX 7. PARAMETERS USED FOR RE-GRIDDING OF TMI AND RADIOMETRICS... 167
APPENDIX 8. URLS FOR ALL GCAS DELIVERABLES......................................................... 172
TABLES
Table 1. The set of grids, images, located data and contractors report released for each of the
16 GCAS survey regions as supplied by the GCAS contractors. This constitutes the
primary data release for each of the 16 GCAS regions. .............................................. 17
Table 2. The set of enhanced grid, image, model and vector products released for each of the
16 GCAS survey regions. This constitutes the body of work performed in collaboration
with CSIRO. ................................................................................................................ 17
Table 3. The set of merged GCAS magnetic, radiometric and elevation data products. ............ 18
FIGURES
Figure 1. Locality map of the Gawler Craton Airborne Survey. ..................................................... 2
Figure 2. Gawler Craton Airborne Survey and Woomera Prohibited Area. ................................... 3
Figure 3. Gawler Craton Airborne Survey Whyalla test lines. ....................................................... 5
Figure 4. GCAS Community Information website during acquisition, showing completed areas,
flight plans for surveys in progress, information pop-ups and links. ............................... 6
Figure 5. The GCAS Community Information website continues to provide information and links
to data package downloads .......................................................................................... 7
Figure 6. GCAS merged TMI grid. ............................................................................................... 9
Figure 7. GCAS merged radiometrics ternary image.................................................................. 10
Figure 8. A comparison of a supplied uranium grid (left) and a reprocessed uranium grid (right)
for the same area........................................................................................................ 11
Figure 9. A comparison of a supplied Dose grid (left) and a reprocessed Dose grid (right) for the
same area................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 10. GCAS merged radar derived DEM. ............................................................................. 12
Figure 11. A comparison of radar altimeter derived DEM (left) and laser altimeter derived DEM
(right). ......................................................................................................................... 13
Figure 12. Interpolated magnetic source depth estimates. ......................................................... 15
Figure 13. First vertical derivative at a junction of four adjacent GCAS regions, illustrating
minimum curvature gridding bias orthogonal to flight-line direction. ........................... 21
Figure 14. A comparison of 1VD of 200 m line-spaced GCAS gridded to 40 m cells; 80 m cells;
resampled from 40 m to 80 m cells and previous 400 m line-spaced data gridded to
80 m cells. .................................................................................................................. 22
Department for Energy and Mining iv Report Book 2021/00017

The Gawler Craton Airborne Survey,
2017 – 2021: Final Report
Laszlo F Katona, Gary D Reed and Philip J Heath
ABSTRACT
The Gawler Craton Airborne Survey (GCAS) was an airborne magnetic, radiometric and
elevation survey that commenced in February 2017 and concluded in July 2019, capturing
around 1.67 million line-kilometres of data over the Gawler Craton, at a cost of $9.5 million.
The survey was part of the South Australian Government’s $20 million “Plan for
Accelerating Exploration” (PACE) Copper initiative, a critical component of South
Australia’s Copper Strategy, which focused on capturing pre-competitive data with the aim
of bringing forward mineral discoveries in the state. The survey was completed using four
survey contractors flying fixed-wing aircraft at an acquisition height of 60 m, with 200 m line
spacing. The survey was carried out in three tranches over 16 contiguous survey regions,
enabling up to six aircraft to concurrently capture data. The Geological Survey of South
Australia (GSSA) used the GCAS as an opportunity to redefine and strive for best practice
across survey activities including landholder communications, survey specifications,
quality assurance, data processing, value adding and data delivery. A key feature of the
GCAS value add was a collaboration with CSIRO that delivered a suite of analytic data
products and magnetic source depth estimates for each of the 16 GCAS survey regions.
FIELD PROGRAM
In 2016, the Geological Survey of South Australia (GSSA) collaborated with Geoscience Australia
(GA) to complete the Gawler Craton Airborne Survey (GCAS), a magnetic/radiometric and digital
elevation model (DEM) survey of ~1.67 million line-kilometres, under the National Collaboration
Framework, Project Agreement PA001826, The Gawler Craton Magnetic-Radiometric-Digital
Elevation Model Survey. In summary:
• The program was funded to the sum of $10 million by the South Australian Government Plan for
Accelerating Exploration (PACE 2020) initiative of the South Australian Government, with a final
cost of $9.5 million.
• The survey line spacing was 200 m and the survey ground clearance was 60 m. Tie lines were
flown orthogonal to the survey lines with a line spacing of 2000 m.
• The survey area (Fig. 1) was divided into 16 regions. Multiple regions were concurrently flown,
engaging multiple contractors over three tranches (see Fig. 1).
• Geoscience Australia’s procurement process was used for contractor engagement. Contracts
were therefore between GA and the suppliers.
• The survey would be used as an opportunity to review and update data specifications.
• Quality control (QC) would be managed jointly by GA and GSSA who would communicate via
the open-source online messaging system “Slack”.
• GSSA were responsible for community liaison, initial landholder notification and mail-outs.
• A series of seven survey test lines located near Whyalla, South Australia would be flown by
each platform participating in the survey, to compare acquisition systems and provide data for
an alternative method of levelling radiometric data between survey regions.
• Laser altimeter and radar altimeter data acquisition would be required from suppliers
participating in the survey to evaluate the utility of laser altimeter derived elevation models.
• The timeframe for the acquisition was 2½ years.
Department for Energy and Mining 1 Report Book 2021/00017

Figure 1. Locality map of the Gawler Craton Airborne Survey.

LOCATION
The survey area over the Gawler Craton occupies over 300,000 km2 of predominantly rural land,
comprising ~20,000 land parcels. Being an airborne survey with no ground disturbing activities,
the Government of South Australia performed the survey pursuant to Section 15 of the Mining Act
1971, in accordance with State Government geoscientific investigations. The survey region also
covers a large proportion of the Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA, Fig. 2). There are Native Title
considerations over the survey area. Cattle mustering, often using ultralight aircraft, takes place
throughout the year requiring GCAS survey contractors to liaise with station managers to negotiate
timing of acquisition to allow the two activities to be coordinated. The survey originally omitted the
continuous use zone of the WPA (red area in Fig. 2), however, this decision was later revised to
include the continuous use zone, requiring a reduction in the area acquired in the southernmost
part of the original survey. For this reason, some earlier survey images and community notices
showed the survey extending further south with the continuous use zone omitted.
Figure 2. Gawler Craton Airborne Survey and Woomera Prohibited Area.

GSSA REVIEW OF SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS
The GCAS was an opportunity to review GA’s airborne survey specifications and update them
where required. The key drivers for these changes were that the current specifications had not
been reviewed in around ten years, while acquisition systems on the airborne platforms have been
advancing and support data acquisition systems with higher sampling rates. Advances in global
positioning systems (GPS) and considerations related to maximising the benefits of the 200 m line
spacing were additional drivers. During the ASEG-PESA-AIG 2016: 25th Geophysical Conference
and Exhibition in 2016, a meeting with acquisition survey contractors was held to discuss the high-
level requirements of the planned survey. At that meeting it became clear that in consideration of
the survey size and safety, the airborne geophysics suppliers’ preferred ground clearance for
acquisition was 60 m.
SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS
Specifications for the survey are laid out in the Quotation Request which is based upon the Deeds
of Standing Offer between GA and the contractor panel. GA provides the quotation request to the
panel of suppliers, who tender for contracts. When preparing the quotation request, the GSSA had
the opportunity to add additional services or vary the specifications for the survey. Sections of the
final (Tranche 3) quotation request and equipment specification sheet are given in Appendix 1.
DIGITAL DATA DELIVERY FORMATS

The data delivery formats were fine tuned as the program rolled out, with the Tranche 3 delivery
formats being the most evolved. The final Tranche 3 data delivery formats are shown in
Appendix 2.
WHYALLA TEST LINES

The Whyalla test lines were conceived to fulfill several important functions:
• For each acquisition platform, confirm data delivery formats are correct, prior to acquisitions
beginning in the GCAS survey regions.
• Confirm that all data are being captured to specification.
• Ensure the raw multichannel airborne gamma-ray spectra are suitable for analysis using the
NASVD method. This requires that the raw measured counts in each channel have not been
digitally manipulated in any way and are a true reflection of the statistical nature of the
radioactive decay of the radioelements at their source (Appendix 3; Minty 2018).
• Compare all the airborne gamma-ray spectrometer systems used on the GCAS to ensure that
the system sensitivities are consistent across the entire survey area (Appendix 3; Minty 2018).
• Compare acquisition systems of the different platforms.

Figure 3. Gawler Craton Airborne Survey Whyalla test lines.
COMMUNITY INFORMATION AND ENGAGEMENT

LANDHOLDER NOTIFICATIONS
Each landholder was notified of the survey plan by registered mail. The mail-out included a letter
providing relevant information about the survey, plus fact sheets designed to inform the public
(Appendix 4). The fact sheet included information about the project, the PACE Program and the
Gawler Craton Community Information website, designed to enable stakeholders to receive the
latest, up-to-date information on the progress of the acquisition and project deliverables.
The notification process was performed prior to the commencement of each tranche of acquisition.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Community notices were placed in several media publications circulated throughout regional areas,
showing the location of the survey regions to be flown and during Tranches 2 and 3, those already
completed. Survey contractors maintained direct communications with pastoral land holders
during the survey. An example of a community notice is provided in Appendix 5.

GAWLER CRATON COMMUNITY INFORMATION WEBSITE
The Gawler Craton Community Information website was designed to host a near-real-time map
service providing regular updates of aircraft flight plans, information about survey completion status
and data availability (Fig. 4). Information and services provided on the webpage include:
• FAQ: Frequently asked questions answered.

• Contractor directory: Contact information for each contractor involved in the survey.
• Subscription page: Regular updates on key survey milestones were provided via email to
subscribers.
• Contact number (GA) and email (GSSA) for public queries. Queries were responded to
promptly by the GSSA Project Manager and forwarded to GA where required, or GA were
consulted in the process of replying to a query.
• Map service displaying survey regions and survey status. Survey status categories included:
not started, in progress or complete with data available. The map is click-able and provides
contractor information and links to data downloads.
At the conclusion of the surveys the web page continues to serve as a GCAS information and
download hub, providing quick and easy access to all GCAS deliverables, including value added
and merged data packages and reports (Fig. 5).
The web page is accessible at https://energymining.sa.gov.au/minerals/gcas
Figure 4. GCAS Community Information website during acquisition, showing completed

areas, flight plans for surveys in progress, information pop-ups and links.

Figure 5. The GCAS Community Information website continues to provide information and
links to data package downloads (see Appendix 8).
RESULTS
Quality control of the raw data during the acquisition is important in ensuring the data received
meets the data and acquisition specifications. The frequency for submission of periodic data was
discussed at length between GSSA and GA. Standard practice during previous, smaller surveys
required a submission of raw data after the first flight, at the mid-point of the survey and at the end
of the survey. It was determined that for GCAS, the longer period would disadvantage contractors
by delaying demobilisation while waiting for approval of data at the end of the survey, due to the
time required to perform rigorous QC on large amounts of data.
Periodic raw data supply was therefore requested on a fortnightly basis, after first flight and
Whyalla test line data was checked and approved. Daily and weekly reports were supplied to
GSSA and GA. These reports were checked and cross-referenced with data received, as part of
the quality control procedure for reconciliation between supplied and reported data and for internal
reporting on progress to date. During the first tranche, QC communications used a combination of
the open source “Slack” messaging application and email. For Tranches 2 and 3, Google Sheets
were used. The change to Google Sheets resulted in significantly improved communications, as
well as greater clarity on approvals and issue resolution.
DRAPE SURFACE
A drape surface is a ground clearance surface used by the acquisition platform pilot to maintain a
pre-computed ground clearance over variable terrain. Its rationale is to optimise safety because
the computed path flight path takes aircraft climb and descent rates over topographic features into
account (Bryant et. al. 1997), minimising the chance of pilot error when using the altimeter and
visual cues alone. With the exception of Sander Geophysics for survey Regions 3A and 3B, GCAS
contractors did not require a drape surface due to the relatively flat terrain over most of South
Australia, navigating visually and maintaining ground clearance using the altimeter.

TOTAL MAGNETIC INTENSITY (TMI)
TMI is the primary GCAS deliverable (Fig. 6). Acquisition systems for magnetics are well
established and results are consistent between platforms. Most of the GCAS TMI was sampled at
20 Hz, with two survey regions (3A and 3B) surveyed at 10Hz, the minimum sampling rate required
in the survey specifications. The difference in sampling rates did not diminish the quality of gridded
products as TMI is oversampled for gridding at 40 m cells, even at 10Hz. More samples along line
are beneficial for working with or modelling magnetic profile data. The key challenges of
processing TMI data are four-fold:
1. Ensure that time-varying changes in the earth's magnetic field are appropriately compensated
2. High-frequency noise-spike removal is performed consistently and without introducing
artefacts or producing data smoothing
3. The position of the reading is suitably calibrated to the sensor position of the aircraft and the
ground
4. Survey data is levelled and micro-levelled to a single reference plain (+/- an agreed tolerance).
Micro-levelling may require multiple attempts, until optimal parameters are found for the current set
of data. Careful processing and QC ensured that signal loss was kept to a minimum during
processing, resulting in internally consistent high-quality gridded products.

Figure 6. GCAS merged TMI grid.
Radiometric data were sampled at 1Hz by all suppliers. A 1Hz sample rate results in a nominal
sample spacing of around 70 m. Quality control used checks to ensure that the sample spacing
was consistently as close as possible to the nominal spacing. Acquisition of radiometric data
requires careful calibration of instruments and daily checks (Thorium button test) to ensure the
instruments remain within calibration parameters. The processing stream for radiometric data is
more complex than TMI and is carried out once for each of the three radioelement bands, plus total
dose (Minty et. al. 1998). Noise adjusted singular value decomposition (NASVD, Minty &
McFadden 1998) is a noise reduction process requiring additional processing to achieve the final
NASVD version of the radiometric data. Checks were made to ensure the NASVD process did not
remove too much signal. Signal loss results in loss of information in subsequent data products.

At the conclusion of the GCAS, in preparation for a merged radiometric product, all radiometric
data were reprocessed by Baigent Geosciences with the aim of maximising internal consistency
while minimising signal loss. A processing report for the radiometric reprocessing is provided in
Appendix 6. The final, merged radiometric grid is shown in Figure 7. The reprocessing resulted in
visual improvements across all survey regions, with significant improvements observed in some
survey regions (Figs 8 and 9).
Figure 7. GCAS merged radiometrics ternary image.

Figure 8. A comparison of a supplied uranium grid (left) and a reprocessed uranium grid
(right) for the same area. Both images are gridded and displayed using identical
parameters. Note the increased dynamic range and the amount of signal recovered in
the reprocessed image (right) when compared with the low count areas (dark blue on
left).

DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS
For the GCAS, two elevation products were produced, a radar altimeter derived DEM (Fig. 10) and
a laser altimeter derived DEM. Both products subtract the ground clearance from the GPS
elevation data captured during acquisition. Radar altimeter derived elevation data was sampled at
a nominal rate of 1Hz; laser altimeter derived data was sampled at a nominal rate of 1Hz. The
GPS signal is captured at a nominal rate of 1Hz. The laser altimeter on the Cessna 210 aircraft
are mounted on the underside of the wing, near the fuselage. On the Cessna 206 aircraft with no
wingtip fuel tanks, the laser altimeter was mounted near the end of the wing. On the Cessna
Caravan aircraft, the laser altimeter was mounted on the underbelly of the fuselage. The laser
beam has a very small footprint on the ground, while the radar altimeter footprint is larger. An
issue observed with some of the laser altimeter data were “pits” in the DEM that was not evident in
the radar data (Fig. 11).
The pits correlated with aircraft roll and changes in aircraft pitch and were often found in multiples
along a flight line or lines. When this occurred, the longer return time would manifest as a deeper
section of the DEM, resembling a hole. Preliminary tests were conducted to nullify laser altimeter
values where fluxgate (the instrument that captures aircraft position) values exceeded a set
threshold. This solution resulted in data loss and was not implemented, although it removed the
pits. Laser altimeter derived DEM appears somewhat smoother than the radar derived DEM.
Figure 10. GCAS merged radar derived DEM.

Figure 11. A comparison of radar altimeter derived DEM (left) and laser altimeter derived
DEM (right). The definition of major topographic features appears sharper in the laser
DEM, however the pits present in the laser altimeter product requires further
processing to eliminate and was not an issue with the radar DEM.
COLLABORATION WITH CSIRO

The GSSA collaborated with Clive Foss from CSIRO on a project focused on adding value to the
GCAS TMI data. The benefits of adding value to the data are numerous, but essentially the value
add facilitates robust geological interpretation and analysis, while saving valuable time for
explorers and analysts because the fundamental data transforms and products have been supplied
for immediate use. The project included three main components that would be applied to each of
the 16 GCAS region’s TMI data products:
• A study to enhance the expression of geological structure in TMI images.

• A study to report on relationships between the gravity and magnetic fields in each GCAS region.
• Derive depth to magnetic sources from the suite of GCAS TMI images.
A comprehensive report and related data package were produced for each of the 16 GCAS regions
describing the geology of the survey region, the magnetic field data enhancements, the magnetic
sources and in many of the reports there is a focus on a magnetic feature or region with properties
that make it unique (see Appendix 8).

Magnetic field data enhancements include:
• Reduction to Pole (RTP)

• First vertical derivative of the reduced to pole TMI
• The second vertical derivative of the reduced to pole TMI
• The total gradient of TMI
• The tilt of TMI
• The trend of TMI
• Trend consistency of TMI
• The vertical gradient of the vertical component of the magnetic field Bz (Bzz)
Gravity field data enhancements and relationships between the gravity and magnetic fields include:
• The first vertical derivative of Bouguer gravity

• Pseudogravity
• Pseudomagnetic
• Gravity and magnetic edge lineaments (worms)
MAGNETIC SOURCE MODELLING

The magnetic source depth estimations generated the following datasets:
• Magnetic traverses over selected magnetic bodies

• Magnetic depth solutions
• Basement elevation surface
• Cover thickness contours
Magnetic source solutions were computed using the “sweet spot” estimation method. The magnetic
source solutions were performed at select locations (the “sweet spots”) within the GCAS region;
those locations were hand-selected to derive the most reliable depth estimates. This results in
optimum data being inverted, generating solutions that have been carefully selected and
individually generated. Depth models were provided in point format; as 3D models in cross
sections, map images and in ModelVisionTM session files. The ModelVisionTM session files enable
further modelling to be performed. Gridded depth surfaces were interpolated from the solutions
(Fig. 12). Appendix 7 displays one set of enhanced images and source depth estimations. Sets of
data and accompanying reports for all GCAS regions are available via the South Australian
Resources Information Gateway (SARIG).

Figure 12. Interpolated magnetic source depth estimates. The sweet-spot depth estimation
technique has produced thousands of individual depth solutions (black dots).
Additional sets of estimates are shown in the Coompana region (western South
Australia) and the Delamerian region (eastern South Australia).

MERGED GRIDS
Each of the 16 GCAS regions’ TMI, radiometric and DEM data were merged into single grids
covering the entire GCAS area. The aim of the grid merges was to produce a merged result that
met the following requirements:
• Maximise internal consistency by re-gridding the located data using a single software algorithm
(IntrepidTM minimum curvature) and gridding parameters for all survey regions.
• Retain maximum signal and spatial accuracy within the merged grids by eliminating resampling
during the merge process. This was achieved by ensuring all re-gridded survey regions were
co-nodular, by precisely tying each GCAS grid’s spatial origin to a reference grid.
• Carefully check grid overlap areas to ensure overlapping cells will merge without generating
edge effects in the final merged grid, trimming edges where necessary and thereby eliminating
spurious cells at overlap edges.
The same spatial origins were used for the TMI, radiometric and DEM datasets. This ensures co-
nodularity between all three datasets. Merged TMI grids were checked by generating a sunshade
of the 1VD filter and visually checking inner survey boundaries during processing. The final TMI
grids had the same suite of image enhancements (minus the trend and trend confidence), plus
several additional enhancements, given in Table 2.
The merged radiometric grids were combined into a ternary grid, which is standard practise for
radiometric datasets. A piecewise normalised ternary image was also produced. Normalisation
provides a higher contrast image that performs well at enhancing areas with very high or very low
radiometric signal that look either black or white on a standard ternary image. The merged
elevation grids (derived from laser and radar altimeters) are provided for completeness.

DATA RELEASES
GCAS releases include contractor supplied data and reports, image enhancements, source depth
modelling and associated reports and merged grids. The sets of grids and located data products
released for GCAS is given in Table 1. Table 2 shows the enhanced grid products, vector and
models produced in collaboration with CSIRO. Table 3 lists the image enhancements applied to
the merged GCAS grids. A full set of reprocessed radiometric located data and grids was also
released as a data package. All GCAS downloads can be accessed via the GCAS Community
Information webpage or SARIG. Appendix 8 has URL links to all of the GCAS downloads.
Table 1. The set of grids, images, located data and contractors report released for each of the 16
GCAS survey regions as supplied by the GCAS contractors. This constitutes the primary
data release for each of the 16 GCAS regions.
Raw, located data, grids (.ers format), images and contractors report
Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI) Dose rate of radiometrics
Reduction to pole of TMI (RTP TMI) Potassium concentration
First vertical derivative of RTP TMI Thorium concentration
Uranium concentration
Digital elevation model (radar altimeter derived) Ternary radiometric image
Digital elevation model (laser altimeter derived) Dose rate of radiometrics (NASVD)
Potassium concentration (NASVD)
Raw TMI located data Thorium concentration (NASVD)
Raw Elevation located data Uranium concentration (NASVD)
Raw Radiometric located data Ternary radiometric image (NASVD)
Note: all grids also released in image (tif) format

all gridded data supplied in geodetic and projected
coordinate system (GDA94, MGA53) Contractor’s report
Table 2. The set of enhanced grid, image, model and vector products released for each of the 16
GCAS survey regions. This constitutes the body of work performed in collaboration with
CSIRO.
Grids (.ers format) and grid images (geotiff format)
Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI) Bouguer Gravity
Reduction to pole of TMI (RTP TMI) First vertical derivative of (pre-conditioned) Bouguer gravity
First vertical derivative of RTP TMI Total dose of radiometrics*
Second vertical derivative of RTP TMI Potassium estimated percent (radiometrics)
Total gradient of TMI (analytic signal) Thorium estimated parts per million (radiometrics)
Tilt Filter Uranium estimated parts per million (radiometrics)
Automatic gain of in-line vertical derivative of RTP TMI Ternary radiometric image (RGB of U, Th, K)
Trend of TMI Digital elevation model (radar altimeter derived)
Bzz of TMI (vertical gradient of vertical component of
TMI) Digital elevation model (laser altimeter derived)
Pseudo-gravity of RTP TMI
Model products (gocad tsurf, 3D dxf and ModelVision
Vector Products (ESRI shape format) tkm formats)
Edge vectors (worms) from magnetic and gravity data Magnetic depth-source models
Contours 3D inversion models of key magnetic anomalies
Basement surface contour vectors Apparent susceptibility attributed magnetic source point set
Lineaments and faults from magnetics and gravity Gridded depth to basement surface
Triangulated basement surface
Magnetisation direction analysis of suitable anomalies

Table 3. The set of merged GCAS magnetic, radiometric and elevation data products.
Merged TMI grids
Variable Reduction to Pole Tensor component TMI TX
First Vertical Derivative of the Reduced to Pole TMI Tensor component TMI TY
Second Vertical Derivative of the Reduced to Pole TMI Tensor component TMI TZ
Total Gradient of TMI Tensor component TMI Txx
Tilt of VRTP TMI Tensor component TMI Tyy
Bz & Bzz Tensor component TMI Txy
Pseudogravity Tensor component TMI Txz
BigT Tensor component TMI Tyz
BigE Tensor component TMI Tzz
TMI Vecto Residual Magnetic Intensity Automatic Gain Control of the VRTP TMI
Merged Radiometric Grids
Radiometric dose Uranium parts per million
Thorium parts per million Potassium percent
Ternary Radiometrics image Piece-wise normalised ternary radiometrics image
Merged elevation grids
Radar altimeter derived DEM Laser altimeter derived DEM
DISCUSSION
SURVEY FIELD PROGRAM
The GCAS field program was well planned and executed. The effort taken in ensuring all
landholders personally received written information about the acquisition program, coupled with the
GCAS web page and open, transparent communications ensured stakeholders were well informed
through the entire survey process, including delivery of final data which completed the cycle and
left no questions unanswered.
Overall, the program received very few enquiries from landholders and of those received, many
were a genuine interest in the acquisition program aims as opposed to formal complaints, of which
there were none. This suggests that the material provided in the mail-outs and on the webpage
satisfied the most common questions landholders had, with the remainder managed by direct
communication. The airborne survey suppliers, whose contact information was provided through
the GCAS web page developed a rapport with landholders and were able to adjust their survey
flight plans to ensure minimal disturbance to on-ground activities in one-to-one communications
with landholders during the acquisition program.
QUALITY CONTROL
Managing the quality control of six concurrent surveys required three personnel (one full-time and
two part-time) to ensure all QC processes were completed efficiently and in a timely manner. This
was in addition to services provided by GA, estimated to be one part-time person. A visit to the
base of operations for the three suppliers during tranche 1 was very informative and helped
reinforce GSSA’s survey expectations with the airborne survey contractor field teams. It also
helped to put faces to the names of people we were dealing with via electronic means for the
duration of the survey. Subsequent visits with field teams during tranches two and three would
have been equally beneficial but did not happen due to the demands of the QC and general
business activities of the GSSA team.
QC processes became more challenging when transitioning from acquisition only (tranche 1) to
quality control of Tranche 1 deliverables in tandem with Tranche 2 acquisition and subsequent QC
of tranche 2 deliverables in tandem with tranche 3 acquisition. This was due to increased workload
of QC personnel concurrently managing multiple acquisitions and deliverables. One of the aims of

performing QC on TMI levelling and microlevelling is to ensure that enough signal is removed
during microlevelling to resolve corrugation effects without removing more signal than necessary,
which could erase subtle geological features. This is often an iterative process and can take
multiple attempts to produce an optimal result. QC is a process of replicating the processing by
the contractor or carefully comparing the contractor’s pre-microlevelling signal with the post
microlevelling signal and determining if the signal removed during microlevelling contains real
geological features. There were several occasions where repeated processing was required to
obtain a suitable result.
SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS
The final survey specifications were designed to provide high quality TMI data, with the 20Hz
sampling rate optimal. Aircraft speed does not become an issue for TMI acquisition when
sampling rates are more than 10Hz, because at this rate TMI is oversampled when gridded at 1/5th
of the line spacing (40 m). For gamma ray spectrometry, sampling rates are much lower (1Hz) and
aircraft speed does become a critical factor in obtaining an optimal density of samples along flight
lines. This is a limitation of the equipment/platform combination. Consequently, the main reason a
number of lines needed to be re-flown during the survey acquisition was due to over-speed
resulting in sub-optimal radiometric sample spacing. This is also the case with elevation data, but
the latter is not as stringent a requirement as the TMI and radiometric data. Dead-time is also a
factor in radiometric acquisition. Instruments with no “dead-time” were preferred, but not
considered mandatory.
During acquisition a ground mag station near the base of operations acquires data for the purpose
of diurnal removal from the processed data. The GA specifications require base station magnetic
data to be acquired at 1Hz or faster. Subtracting the diurnal variations without significant
smoothing of the base station data imparts the high frequency shape to the airborne data, which is
tantamount to adding noise to the data (even though one is subtracting the base station data).
A 1Hz base station sampling rate is adequate, and this would also require significant filtering
before using it to remove diurnal effects from the airborne magnetic data, so a smoothed diurnal
signal is removed from the acquired data.
WHYALLA TEST LINES

The Whyalla test lines added significant utility to our ability to enhance the internal consistency
within the radiometric acquisition. Differences in radioelement means between survey contractors’
aircraft along the Whyalla flight lines highlighted possible calibration issues or atmospheric effects
and facilitated a continuous improvement during the acquisition program.
The over-water component of the test lines provides background that can be subtracted from the
signal to improve data quality. The test line data provides additional options for processing and
merging the radiometric data. Understanding the unexpected differences in radioelement means
between platforms coupled with a desire to produce the highest possible quality of gridded
radiometric products were instrumental in driving a reprocessing of the radiometric data from the
raw data, resulting in an improved signal retention and clearer images that fit well with the
underlying geology and topography, as shown in Figures 8 and 9.
Using the Whyalla test-line TMI data, TMI platforms were directly compared to evaluate system
noise. Signal processing of the Whyalla line data to high pass filter the highest frequency data
from the signal was used to evaluate and compare magnetic noise generated by each platform.
Using this method, frequencies that cannot be attributed to ground features (due to the 60 m
ground clearance from the acquisition platform) were separated from the signal and this high
frequency data was assumed to be generated by the acquisition platform. All GCAS contractor
suppled data met system noise specifications.
Due to the short time taken for the suppliers to acquire the Whyalla test line data, it was a difficult
proposition to thoroughly QC and evaluate the results from the test lines within the agreed 24

hours of suppliers submitting the data to their mobilising to the GCAS survey region. In practise,
GSSA approved suppliers to commence acquisition over their survey block on the understanding
that any minor issues found would be rectified during the acquisition.
GRID MERGE
The merging of the GCAS grids resulted in a near-seamless integrated product. A sunshade of the
vertical gradient was used to visually evaluate the effectiveness of the grid merge result. Several
attempts were required until a satisfactory result was achieved. The main issue that confounded a
seamless merge was the number of overlapping flight lines where adjacent GCAS regions were
flown in the same direction. The survey specifications required two overlapping lines where blocks
overlapped and were acquired in the same flight line orientation, as this was considered sufficient
to successfully merge adjacent grids. For the 200 m line spaced GCAS data, two lines were found
to be insufficient, with edges in magnetically quiet areas not merging perfectly. Conversely, ends
of lines overlapped for a distance of around 1 km, and in these cases the merge process
completed with no noticeable edge busts.
It is concluded through observations during the grid-merge process that four overlapping lines
would result in a more seamless merge where flight lines through adjacent surveys are flown in the
same orientation. Further improvement may be achieved by ensuring that overlapping flight lines
are flown at the same aircraft heading, although this was not tested. The optimal result was
achieved after visually inspecting the overlap areas (shaded 1VD images) and manually trimming
the grid edges where significant edge mismatches were observed.
Figure 13 displays a merged GCAS vertical gradient image at the junction of four GCAS survey
regions; two flown in a north-south direction and two flown in an east-west direction. What is
evident in the image is that there is a directional bias imparted by the minimum curvature gridding
algorithm that produces a texture in the high frequency data orthogonal to the flight line direction.
This effect is more noticeable in magnetically “quiet” areas. Despite the bias, the IntrepidTM grid
merge was able to merge the grids without abrupt boundary effects or busts. Additional research
is required to produce a gridding algorithm that does not introduce a directional bias in the final
gridded product.

Figure 13. First vertical derivative at a junction of four adjacent GCAS regions, illustrating
minimum curvature gridding bias orthogonal to flight-line direction. The two
regions on the left were flown in a north-south direction. The two regions on the right
were flown in an east-west direction. Each side shows a gridding bias in the high
frequency data, orthogonal to the flight lines.

INTEGRATING GCAS DATA IN A STATE-WIDE GRID MERGE
Conventional processing of 200 m line-spaced data results in grids of 40 m cell size. When
compared with previous 400 m line-spaced data gridded at 80 m cell size, this is a fourfold
improvement in resolution (four 40 m cells occupy the same areas as one 80 m cell), despite being
a twofold improvement in line spacing. In preparation for state-wide imagery with an 80 m cell
size, the GCAS data were resampled to 80 m. To evaluate and compare the difference between
resampling 40 m data and gridding to 80 m, the GCAS data were gridded to 80 m. Both the
resampled and re-gridded GCAS data displayed significantly more detail than the 400 m line
spaced data gridded at 80 m (Fig. 14), with the 40 m grid resampled to 80 m displaying higher
detail than the 200 m line-spaced data gridded to 80 m.
Figure 14. A comparison of 1VD of 200 m line-spaced GCAS gridded to 40 m cells; 80 m

cells; resampled from 40 m to 80 m cells and previous 400 m line-spaced data
gridded to 80 m cells. Image A shows the GCAS 200 m line spaced data, gridded to
40 m cells. Image B shows the GCAS 200 m line spaced data, gridded to 80 m cells.
Image C shows the GCAS 200 m line spaced data gridded to 40 m cells, then
resampled to 80 m cells. Image D shows the previous 400 m line spaced data, gridded
to 80 m. As expected, the 40 m cell size data (A) displays the highest level of detail,
the 40 m grid resampled to 80 m (C) displays the next highest level of detail,

surpassing the detail in the GCAS data gridded to 80 m (B), while the 400 m line
spaced data gridded to 80 m displays the lowest level of detail.
DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS

Digital elevation models acquired during a TMI/Radiometric survey are products derived from
altimeter and GPS positioning instruments necessary for navigation and geo-location. The
altimeter and GPS data spacing acquired along line is up to 70 m or more if there are bad signal
returns (observed in the case of the laser altimeter). GPS errors can occur if there are any GPS
signal issues during acquisition and these can propagate into subsequent elevation errors. The
located data is interpolated along the flight lines during processing before being interpolated in the
gridding process between 200 m line spacing. For these reasons, DEMs produced in this way are
no substitute for lidar or other DEM techniques that capture more concentrated point data prior to
interpolation.
Despite this, visual comparisons of the GCAS DEM grids with shuttle radar topography mission
(SRTM) grids suggested that the GCAS data showed better definition of on-ground features in
areas where there were infrequent changes in topography but was clearly lacking in rugged areas
where elevation changes were numerous or changed across short distances. There is potential to
improve the GCAS laser and radar grid products by integrating them with SRTM or other elevation
data, using a co-kriging interpolation or other technique that can combine multiple data sources.
This has potential for future research and development within the GSSA.
COLLABORATION WITH CSIRO

The collaboration with CSIRO received praise from industry and other Australian geological
surveys. The image enhancements and magnetic source modelling have added considerable
value to the base TMI products, enabling mineral explorers and data analysts to utilise the
enhanced data immediately upon downloading the packages, which contain a consistently
produced suite of industry standard image analysis products, along with magnetic-source-depth
analysis products. This has the potential of considerable cost saving for explorers who would
otherwise need to reprocess and prepare images for analysis. These products are supplied with
integrated gravity products facilitating joint interpretation of magnetics and gravity, essential for
IOCG studies over the Gawler Craton.
Production of these enhancements began as soon as the first tranche of GCAS was complete and
the primary data was received by GSSA, enabling data releases in completed survey areas to
proceed while other survey areas were being acquired. A report book for each GCAS region was
released with the image enhancements. The reports focused primarily on the image
enhancements and depth modelling, while also highlighting particular magnetic features of interest
within each GCAS region, such as the Gairdner Dolerite swarm that runs through many GCAS
regions (Foss et.al. 2020 (1)) and Mount Toondina in Region 2B (Foss et. al. 2020 (2)).
MAGNETIC SOURCE MODELLING

The GCAS field data enhancements and magnetic source modelling were well received by the
private sector and influenced the GSSA in providing similar suites of data enhancements to other
regional and state-wide TMI releases. The GCAS magnetic depth data provides the foundation for
a statewide set of enhanced TMI images and expansion of sweet-spot depth estimations to other
parts of South Australia (Fig. 12), making it a dynamic dataset that will grow as additional GSSA
project areas are identified. The Delamerian MinEx CRC project provided the impetus to continue
the source depth modelling in the east of South Australia; the Coompana drilling program in the
state’s west prompted a set of source depth estimates in that region. Future GSSA projects will
continue to supplement the dataset, now released as part of the GSSA depth to basement data
package, which is updated regularly.

DATA PACKAGES AND SUBSEQUENT RELEASES
The number of data package releases for the GCAS has been considerable due to the size and
scale of the project (see Appendix 8). The approach taken by the Department was to release data
for each GCAS region as soon as possible after acquisition to facilitate early access by
stakeholders and then follow up with the enhanced data and depth modelling releases before a
final release of reprocessed and merged regional datasets. The releases cater for the following
use cases:
• Analysis of individual grids for each GCAS region: GCAS contractor supplied data
packages/enhanced data packages (provides extended set of image enhancements)
• Analysis using enhanced TMI images and model products: Enhanced data
packages/merged TMI grid package
• Analysis of merged GCAS data (Radiometric, TMI, DEM): Merged GCAS packages
• Reprocessing of located data: GCAS contractor supplied data packages/reprocessed
radiometric data package
• Depth to basement analyses: Enhanced data packages/statewide depth to basement package
(a separate package to GCAS releases providing regional magnetic-source depth data).
CONCLUSIONS
The GCAS has delivered on its commitment to redefine best practice across survey activities
including landholder communications, survey specifications, quality assurance, data processing,
value adding and data delivery.
Airborne survey contractors operating in Australia are world class operators taking great pride in
their work and products. They offered exceptional quality and value to the Department for their
work. Through a process of regular dialogue with suppliers and a reasonably fast turnaround for
quality control, a high standard of data quality was achieved.
The GCAS has leveraged the internet and technology to effectively engage with stakeholders and
provide timely information and data, before, during and after the survey acquisition.
Updated technical survey specifications, rigorous QC workflows and careful processing of the data
have led to improvements in the quality of the final deliverables, providing the highest possible
level of detail within the gridded datasets, benefiting exploration targeting and future regional
survey programs. The Whyalla test lines added to the project’s capacity to improve data quality
and internal consistency of gridded products.
The collaboration with CSIRO resulted in value-added data and magnetic-source modelling that
add significantly to the utility and value of the data, while establishing a high standard for future
regional magnetic acquisition programs.
The GCAS team have succeeded in the fundamental aim of the GCAS project, by providing
mineral explorers in South Australia with deliverables that improve their ability to effectively target
mineral systems, while saving them considerable time and effort with the knowledge that a high
degree of care has gone into providing data and products that should require little to no
reprocessing for most applications of the data.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The GCAS Project Team gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following people and
contracted suppliers who contributed to the Gawler Craton Airborne Survey:
Mark Baigent (Baigent Geosciences); Brian Minty (Minty Geophysics); Clive Foss (CSIRO);
MagSpec Airborne Surveys; Thomson Aviation; Sander Geophysics; GPX Surveys; Matthew
Hutchens (GSSA, Geoscience Australia); David McInnes (Geoscience Australia), Aki Nakamura
(Geoscience Australia), Murray Richardson (Geoscience Australia), Mike Barlow (Geoscience
Australia); Geoscience Australia's Contract and Finance Teams; Ted Tyne (GSSA); Jonathan
Irvine (GSSA); Ursula Michael (GSSA); George Gouthas (GSSA); Tim Keeping (GSSA).
The authors would also like to thank Mike Barlow (GA), Rohan Cobcroft (GSSA), Brian Minty
(Minty Geophysics), Clive Foss (CSIRO), Mark Baigent (Baigent Geosciences), Matthew Hutchens
(Southern Geoscience Consultants), Jonathan Irvine and George Gouthas for reviewing this report.

REFERENCES
Minty, BRS et al. 1998. Multichannel processing for airborne gamma‐ray spectrometry. Geophysics 63
(6):1971 http://dx.doi.org/10.1190/1.1444491
Minty, B and McFadden P 1998. Improved NASVD smoothing of airborne gamma–ray spectra. Exploration
Geophysics 29:3-4, 516-523, doi: 10.1071/EG998516
Foss CA, Gouthas G, Wise T, Katona LF, Hutchens MF, Reed GD and Heath PJ 2020. Gawler Craton
Airborne Geophysical Survey Region 9B, Kingoonya – Enhanced geophysical imagery and magnetic
source depth models, Report Book 2020/00018. Department for Energy and Mining, South Australia,
Adelaide.
Foss CA, Gouthas G, Katona LF, Hutchens MF, Reed GD and Dutch R 2020. Gawler Craton Airborne
Geophysical Survey Region 2B, Warrina – Enhanced geophysical imagery and magnetic source depth
models, Report Book 2020/00002. Department for Energy and Mining, South Australia, Adelaide.

APPENDIXES
APPENDIX 1. GCAS SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS AND EXCERPTS
FROM GCAS QUOTATION REQUEST (COURTESY OF GEOSCIENCE
AUSTRALIA)

QUOTATION REQUEST
Airborne Magnetic, Radiometric & Digital Elevation Model Surveys
Multiple areas; Gawler Craton, SA
(South Australian PACE Copper Initiative, Airborne Geophysics Component Stage 3)
This Quotation Request (QR) refers to the acquisition, processing and supply of Airborne Magnetic
Data, Gamma-Ray Data and Elevation Data (“the Services”) for five Survey Blocks that form the third
tranche of the Plan for Accelerating Exploration (PACE) Gawler Craton Airborne Geophysical Survey
Program.
These five survey blocks are “Stage Three” of the Gawler Craton Airborne Geophysical Survey
Program and are summarised in Figure 1.1 (survey locality diagram), Table 1.1 (list of areas, survey
design parameters) and Table 1.2 (survey block boundary points) included in Attachment 1 of this QR
and in the accompanying Quotation Response Form. These survey blocks are the final areas to be
surveyed and there will be no subsequent Stages.
The QR consists of this document and the accompanying files that are listed in Attachment 8. All
queries regarding this QR should be directed to Geoscience Australia (GA); relevant contact details
are in Attachment 8.
It is anticipated that Stage Three surveys will be flown in the period from February 2018 to July 2018
in areas that are suitable for flying during this period. In each Survey Area, no more Survey Blocks
will be flown concurrently than there is infrastructure sufficient to support the required number of
survey crews, however suppliers who currently have infrastructure and survey crews committed to the
Gawler Craton Airborne Survey will not be penalised.
Respondents are requested to submit a quotation for each individual Survey Block for which the
respondent would be prepared to receive an offer of contract as described in more detail below under
the heading ‘Quotation Response Procedure’. There is no a priori ordering of priority or importance
for each area — they should be regarded as equal for the purposes of quoting.
Depending on the availability of funds and the prices quoted by respondents, offers of contract to
Respondents may be made by GA for any of the Survey Blocks for which quotations have been
received. Offers of contract will be subject to the conditions indicated below under the heading
‘Quotation Response and Contract Award Conditions’ in addition to all conditions in any Deed of
Standing Offer Agreement between GA and the Respondent.
Note that the locations in Figure 1.1 (and in the corresponding outline files) and the survey size
estimates provided in Table 1.1 are approximate and designed to be sufficient for the purposes of
making an appropriate quotation bid. Precise survey boundary coordinates (and corresponding survey
size) will be specified in the offer of contract made for each Survey Block; however, the survey size
will not differ materially from the estimate in the QR.
The Quotation Response and any accompanying Attachments are to be emailed to Geoscience
Australia and must be received in the inbox of mineralstenders@ga.gov.au by 2.00pm Tuesday 30th
January 2018 (Australian Eastern Daylight Time).
Portions of the Survey Blocks fall within the Woomera Prohibited Area; consequently, acquisition has
to be planned around the restricted entry times. The restricted entry areas are displayed in Figure 2.1
and exclusion dates for financial year 2017-2018 are listed in Attachment 2.
Successful applicants will be required to continually provide their proposed acquisition flight plans
with a weekly rolling window as a part of routine reporting. Flight plans are required in ESRI Shape
(preferred) or MapInfo TAB file format. This information will be posted on the South Australian
Government’s Gawler Craton Airborne Geophysical Survey website, accessible to all external
stakeholders, enabling monitoring of the survey progress.
To ensure integrity of data across the entire Gawler Craton Survey it is a requirement that the
comprehensive raw file data (ie raw edited ELEVATION, raw edited RADIOMETRIC data, raw
edited MAGNETIC & raw DIURNAL (magnetic) data) be supplied in Australian Central Standard
Time (ACST = UTC +9.5 hrs).
To ensure integrity and quality of the final elevation products, contractors are required to fly the
survey at a nominal ground clearance of 60m using real time instrument altitude control and equip a
laser altimeter. Drape surfaces are not to be used for elevation control. Contractors must make every
effort within the bounds of safety considerations to adhere to the nominal ground clearance. Re-flight
of line segments (survey/tie) significantly above the nominal ground clearance for 1000m or more will
be required at the contractor’s expense in the absence of justification acceptable to GA and/or its
representative.
To ensure the integrity and high quality of data over the entire Gawler Craton Survey nominal sample
spacing and reference aircraft speeds have been included in Attachment 5 of this QR. The nominal
sample spacing of data acquired at 1 Hz is 70m. Contractors must make every effort within the
bounds of safety considerations to acquire data at the nominal sample spacing. Re-flight of line
segments (survey/tie) where the sample spacing is significantly greater than the nominal sample
spacing for 1000m or more will be required at the contractor’s expense in the absence of justification
acceptable to GA and/or its representative.
To ensure the integrity of the radiometric data and enable a seamless integration/merge/stitch across
all the data collection blocks, the following conditions will be required to be adhered to by all the
successful applicants:
• All tendering airborne platforms must have been calibrated at the Carnamah Radiometric Test
Range (WA) within 12 months of the date of mobilisation to commence the survey data
acquisition. The calibration test range must be surveyed with a calibrated 256-channel
portable ground spectrometer on the same day as the calibration flights are undertaken. If a
supplier wishes to bid with a system that does not have a valid calibration one must be
completed prior to mobilisation to the survey area. Sensitivity and height attenuation
coefficients should be estimated from calibration flights over the Carnamah Radiometric
Calibration Range (WA).
• All successful tenders must supply to Geoscience Australia (GA), prior to survey
commencement, a calibration report for the successfully tendered airborne radiometric
platform/system. Some of the calibration parameters that are estimated from survey data may
be supplied at a later time once sufficient data are acquired to allow robust estimates.
• Prior to the commencement of any data acquisition, all successful systems will fly a set of test
lines across an area approximately 30km south of the Whyalla airstrip. The proposed survey
consists of 7 East-West orientated traverses spaced 200m apart with a 60m mean terrain
clearance. The traverses are 75km long for a total survey length of approximately 526 line
kilometres (Figure 4.1 & Table 4.1 in Attachment 4). The test lines must be flown in a single
flight after midday local time in dry conditions. The costs incurred to undertake this test line
flying should be included in the mobilisation component of the QR. Exemption from flying
the Whyalla Test Lines will be given to airborne platforms that have flown the test lines
within the previous 12 months and have calibrated systems that have undergone no changes.
• Prior to commencing acquisition of any survey data, it will be a requirement that raw edited
data from the Whyalla Test Flight be supplied to GA and that GA and/or its representative
must accept that the test line data meets GA specifications. Specifically, for the gamma-ray
spectrometric data the raw multichannel spectra must be suitable for analysis using the
NASVD method. This requires that the raw measured counts in each channel have not been
digitally manipulated in any way and are a true reflection of the statistical nature of the
radioactive decay of the radioelements at their source. The test lines will also be used to
compare all successful spectrometer systems to ensure that the system sensitivities are
consistent across the entire Gawler survey area. GA will pay standby rates to the survey
supplier from one business day after the acknowledgement of successful download of the data
by GA until such time that GA accepts the data as being within specification or notifies the
supplier that the data does not meet specification. If the data does not meet specification,
documentation detailing as to why it is deficient will be presented to the survey supplier for
rectification.
• If changes to the spectrometric data acquisition equipment are made, the system must, in the
first instance, be re-calibrated at the Carnamah calibration range (as above) and re-fly the
Whyalla (SA) test lines.
• If there is a significant time break in data acquisition (28 days or more), the last 1800 seconds
of data collected prior to the break in data acquisition must be re-collected. These data, in raw
edited format, are to be submitted to GA and/or its representative for acceptance prior to the
re-commencement of survey data acquisition. GA will pay standby rates to the survey
supplier from one business day after the acknowledgement of successful download of the data
by GA until such time that GA accepts the data as being within specification or notifies the
supplier that the data does not meet specification. If the data does not meet specification,
documentation detailing as to why it is deficient will be presented to the survey supplier for
rectification.
• Noise reduction on the raw gamma-ray spectra will be via NASVD and applied to each flight
of data. NASVD on several flights at a time will only be permitted where NASVD by flight
can be shown to be deficient, and only with the written permission of GA. Where a flight is of
a short duration, the survey data supplier may, with the written permission of GA, combine the
data with the previous flight so as to ensure a minimum of 5000 spectra are used for each
NASVD analysis.
• The contractor must advise GA how many spectral components are used in the spectral
smoothing for each flight.
• The radiometric data must be sampled at 1 Hz and the nominal spectrometer sample distance
is 70m.
Prior to survey commencement laser altimeter calibration test flights will be required. These will take
place at Whyalla Airstrip and resulting calibration information must be supplied to GA and/or its
representative. The expense of the laser calibration should be included in the mobilisation costs.
Exemption from flying the Whyalla Airstrip laser altimeter calibration will be given to airborne
platforms that have flown the Whyalla Airstrip laser altimeter calibration within the previous 12
months and have calibrated systems that have undergone no changes. If discrepancies between
calibration information and supplied data become apparent during the survey period, another
calibration flight may be required at the contractors’ expense but may be performed at the most
convenient airstrip.
Reporting
All successful applicants will, from the Date of Execution of the Contract to the Contract Completion
Date, supply the following reports to the Geological Survey of South Australia (GSSA) & GA.
Daily Update Report
The daily report can be in email format and is to be within 24hrs of the completion of the reported
days flying. It will contain the following information:
Attribute Description
Company Name Name of the company acquiring data
Date Date of the data acquisition in report
Survey Name Name of the survey block
Project Number Geoscience Australia project number
Company Job Number Job number assigned by company
Survey Total Km Total line Km of survey block
Aircraft Type Type of Aircraft
Aircraft Registration Number Registration number of aircraft used
Field Bases(s) Location(s) of the survey aircraft
Survey Crew Members Names and Roles of the survey crew
Location(s) of the survey crew Location(s) of the survey crew
Diurnal Activity Comment Comment on diurnal activity during acquisition
Weather Comment Temp, wind (speed & direction), precipitation
Daily Production Table of individual flights performed during
reporting period including Flight Numbers,
Accepted Total Km, % of total Km (per flight),
Number of New Lines, Total Ne Km, Accepted
New Km, Total Re-fly Km, Accepted Re-fly Km
Subtotal of Accepted Line Km Combined total of accepted line km from each
flight completed during reporting period
Total Accepted Line Km for the Survey to Date Combined total accepted line km for the survey to
date
% of Survey Completed % of total line km completed and accepted
Line km remaining Line km to complete the flying of the survey
Re-fly Flags Table of individual line segments flagged for re-fly
from reporting period including Line Number,
Start Fiducial of Re-fly Segment, End Fiducial of
Re-fly Segment, Line Km of Re-fly Segment,
Issue Causing Re-fly, Proposed Re-fly Date
Re-fly Completed Table of individual line segments re-flown during
reporting period including Line Number, Start
Tie/Survey Line, End Tie/Survey Line, Line Km of
Re-flown Segment
Subtotal of Accepted Re-flown Line Km Combined total accepted line km of re-flown line
segments completed during reporting period
Total of Accepted Re-flown Line Km for the Combined total accepted re-flown km for the
Survey to Date survey to date.
Thorium Button Test Chart Table of AM & PM Thorium button test results
including Thorium Peak Channel Number,
Thorium Peak Resolution, Raw Thorium (CPS),
Background (CPS), Background Corrected
Thorium (CPS), Background Corrected Thorium
Running Average (CPS), % Deviation from
Background Corrected Thorium
Thorium Button Test Graph Graph of Thorium Button Test Deviation % (Y-
axis) v Date (X-axis), with series for both AM and
PM test results
Low Level Test Line (spectrometer) Deviation Graph of Low Level Test Flight Th Deviation %
Graph (Y-axis) v Date (X-axis), with series for both AM
and PM test flight results.
Thorium Calibration Results Graph Graph of %FWHM and Thorium Peak Channel
Number on Y-axis vs date (x-axis)
Ground Calibration Position Check Plot Plot of Ground Calibration Position Check
(marker showing average position)
Diurnal Activity Graph Graph of (raw) Diurnal Magnetic Field recorded
by the base station in nT (y-axis) v Time (X-axis)
To aid uniformity a daily reporting template will be provided to each successful applicant. This
template is an exemplar of expected daily reporting and is intended as a guide. It is not a requirement
that this template be used, but the reports provided to GA should contain the required information.
Weekly Progress Reports

The weekly report will contain the following information:
Attribute Description
Company Name Name of the company acquiring data
Dates Date of report, start date of weekly period, end
date of weekly period
Survey Name Name of the survey block
Project Number Geoscience Australia project number
Company Job Number Job number assigned by company
Survey Total Km Total line Km of survey block
Aircraft Aircraft type and registration number/call-sign,
hours since last maintenance, hours until next
maintenance
Aircraft Field Bases(s) Summary of location(s) of the survey aircraft
Survey Crew Members Names and roles of the survey crew
Location(s) of the survey crew Summary of location(s) of the survey crew
Weekly production Summary Listed by Date with daily flight numbers, lines
flown, line km flown, line km scrubbed, line km
accepted, scrubbed/accepted adjustments from
daily reports, Total accepted line km flown to
date, remaining, comments to add clarity to the
detail. Lines flown (total to date) are required in
ESRI Shape format.
Line km for the week Total line km for the week including a table
listing the line numbers flown, line lengths, line
directions, flight numbers and flight dates.
Line km for the survey to date Up to date total line km for the survey
Line km remaining Line km to complete the flying of the survey
Stand-by days Days of no flying due to circumstances beyond
the control of the Contractor. Listed by Date
with number of days, reason for calling stand-by
and km flown on that day
Weekly Diurnal Activity (IPS) Listed by date & line number with fiducial range
affected, km to be re-flown with start and end,
when re-flown and include comment/reason for
each affected line
Flight Line Deviation Listed by Date & line number with fiducial range
when re-flown and include description of the
reason why the line has deviated off course by
more than the nominal deviation specifications
for each line
Speed Specification Listed by date & line number with fiducial range
reason why the aircraft speed has varied by
more than the nominal speed specifications
Terrain Clearance Listed by date & line number with fiducial range
reason why the line is out of nominal terrain
clearance specifications
Magnetic Noise Specification Listed by date & line number with fiducial range
reason why the noise on the recorded
magnetometer data has varied by more than the
nominal magnetic noise specifications
Thorium Button Test To ensure the system resolution and sensitivity
has remained constant throughout the survey a
record in graphical form is to be supplied. The
graph will display the percentage change in the
running average of background corrected
thorium counts versus flight number.
Low Level Test Line To monitor the effects of ground moisture and
ensure that the spectrometer system is
functioning correctly. A record in tabular and
graphical format is to be supplied. The table will
record:
flight number,
date,
The background and height-corrected thorium
window count rates and the percentage change
from the mean of the height-corrected thorium
window count rates. The graph will display the
percentage change in the running average of
background corrected thorium counts along the
test line versus flight number
Ground Calibration Position Check To ensure the navigation system is functioning
correctly. The graph will display an XY plot of
northing versus easting to illustrate the
consistency of the position of the aircraft when in
a stationary position for each thorium source
check. Results from all tests should be plotted.
Magnetometer Compensation Flight Results Results of the compensation of the
magnetometer data for the magnetic effects of
the aircraft are to be recorded in tabular and
graphical format. The table will record:
Aircraft Call Sign,
Compensation Flight Date,
Compensation Area Location,
The flight number range the compensation
results will be applied to,
Compensation Flight Altitude AGL.
Standard Deviation of the Uncompensated Total
Field,
Standard Deviation of the Compensated Total
Field,
Improvement Ratio,
Vector Norm.
The graph will display (i) a plot of the recorded
XYZ component data from the fluxgate
magnetometer in the four cardinal directions; (ii)
a plot of the raw and compensated
magnetometer data in the four cardinal
directions; (iii) a record of the diurnal activity
during each compensation flight.
Flight Path Map To demonstrate progress to date on lines flown
in the survey at a scale that encompasses the
entire survey area on 1 A4 page.
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Image To demonstrate progress to date and how
individual flights contribute to the entire DEM
dataset collected to date that encompasses the
entire survey area on 1 A4 page
Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI) Image To demonstrate progress to date and how
individual flights contribute to the entire TMI
dataset collected to date that encompasses the
entire survey area on 1 A4 page
Total Count radiometric Image To demonstrate progress to date and how

individual flights contribute to the entire
Radiometric Total Count dataset collected to
date that encompasses the entire survey area
on 1 A4 page
Weekly Diurnal Summary A plot for each production flight of the total
magnetic field intensity in nT, the gradient (5nt in
5 minutes) of the total field intensity and the
deviation from any chord 1 minute long.
Radiometric Spectrum for each Flight To ensure the spectral drift during the course of
a production flight is monitored a graphical
display for each production flight of count rate
versus channel number.
Proposed Survey Areas/ flight lines for the The proposed acquisition flight plans with the
following week following seven days of acquisition. Flight plans
are required in ESRI Shape format. This
information will be posted on the South
Australian Government’s Gawler Craton
Airborne Geophysical Survey website,
accessible to all external stakeholders, enabling
monitoring of the survey progress.
To aid uniformity a weekly reporting template will be provided to each successful applicant. This
template is an exemplar of expected daily reporting and is intended as a guide. It is not a requirement
that this template be used, but the reports provided to GA should contain the required information.
Data Processing Reports
After completion of data acquisition, weekly reports regarding the status of data processing are
required. When reporting on data processing, the report must contain details on the current status of
data processing only.
Data Processing
Magnetic Data Processing Status (a) Diurnal variations removed
(b) IGRF subtracted
(c) Tie line levelled
(d) Micro-levelling (where necessary)
(e) Preliminary Grids to GA
(f) Final Grids to GA
Radiometric Data Processing Status (a) Raw spectra NASVD smoothed
(b) Dead-time correction applied
(c) Cosmic, aircraft and atmospheric radon
backgrounds removed
(d) Stripping corrections applied
(e) Height corrections applied
(f) Tie line levelled
(g) Micro-levelling (where necessary)
(h) Conversion to ground equivalent
concentrations
(i) Preliminary Grids to GA
(j) Final Grids to GA
DEM Processing Status (a) Ground elevation corrected for the
vertical separation between the GPS
antenna and the radio altimeter antenna
(b) Tie line leveled
(c) Micro-levelled where necessary
(d) Geoid-ellipsoid separation values applied
to the ground elevation data
(e) Final elevation data are checked against
existing topographic maps and spot
heights
(f) Preliminary Grids to GA
(g) Final Grids to GA
Periodic Supply of Data

From the Date of Execution of the Contract to the Contract Completion Date, data (raw edited) are to
be provided by the Contractor to GA and/or its representatives on a periodic basis.
The “period” is to be fortnightly (2 weekly). Requests for data outside of this period may also be
made at any time by GA.
The Contractor is to provide all data collected within the period that has not been previously supplied.
The “raw edited data” are to be supplied in digital format as specified in Attachment 6 of this QR.
Survey Test Area Whyalla
Figure 4.1 Location of Airborne Survey test area.

Whyalla airstrip is in the north east corner of the figure highlighted by the magenta star.
Table 4.1: List of proposed flight line traverses (GDA94

Geodetic).
Line West Longitude (°) Latitude (°) East Longitude (°) Latitude (°)
100070 136.746093 -33.330604 137.551397 -33.330604
100060 136.746129 -33.332407 137.551449 -33.332407
100050 136.746165 -33.334209 137.551502 -33.334209
100040 136.746201 -33.336012 137.551554 -33.336012
100030 136.746237 -33.337815 137.551607 -33.337815
100010 136.746273 -33.339617 137.551659 -33.339617
100010 136.746309 -33.34142 137.551712 -33.34142
Nominal Sample Spacing
Nominal Sample Spacing and Maximum Accepted Sample Spacing vs Aircraft Speed
To ensure high quality data are acquired consistently across the entire Gawler Craton Airborne Survey
there is a no minimal sample spacing as shown below in Table 5.1. The sample spacing relates
directly to aircraft speed and these speeds have been calculated and are included in the tables below.
Contractors must make every effort within the bounds of safety considerations to acquire data at the
nominal sample spacing. Any segments of lines longer than 1000m with sample spacing greater than
the maximum accepted and without justification acceptable to GA and/or its representatives will be
required to be re-flown at the contractors’ expense. The maximum acceptable ground speed for the
Gawler Craton Airborne Survey is 80 ms-1 (156 knots).
Table 5.1 Gawler Craton Airborne Survey Nominal Sample Spacing and Aircraft Speed
Ground Speed to
Nominal Sample Ground Speed to maintain Ground Speed to maintain
Sampling Frequency maintain Nominal
Spacing at this nominal Sample Spacing at Nominal Sample Spacing at
(Hz) Sample Spacing at this
Frequency (m) this Frequency (ms-1) this Frequency (km/h)
Frequency (knots)
1 70 70 252 136
10 7 70 252 136
20 3.5 70 252 136
Product Delivery Schedule
Date of delivery at
Product Description
Geoscience Australia
report of daily No later than 24 hours after
Daily Report
operations the end of the reporting period
report of weekly No later than 24 hours after
Weekly Report
operations the end of the reporting period
periodic raw edited
ELEVATION data
periodic raw edited
Periodic Raw Edited Data (as per MAGNETIC data two weekly cycle from date of
Attachment 6) periodic raw edited first survey flight
RADIOMETRIC data
periodic raw
DIURNAL data
raw edited
ELEVATION data
Raw Edited & Field Checked Data for no later than 20 working days
raw edited
the Complete Survey (as per after the Completion of Flying
MAGNETIC data
Attachment 6) Date
raw edited
RADIOMETRIC data
final ELEVATION
data & grids
Final Processed Data (point located
final MAGNETIC On or before the Contract
and gridded) for the Complete
data & grids Completion Date
Survey (as per Attachment 6)
final RADIOMETRIC
data & grids
On or before the Contract
Operations and Processing Report final report
Completion Date
Equipment Specification Sheet for QR Tranche 3 Response Form
Aircraft insert make, model & Registration/call-sign
Y/N Specification/Comment
Engines na No. of Engines =
Engine Type na Engine Type =
Climb Rate na Max Climb Rate =
Cruising Speed = 130-150 kn Average Cruising Speed =
Stall Speed (kn) na Stall Speed =
Maximum Speed (kn) na Maximum Speed =
Equipped with Barometer (acc <= 0.1 kPa) Barometer Accuracy =
Equipped with Thermometer (acc <= 1° C) Thermometer Accuracy =
Free of radioactive contamination
Spectrometer 'field of view' not obstructed by fuel tanks
Navigation insert make & model
DGPS Insert system description
Base GPS
Record Satellites Max Channels =
Full Record (sat info)
Record HDOP
Record PDOP
Horizontal Position Accuracy <= 5m Horizontal Position Accuracy =
Vertical Position Accuracy <= 10m Vertical Position Accuracy =
Sampling Rate >= 1 Hz Max Sampling Rate =
Fiducial Precision <= 0.05 s Max Fiducial Precision =
Data Recorder insert make & model
Sync Location to Primary Sensor
Sync Timing to Primary Sensor
Magnetometer insert make & model
Y/N Specification
Optically Pumped Alkali Vapour
Sensitivity <= 0.001 nT Sensitivity =
Absolute Accuracy <= 1 nT Accuracy =
Noise Envelope <= 0.1 nT Noise Envelope =
Ambient Range 20,000 - 100,000 nT Range =
Spectrometer insert make & model
Y/N Specification
Aircraft Mounting Clear of Fuel Tanks
Channels >= 256 Channels =
Downward Detector Volume>= 30 L Volume =
Upward Detectors Volume =
Zero Dead Time Dead Time (1 sec sample) =
Peak Resolution <7% (208Tl 2615 keV) Stated Resolution =
NASVD compatible
Record Live/Dead Time Precision =
Radon Removal Method = Spectral Ratio/Upward Detector
Calibrated at Carnamah Range Calibration Date =
Flown Whyalla Test Lines Date of Test Flight =
Changes since Whyalla Test Flight Changes =
Laser Altimeter insert make & model
Y/N Specification
Minimum Range >= 0-760 m Range =
Precision <= 0.3 m Precision =
Sampling Rate >= 1 hz Max Sampling Rate =
Base Magnetometer insert make & model
Y/N Specification
Sensitivity <= 0.01 nT Sensitivity =
Noise Envelope = Roving Magnetometer Noise Noise Envelope @ intended sampling rate =
Timing in <=1 second intervals Min Timing Precision =
APPENDIX 2. GCAS DIGITAL DATA DELIVERY FORMATS

FINAL MAGNETICS
The table below details the data to be supplied in the Final Magnetic
digital data file.
All data is to be supplied in ASCII ASEG‐GDF2 format: Oasis databases are

acceptable only as an additonal item
The file is to be named using the GA contract number followed by the
text in the tab associated with the file type Example: Pxxxx_Final_Mag.*
Where the file is a subset of the survey (ie firstflight or test area), the GA
contract number is to be followed by the flight number or the test area
name Test Area: Pxxxx_Whyalla _Final_Mag.*
All final data is to be positioned through parallax correction for the

geophysical sensor (magnetometer) to which the position data are
relevant
The table set out below details the data to be supplied in the Final
magnetic digital data file.
The format column in the table should be used unless it is found to be

inappropriate, in which case it may be changed with GA notified of
changes to formatting and the reason for such changes
The Contractor must ensure the appropriate field width, precision and
null values are used.
Field (Description) Name Format Null Units Datum Comment

GA Survey/Project Number survey I6 ‐9999 N/A
Flight Number flight I5 ‐999 N/A
Line Number LINE I9 ‐9999999 N/A
Fiducial FID I9 ‐9999999 N/A
Date dateCode I10 ‐99999999 N/A local date in yyyymmdd
Bearing bearing I5 ‐999 deg East of North
Final Longitude (parallax corrected to mag sensor) longitude_gda94 F13.7 ‐999.9999999 deg GDA94
Final Latitude (parallax corrected to mag sensor) latitude_gda94 F13.7 ‐999.9999999 deg GDA94
Final Easting (parallax corrected to mag sensor) easting_gda94 F11.2 ‐999999.99 m GDA94, MGAXX
Final Northing (parallax corrected to mag sensor) northing_gda94 F12.2 ‐9999999.99 m GDA94, MGAXX
GPS Height (parrallax corrected to mag sensor) gps_height F8.2 ‐999.99 m GDA94 ellipsoid
MGA Zone zone I4 ‐99 N/A MGA Zone the survey area is located
Calibrated Radar Altimeter (parallax corrected to mag sensor) radar_alt F8.2 ‐999.99 metres spikes removed and interpolated where required
Calibrated Laser Altimeter (parallax corrected to mag sensor) laser_alt F8.2 ‐999.99 metres spikes removed and interpolated where required
Digital Elevation Model Laser (parallax corrected to mag sensor) dem_laser F8.2 ‐999.99 metres AHD
Digital Elevation Model Radar (parallax corrected to mag sensor) dem_radar F8.2 ‐999.99 metres AHD
Final Magnetics ‐ tie line levelled magnetics_final_tielevelled F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT Final mag is compensated and diurnally corrected. IGRF is removed with no constant value added
Final Magnetics micro‐levelled magnetics_final_microlevelled F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT Final mag is compensated and diurnally corrected. IGRF is removed with no base value added
First vertical derivative of the micro‐levelled final magnetics magnetics_final_microlevelled_1vd F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT/m
Magnetic Diurnal magnetic_diurnal F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT
IGRF magnetic_igrf F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT calculated IGRF, clearly state in DES file epoch and date
NB MGAxx refers to the Map Grid of Australia zone that the survey area is located
FINAL RADIOMETRICS
The table below details the data to be supplied in the Final Radiometric
digital data file.
All data is to be supplied in ASCII ASEG‐GDF2 format: Oasis databases
are acceptable only as an additional item
The file is to be named using the GA contract number followed by the
text in the tab associated with the file type Example: Pxxxx_Final_Rad.*
Where the file is a subset of the survey (i.e. first flight or test area), the
GA contract number is to be followed by the flight number or the test
area name Test Area: Pxxxx_Whyalla _Final_Rad.*
All final data is to be positioned through parallax correction for the
geophysical sensor (spectrometer) to which the position data are
relevant
The Parallax corrected position should be calculated at the time ½ way

through the sample period
The format column in the table should be used unless it is found to be

inappropriate, in which case it may be changed with GA notified of
changes to formatting and the reason for such changes
The Names are to be assigned in the dfn file using the same syntax as
described in the Name column of this table
Field (Description) Name Format Null Units Datum Comments

GA Survey/Project Number survey I6 ‐9999 N/A
Bearing bearing I5 ‐999 deg East of North
Final Longitude (parallax corrected) longitude_gda94 F13.7 ‐999.9999999 deg GDA94
Final Latitude (parallax corrected) latitude_gda94 F13.7 ‐999.9999999 deg GDA94
Final Easting (parallax corrected) easting_gda94 F11.2 ‐999999.99 m GDA94, MGAXX
Final Northing (parallax corrected) northing_gda94 F12.2 ‐9999999.99 m GDA94, MGAXX
GPS "Z" (Parrallax corrected) gps_height F8.2 ‐999.99 m GDA94 ellipsoid
Zone zone I4 ‐99 N/A MGA Zone of the survey area
spikes removed and
Calibrated Radar Altimeter (parallax corrected) radar_alt F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
interpolated where required
spikes removed and

Calibrated Laser Altimeter (parallax corrected) laser_alt F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
interpolated where required
Digital Elevation Model Laser (parallax corrected) dem_laser F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
Digital Elevation Model Radar (parallax corrected) dem_radar F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
Pressure pressure F8.2 ‐999.99 mbar
Temperature temperature F7.2 ‐99.99 °C
Final Dose Rate (no spectral smoothing) dose_no_nasvd F10.2 ‐9999.99 nGy/hr
Final Potassium Concentration (no spectral smoothing) k_percent_no_nasvd F9.2 ‐999.99 %
Final Uranium Concentration (no spectral smoothing) u_ppm_no_nasvd F9.2 ‐999.99 ppm
Final Thorium Concentration (no spectral smoothing) th_ppm_no_nasvd F9.2 ‐999.99 ppm
Final Dose Rate (spectral smoothing) dose_nasvd F10.2 ‐9999.99 nGy/hr
Final Potassium Concentration (spectral smoothing) k_percent_nasvd F9.2 ‐999.99 %
Final Uranium Concentration (spectral smoothing) u_ppm_nasvd F9.2 ‐999.99 ppm
Final Thorium Concentration (spectral smoothing) th_ppm_nasvd F9.2 ‐999.99 ppm
GRIDS
The table below details the grid files to be supplied.
Grids are to be supplied in Ermapper format
Naming Convention is to be GA job number with underscore and

than the theme of the image Example: Pxxxx_TMI.ers
Grids are to be supplied in both the relevant GDA94 zone (metres)

and also geodectic (GDA94, degrees)
The first verical derivative is to be calculated using a fast fourier

transform method
Field Name Units
Ground elevation radar Pxxxx_DEMradar.ers m (AHD)

Ground elevation laser Pxxxx_DEMlaser.ers m (AHD)
Magnetics Pxxxx_TMI.ers nT
Magnetics reduced to the pole Pxxxx_RTP.ers nT
First vertical derivative of magnetics reduced to the pole Pxxxx_RTP_fft1VD.ers nT/m
Dose Rate (no spectral smoothing) Pxxxx_DoseRate_no_nasvd.ers nGy/hr

Potassium Concentration (no spectral smoothing) Pxxxx_K_no_nasvd.ers %
Uranium Concentration (no spectral smoothing) Pxxxx_U_no_nasvd.ers ppm
Thorium Concentration (no spectral smoothing) Pxxxx_Th_no_nasvd.ers ppm
Dose Rate (spectral smoothing) Pxxxx_DoseRate_nasvd.ers nGy/hr

Potassium Concentration (spectral smoothing) Pxxxx_K_nasvd.ers %
Uranium Concentration (spectral smoothing) Pxxxx_U_nasvd.ers ppm
Thorium Concentration (spectral smoothing) Pxxxx_Th_nasvd.ers ppm
RAW ELEVATION
The table below details the data to be supplied in the Raw Edited Elevation digital data file.
All data is to be supplied in ASCII ASEG‐GDF2 format: Oasis databases are acceptable only as
an additonal item
The file is to be named using the GA contract number followed by the text in the tab
associated with the file type Example: Pxxxx_RawEdited_Elev.*
Where the file is a subset of the survey (ie firstflight, periodic or test area), the GA contract
number is to be followed by the flight number (first&last for periodic) or the test area name
(examples shown in adjacent columns). First Flight: Pxxxx_FstFLTxxx_RawEdited_Elev.* ; Periodic Data: Pxxxx_FLTxxx_FLTxxx_RawEdited_Elev.* ; Test Area: Pxxxx_Whyalla_RawEdited_Elev.*
All data is to be positioned through parallax correction for the principle sensor (laser) to
which the position data are relevant
The format column in the table should be used unless it is found to be inappropriate, in which
case it may be changed with GA notified of changes to formatting and the reason for such
changes
No filters are to be applied to the raw data channels

GA survey/project Number survey I6 ‐9999 N/A
Time gps_time F10.2 ‐99999.99 seconds Time‐ from Midnight in UTC Clearly state time zone in DES file
Time‐ from Local Midnight in
Time local_time F10.2 ‐99999.99 seconds
Standard time (no daylight Clearly state time zone in DES file
Bearing bearing I5 ‐999 degrees East of North
Final Longitude (parallax corrected) longitude_gda94 F13.7 ‐999.9999999 decimal degrees GDA94 longitude
Final Latitude (parallax corrected) latitude_gda94 F13.7 ‐999.9999999 decimal degrees GDA94 latitude
Final Easting (parallax corrected) easting_gda94 F11.2 ‐999999.99 metres GDA94, MGAxx easting
Final Northing (parallax corrected) northing_gda94 F12.2 ‐9999999.99 metres GDA94, MGAxx northing
Raw GPS Height no interpolation gps_height_raw F8.2 ‐999.99 m GDA94 ellipsoid
Edited GPS Height (spike removal and interpolated where required) gps_height_raw_edited F8.2 ‐999.99 m GDA94 ellipsoid
Zone zone I4 ‐99 N/A MGA Zone the survey area is located
Satellite_number SV_number I4 ‐99 N/A number of satellites
Horizontal Dilution of Precision * HDOP F6.2 ‐9.99 N/A * Not required if using satellite DGPS
Position Dilution of Precision * PDOP F6.2 ‐9.99 N/A * Not required if using satellite DGPS
* Flag to indicate satellite DGPS corrections
received:0=no gps signal, 1=non‐differential gps
DGPS flag * gps_status I4 ‐99 N/A
signal, 2= differential gps signal. Not required if
GPS base station is used
Raw Radar Altimeter (parallax corrected), no spike removal nor interpoation radar_alt_raw F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
Edited Raw Radar Altimeter, spikes removed and interpolated if required radar_alt_raw_edited F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
Raw Laser Altimeter no spike removal nor interpoation laser_alt_raw F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
Edited Raw Laser Altimeter, spikes removed and interpolated where required laser_alt_raw_edited F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
RAW MAGNETICS
The table below details the data to be supplied in the Raw Edited Magnetic digital data file.
All data is to be supplied in ASCII ASEG‐GDF2 format: Oasis databases are acceptable only as an additonal
item
The file is to be named using the GA contract number followed by the text in the tab associated with the file
type Example: Pxxxx_RawEdited_Mag.*
Where the file is a subset of the survey (ie firstflight, periodic or test area), the GA contract number is to be
followed by the flight number (first&last for periodic) or the test area name (examples shown in adjacent
columns). Examples: First Flight: Pxxxx_FstFLTxxx_RawEdited_Mag.* ; Periodic Data: Pxxxx_FLTxxx_FLTxxx_RawEdited_Mag.* ; Test Area: Pxxxx_Whyalla_RawEdited_Mag.*
All data is to be positioned through parallax correction for the geophysical sensor (magnetometer) to which
the position data are relevant
The format column in the table should be used unless it is found to be inappropriate, in which case it may
be changed with GA notified of changes to formatting and the reason for such changes
The Names are to be assigned in the dfn file using the same syntax as described in the Name column of this
table
No filters are to be applied to the raw magnetic data channels

Time gps_time F10.2 ‐99999.99 seconds Time‐ from Midnight in UTC time Clearly state time zone in DES file
Time‐ from Local Midnight in Standard
Time local_time F10.2 ‐99999.99 seconds Clearly state time zone in DES file
time (no daylight savings)
GPS Height (parallax corrected) (despiked & interpolated) gps_height F8.2 ‐999.99 m GDA94 ellipsoid
Calibrated Radar Altimeter (parallax corrected) radar_alt F8.2 ‐999.99 metres parallax corrected to the magnetic sensor
Calibrated Laser Altimeter (parallax corrected) laser_alt F8.2 ‐999.99 metres parallax corrected to the magnetic sensor
Fluxgate X Component fluxgate_x F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT
Fluxgate Y Component fluxgate_y F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT
Fluxgate Z Component fluxgate_z F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT
Uncompensated Magnetics (all sensors) magnetics_raw_uncompensated F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT
Raw Compensated Magnetics (all sensors) no spike removal nor interpolation magnetics_raw_compensated F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT
Raw Compensated Magnetics (all sensors) spikes removed and interpolated where required magnetics_raw_edited_compensated F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT
Magnetic Diurnal magnetic_diurnal F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT Total field
RAW RADIOMETRICS
The table below details the data to be supplied in the Raw Edited Radiometric digital data file.
item
The file is to be named using the GA contract number followed by the text in the tab associated with the file
type Example: Pxxxx_RawEdited_Rad.*
Where the file is a subset of the survey (ie firstflight, periodic or test area), the GA contract number is to be
followed by the flight number (first&last for periodic) or the test area name (as shown in following columns). First Flight: Pxxxx_FstFLTxxx_RawEdited_Rad.* ; Periodic Data: Pxxxx_FLTxxx_FLTxxx_RawEdited_Rad.* ; First Flight: Pxxxx_Whyalla_RawEdited_Rad.*
All data is to be positioned through parallax correction for the geophysical sensor (spectrometer) to which
the position data are relevant
The Parallax corrected position should be calculated at the time ½ way through the sample period
The format column in the table should be used unless it is found to be inappropriate, in which case it may be
changed with GA notified of changes to formatting and the reason for such changes
The Names are to be assigned in the dfn file using the same syntax as described in the Name column of this
table
No Fields are to be left blank

No editing is to be applied to the spectra
No filters are to be applied to the spectra

Time gps_time F10.2 ‐99999.99 seconds Time‐ from Midnight in UTC time Clearly state time zone in DES file
Time‐ from Local Midnight in Standard time
(no daylight savings) Clearly state time zone in DES file
Calibrated Radar Altimeter (parallax corrected), spikes removed and interpolated if required radar_alt_raw_edited F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
Calibrated Laser Altimeter (parallax corrected), spikes removed and interpolated if required laser_alt_raw_edited F8.2 ‐999.99 metres
pressure pressure F8.2 ‐999.99 mbar
temperature temperature F7.2 ‐99.99 degC
Raw Potassium Window raw_k F9.2 ‐999.99 cps
Raw Uranium Window raw_u F9.2 ‐999.99 cps
Raw Thorium Window raw_th F9.2 ‐999.99 cps
Raw Total Counts raw_tc F10.2 ‐9999.99 cps
Raw Cosmic Window cosmic F9.2 ‐999.99 cps
Upward Uranium upward_u F9.2 ‐999.99 cps *not required if no upward u crystal
Sample integration time sample I6 ‐9999 milliSeconds
Livetime for spectrum live_time I6 ‐9999 milliSeconds
Spectrum resolution resolution F6.2 ‐9.99 percent
Raw Channel 1 spectrum[0] F6.0 ‐99 counts
Raw Channel… spectrum[2] F6.0 ‐99 counts
Raw Channel… " F6.0 ‐99 counts
NASVD RADIOMETRICS
The table below details the data to be supplied in the NASVD Radiometric digital data file.
item
The file is to be named using the GA contract number followed by the text in the tab associated with the
file type Example: Pxxxx_NASVD_Rad.*
Where the file is a subset of the survey (ie firstflight or test area), the GA contract number is to be
followed by the flight number (first&last for periodic) or the test area name Test area: Pxxxx_Whyalla _NASVD_Rad.*
All data is to be positioned through parallax correction for the geophysical sensor (spectrometer) to
which the position data are relevant
The Parallax corrected position should be calculated at the time ½ way through the sample period
The format column in the table should be used unless it is found to be inappropriate, in which case it may
be changed with GA notified of changes to formatting and the reason for such changes
The Names are to be assigned in the dfn file using the same syntax as described in the Name column of
this table
No Fields are to be left blank

Time gps_time F10.2 ‐99999.99 seconds Time‐ from Midnight in UTC time
Clearly state time zone in DES file
Time‐ from Local Midnight in Standard time
(no daylight savings) Clearly state time zone in DES file
Calibrated Radar Altimeter (parallax corrected), spikes removed and interpolated if required radar_alt_raw_edited F8.2 ‐9999.99 metres
Calibrated Laser Altimeter (parallax corrected), spikes removed and interpolated if required laser_alt_raw_edited F8.2 ‐9999.99 metres
pressure pressure F8.2 ‐999.99 mbar
temperature temperature F7.2 ‐999.99 degC
Raw Potassium Window raw_k F9.2 ‐999.99 cps
Raw Uranium Window raw_u F9.2 ‐999.99 cps
Raw Thorium Window raw_th F9.2 ‐999.99 cps
Raw Total Counts raw_tc F10.2 ‐9999.99 cps
Raw Cosmic Window cosmic F9.2 ‐999.99 cps
Livetime for spectrum live_time I6 ‐9999 milliSeconds
NASVD processed Potassium Window nasvd_k F9.2 ‐999.99 cps NASVD smoothed window counts
NASVD processed Uranium Window nasvd_u F9.2 ‐999.99 cps NASVD smoothed window counts
NASVD processed Thorium Window nasvd_th F9.2 ‐999.99 cps NASVD smoothed window counts
NASVD processed Total Counts nasvd_tc F10.2 ‐9999.99 cps NASVD smoothed window counts
NASVD processed Channel 1 nasvd_spectrum[0] F6.0 ‐99 counts NASVD smoothed spectrum
NASVD processed Channel… nasvd_spectrum[2] F6.0 ‐99 counts NASVD smoothed spectrum
NASVD processed Channel… " F6.0 ‐99 counts NASVD smoothed spectrum
RAW MAGNETIC DIURNAL
The table below details the data to be supplied in the Raw Magnetic Diurnal digital data file.
All data is to be supplied in ASCII ASEG‐GDF2 format: Oasis databases are acceptable only as an
additonal item
The file is to be named using the GA contract number followed by the text in the tab associated
with the file type Example: Pxxxx_Raw_Mag_Diurnal.*
Where the file is a subset of the survey (ie firstflight, 100hr or test area), the GA contract number is
to be followed by the flight number (first&last for 100hr) or the test area name (examples shown in
adjacent columns). First Flight: Pxxxx_FstFLTxxx_Raw_Mag_Diurnal.* ; Periodic Data: Pxxxx_FLTxxx_FLTxxx_Raw_Mag_Diurnal.* ; Test Area: Pxxxx_Whyalla_Raw_Mag_Diurnal.*
The DES file must contain the location of the magnetic base station
The format column in the table should be used unless it is found to be inappropriate, in which case
it may be changed with GA notified of changes to formatting and the reason for such changes
The Names are to be assigned in the dfn file using the same syntax as described in the Name
column of this table
No filters are to be applied to the raw magnetic data channels

Time gps_time F10.2 ‐99999.99 seconds Time‐ from Midnight in UTC time
Clearly state time zone in DES file
Time‐ from Local Midnight in
Time local_time F10.2 ‐99999.99 seconds Standard time (no daylight
savings) Clearly state time zone in DES file
Magnetic Diurnal magnetic_diurnal_raw F10.2 ‐99999.99 nT Total field
Airborne Mag/Rad/Elev survey deliverables
Prior to Survey commencement
Calibration report
Flight plans
Public notices
During Acquisition
Daily reports
Weekly reports
Periodic data supply (RawEdited_Elev, RawEdited_Mag, RawEdited_Rad, Raw_Mag_diurnal)
Post Acquisition
Comprehensive raw data
NASVD plots
NASVD radiometric line data
Preliminary final grids
Final processed data
Final grids
Operations and Processing Report
Raw data DVDs
Final data DVDs
APPENDIX 3. WHYALLA TEST LINES FINAL REPORT

REPORT
Processing of Airborne Gamma-ray Spectrometric Data

over the Whyalla Test Lines for Projects 1280, 1281,
1282, 1283, 1284 and 1285.
on behalf of
The Geological Survey of South Australia and Geoscience Australia
29 March 2017
Minty Geophysics
PO Box 3229
Weston Creek ACT 2611
Tel. +61 (0)404083087

Brian.Minty@mintygeophysics.com
www.mintygeophysics.com
ABN 66 186 645 937
INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE OF THE WORK
The Whyalla test lines are a set of 7 east-west lines flown over the Eyre Peninsula
about 30 km south of Whyalla airport. The traverses are 75 km long, 200 m apart, and
are flown at a nominal survey height of 60 m above ground level. Approximately
20 km of the eastern end of each line is over the ocean, which facilitates the estimation
of the gamma-ray background radiation. All contractors engaged on the PACE Gawler
Craton Airborne Geophysical Survey Program are required to fly the test lines prior to
the start of production flying
The test lines serve at least two purposes:
 to check that the raw multichannel airborne gamma-ray spectra are suitable for
analysis using the NASVD method. This requires that the raw measured counts
in each channel have not been digitally manipulated in any way and are a true
reflection of the statistical nature of the radioactive decay of the radioelements
at their source.
 to compare all the airborne gamma-ray spectrometer systems used on the
Gawler survey to ensure that the system sensitivities are consistent across the
entire survey area.
This report describes the processing of Whyalla test line data by Minty Geophysics
from the 6 airborne gamma-ray spectrometric systems flying the following project
areas:
 project 1280 (MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys; aircraft - VH–HIS)

 project 1281 (MAGSPEC Airborne surveys; aircraft - VH–MDG)
 project 1282 (Sander Geophysics Ltd; aircraft - C–GSGA)
 project 1283 (Sander Geophysics Ltd; aircraft - C–GSGJ)
 project 1284 (Thomson Aviation; aircraft - VH–SUX)
 project 1285 (Thomson Aviation; aircraft - VH–THS)
The report describes the processing procedure, and compares both the data
acquisition and the final estimates of radioelement concentrations from the six different
acquisition systems. We also compare some of the characteristics of the different
spectrometers, such as system live time, peak resolution and energy drift.
2
DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE
The current standard for the processing of airborne and ground gamma-ray
spectrometric data acquired using NaI detectors is that of IAEA (2003). The
processing procedure includes spectral noise reduction, live-time correction, energy
calibration, background corrections, stripping and height correction, and the reduction
of airborne elemental count rates to elemental concentrations on the ground
(sensitivity correction). After energy calibration, the gamma-ray spectra are typically
summed over 3 relatively broad energy windows centred on the gamma-ray emission
peaks at 1.46 MeV (K), 1.76 Mev (U) and 2.61 MeV (Th). Subsequent processing
procedures are applied to these window count rates.
Only a brief description of the standard processing procedures is given here – more
details can be found in IAEA (2003):
Spectral noise reduction: 256 channels, or more, of the gamma-ray spectrum

are typically recorded at each observation point. But the degrees of freedom in
the gamma-ray spectrometric data for natural sources of radiation are much
less (typically 8). Spectral noise reduction methods (NASVD, MNF) use a
principal component type analysis to extract the dominant spectral shapes
(“components”) present in the raw spectra. The lower order (signal rich)
principal components are then used to reconstruct smooth spectra.
Live time correction: The total counting time available for a spectrometer is
reduced by the time taken to process all pulses. This can be measured, and a
correction applied through a scaling of the observed count rates.
Energy calibration: Spectrometers are affected by energy drift in the measured

spectra caused by changes in the gains of the photomultiplier tubes. Measured
spectra can be corrected for this energy drift.
Background correction: There are 3 components of background – aircraft (or

instrument background), cosmic (radiation from the sun or cosmos) and
atmospheric radon (a daughter product in the U-238 decay series). Of these,
atmospheric radon background is the largest component in airborne surveys.
All 3 components need to be measured and removed.
Stripping correction: Primary gamma-ray emissions can lose energy through

Compton scattering and end up being recorded in lower-energy windows. The
stripping correction corrects each of the K, U and Th window count rates for
those gamma rays not originating from the particular photopeak being
monitored for each radioelement. For example, thorium series gamma rays
appear in both the uranium and potassium lower-energy windows, and uranium
3
series gamma rays appear in the potassium window. These need to be
removed using the stripping correction.
Height correction: Gamma radiation from the ground falls off approximately
exponentially with height above the ground. The measured counts need to be
corrected for the deviations of the height of the detector from the nominal survey
height.
Reduction to elemental concentrations (or sensitivity correction): This is a

scaling of the elemental count rates, recorded at airborne heights, to convert
them to estimates of the ground concentrations of the radioelements – % K,
ppm U and ppm Th.
Most of the processing steps described above require prior “calibration” through the
estimation of critical parameters. For example, for the height correction we need to
know the attenuation coefficients for each of K, U and Th that describe the rate of
attenuation of the primary photo-peak emissions with changes in the height of the
detector above the ground. These have to be measured from calibration flights
conducted specifically for this purpose. Similar calibrations are required for the
background, stripping and sensitivity corrections. The calibration parameters for the
processing have been supplied by the relevant airborne survey contractors, and are
summarised in Table 1.
The current processing of the Whyalla Test Lines differs from the standard processing
in two important respects.
First, we have used the mean count rates from the over-water section of each line as
the background value for that line. This removes the greatest source of possible
inconsistency in the data processing – that of accurate background estimation. So any
differences in the final radioelement estimates are most likely due to errors in the
estimation of system sensitivities.
Second, we have applied the NASVD method to the raw spectra from each of the test
line surveys in order to assess their suitability for this type of analysis. However, we
have not used the NASVD-smoothed spectra for the further processing of the data to
radioelement concentrations – again, this is to remove any possible sources of
inconsistency in the data processing for the comparison of system sensitivities. The
final comparison of system sensitivities uses the mean radioelement concentrations
over all the test lines. So the random noise in the final radioelement estimates is not
relevant to the comparison.
The use of the over-water backgrounds was successful in most cases. The final data
are shown as pseudo-colour images in Appendix 5, and with one exception, were
found to be free of levelling errors. The exception is the MAGSPEC p1280 survey
(VH–HIS). The test lines were flown by VH–HIS in 2 flights. The second flight (flight 2)
4
consisted of 2 lines (lines 100060 and 100070) and was flown at a time of high
atmospheric radon. Although no “time-of-day” information is available for this flight, it
was probably flown early in the morning, as the radon background tends to vary quite
significantly along the two lines. Consequently, the estimates of total background for
these lines using the radiation levels over the over-water sections were not effective in
removing all the background radiation. A further manual adjustment to the final
uranium concentration estimates (-0.47 ppm for line 100060 and -0.40 ppm for line
100070) was necessary to level these data.
RESULTS
The processing results are considered in two parts – an evaluation of the raw data,
followed by the results of the processing of the raw spectra to estimates of elemental
concentrations.
Analysis of Raw Data
Appendix 1 shows the 16 lowest-order eigenvectors (spectral components) from the

NASVD processing of the Whyalla test line data for each project. The eigenvectors
are ordered from left to right, top to bottom. Only the onshore portions of the lines
were used in deriving the eigenvectors. This is to avoid introducing any instability into
the NASVD computations that can occur in low count rate areas.
The NASVD method was developed for reducing noise in gamma-ray spectrometric
data. However, the method is also a very powerful tool for the quality control of
airborne gamma-ray spectrometric data. The success of the method is contingent
upon the errors in the raw channel counts having a Poisson distribution. That is, the
channel counts for each spectrum must be the raw observed counts. If the spectra
have been digitally manipulated in any way that could affect the variances of the raw
channel count rates, then the NASVD method is no longer applicable and will not
perform its desired function. If the method is applied correctly, then the lower order 4–
6 components should exhibit coherent signal, with increasing noise for the higher-order
components. For components 9 and higher, the eigenvectors should essentially
exhibit random noise, with no apparent correlation between adjacent channels.
The eigenvectors shown in Appendix 1 show good separation of signal and noise for
all six aircraft acquisition systems. The signal is generally concentrated in the lowest-
order 4–6 components, and the higher-order components represent random noise.
One system (p1283, Sander Geophysics, C–GSGJ) produced significant energy drift
components (components 4 and 5).
5
Table 2 show the average speed and height for the test line surveys. It also shows the
standard deviation on the radar altimeter data, which we use as a proxy for how well
the aircraft maintained the nominal survey height. Both of the Sander Geophysics
aircraft have significantly higher average height as well as standard deviations from the
mean height. This is probably due to Sander Geophysics flying a drape surface over
the test line area. The average height of the Thomson aircraft is also a few metres
above the nominal survey height. The average speed of all aircraft is within the
maximum permissible under the Deed of Standing Offer (288 km/h).
The spectrometer resolution at the Tl-208 photopeak (2.61 MeV) was measured from
the average spectrum for each line. The maximum resolution for all lines for each of
the acquisition systems are shown in Table 3. The poorer resolutions of the Sander
acquisition systems is probably a reflection of the older generation spectrometers
(Exploranium GR820) used by Sander Geophysics as opposed to the later generation
spectrometers (Radiation Solutions Inc. RS-500) used by MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys
and Thomson Aviation. The resolutions shown in the table are all significantly better
than that required under the Deed of Standing Offer (7%).
The position of the Tl-208 photopeak at 2.61 MeV was measured for the average
spectrum for each line. The maximum spread of the peak positions for the 7 lines
flown by each aircraft are shown in Table 4. Some of this apparent drift may be due to
inaccuracies in the estimation of peak positions in the presence of noise within the
average spectra. I note that the aircraft showing the greatest apparent energy drift (C–
GSGJ) also showed energy drift components in the NASVD eigenvectors.
Finally, the Exploranium GR820 spectrometers used by Sander Geophysics have a

dead time of about 7.5% (for the Whyalla test line data) compared to the near-zero
dead time of the RSI RS-500 spectrometers. So, other things being equal, in this area
the RSI spectrometers will record 7.5% more counts than the Exploranium GR820
spectrometers. This, coupled with the fact that the Sander aircraft flew systematically
higher over the test lines than MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys and Thomson Aviation,
has resulted in the Sander Geophysics test line data having higher noise envelopes.
This can be seen in the average spectra for each line. Appendix 2 shows the average
spectra for line 10010 for each of the acquisition systems. Random noise can be seen
in the Sander Geophysics average spectra, which is not seen in the spectra from the
MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys and Thomson Aviation acquisition systems.
6
The field names in the final delivered Intrepid databases are listed in Table 6. The
average radioelement concentrations across the Whyalla test lines derived from the
final processed data are listed in Table 5.
Pseudo-colour images of the final processed data are shown in Appendices 3–5.
Ternary images are shown in Appendix 6. Note that for comparison purposes, the
images for p1284 (Thomson Aviation - VH–SUX) have been clipped to the same
extents as for the other aircraft. VH–SUX was the first aircraft to fly the Whyalla test
lines, and flew a slightly different set of lines based on projected coordinates.
Geoscience Australia subsequently adjusted the positions of the required lines to
geodetic coordinates. VH–SUX will re-fly the new lines at a later date, and the final
radioelement means for this aircraft should be treated as provisional.
DISCUSSION
As noted earlier, the Exploranium GR820 spectrometers have an average dead time of
about 7.5% for the Whyalla test lines compared to the near-zero dead time of the RSI
RS-500 spectrometers. The Whyalla test lines area has quite low concentrations of
the radioelements. In areas with higher radioelement concentrations, the GR820 dead
time will be correspondingly greater. A dead time of 7.5% is equivalent to flying at an
altitude between 8 and 10 metres higher (~8 metres for K, ~9 metres for U and ~10
metres for Th) in terms of the resulting count rates. This translates into an increase in
the fractional (percentage) standard deviation of the observed count rates of about 4%.
So there is an obvious, measureable advantage in acquiring data using the more
modern spectrometers that have minimal dead-time. The type of spectrometer
tendered for future Gawler Craton surveys should perhaps be a consideration in the
tender evaluation process.
The fact that the average height of the Sander and Thomson aircraft over the test lines
are higher than the nominal survey height do not affect the utility of the test line data.
The data are adequately corrected for height deviations from the nominal survey height
for deviations of this magnitude. Also, the results of most interest are the average
concentration of the radioelements across the test lines – so the small decrease in
precision resulting from the greater terrain clearance are of no consequence in this
instance.
There are significant differences between the radioelement means of the test lines as
derived from the six different acquisition systems (Table 5). The percentage
differences between the maximum and minimum estimated means are 22% for K, 37%
for eU and 15% for eTh. This is a clear demonstration of the need for some
7
mechanism for adjusting the final radioelement data for each survey block to ensure
consistency across the entire Gawler Craton survey program. The differences
between the different acquisition systems point to the difficulty in obtaining accurate
sensitivity coefficients from the Carnamah Calibration Range, where the background
measurements have to be made either over a nearby salt pan, or over the ocean some
60 km distant. It would be a worthwhile exercise to review the way the airborne
geophysical survey contractors derive their sensitivity coefficients using the Carnamah
range. I note, for example, that there is an inconsistency in the Thomson aviation
sensitivities. If one acquisition system has a higher sensitivity than another system,
then this should be the case for each of K, U and Th. But VH-SUX has a significantly
higher U sensitivity, yet lower Th sensitivity than VH-THS.
Typically, the AWAGS traverses would provide the baseline for the merging of all the
individual survey blocks comprising the Gawler Craton survey. However, unless there
is significant dynamic range in the radioelement concentrations along the overlap
areas, it can be difficult to derive accurate correction factors (both a scale and a shift
for each survey block). By incorporating the known relative sensitivities shown in
Table 5 (i.e. scaling factors) of the various acquisition systems, it should be possible to
derive the parameters required to level the survey blocks to the AWAGS datum with
greater accuracy.
8
DELIVERABLES
This report and the final processed data are delivered in a zip file containing the
following directories:
 aa_report: a pdf version of this report.

 magspec_p1280_VH_HIS: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and ASEG-
GDF format) for project 1280 Whyalla Test Lines.
 magspec_p1281_VH_MDG: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and
ASEG-GDF format) for project 1281 Whyalla Test Lines.
 sanders_p1282_C_GSGA: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and ASEG-
 sanders_p1283_C_GSGJ: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and ASEG-
 thompson_p1284_VH_SUX: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and
Coordinate Systems
The final data is delivered with geodetic data (latitude, longitude) registered to the
GDA94 datum. The projected data (easting, northing) is MGA53 using the GDA94
datum.
REFERENCES
IAEA, 2003, Guidelines for radioelement mapping using gamma-ray spectrometry

data: IAEA-TECDOC-1363, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.
9
TABLES
Table 1. Calibration and processing parameters
Parameter p1280 p1281 p1282 p1283 p1284 p1285

MAGSPEC MAGSPEC Sander Sander Thomson Thomson
VH–HIS VH–MDG C–GSGA C–GSGJ VH–SUX VH–THS
strip – alpha 0.2670 0.2845 0.2600 0.2381 0.2780 0.2710
strip – beta 0.4010 0.4517 0.4101 0.3908 0.4080 0.4060
strip – gamma 0.7450 0.7986 0.7532 0.7163 0.7770 0.7820
strip – a 0.045 0.047 0.048 0.047 0.045 0.049
strip – alpha/m 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00040
strip – beta/m 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065
strip – gamma/m 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069
height attn. – K 0.00940 0.00940 0.00883 0.00876 0.00943 0.00943
height attn. – U 0.00840 0.00840 0.00752 0.00766 0.00842 0.00842
height attn. – Th 0.00740 0.00740 0.00690 0.00689 0.00751 0.00751
sensitivity – K 129.5 110.4 112.0 118.1 105.9 102.7
sensitivity – U 15.1 11.3 10.4 11.1 16.7 12.6
sensitivity – Th 7.4 6.5 7.0 7.3 5.9 6.0
nominal height (m) 60 60 60 60 60 60
Table 2. Aircraft speed and height
Project Operator Aircraft Ave speed Ave height (m) Height variation
(km/h) (std deviation)
1280 MAGSPEC VH–HIS 233 60.9 3.5
1281 MAGSPEC VH–MDG 273 61.2 4.0
1282 Sander C–GSGA 232 70.0 5.8
1283 Sander C–GSGJ 248 68.1 5.9
1284 Thomson VH–SUX 261 63.4 3.6
1285 Thomson VH–THS 257 65.4 4.1
10
Table 3. Spectrometer resolution (FWHM at Tl-208 photo-peak at 2.61 MeV). Smaller
values represent better peak resolution.
Project Operator Aircraft Maximum resolution
1280 MAGSPEC VH–HIS 4.29
1281 MAGSPEC VH–MDG 4.54
1282 Sander C–GSGA 5.35
1283 Sander C–GSGJ 5.42
1284 Thomson VH–SUX 4.65
1285 Thomson VH–THS 4.28
Table 4. Energy drift at the Th peak. Smaller values represent better real-time energy
calibration.
Project Operator Aircraft Th peak drift range (12 keV channels)
1280 MAGSPEC VH–HIS 0.31
1281 MAGSPEC VH–MDG 0.44
1282 Sander C–GSGA 0.66
1283 Sander C–GSGJ 0.93
1284 Thomson VH–SUX 0.74
1285 Thomson VH–THS 0.47
Table 5. Test flight radioelement means
Project Operator Aircraft K mean (%) U Mean (ppm) Th mean (ppm)
1280 MAGSPEC VH–HIS 0.423 0.619 3.29
1281 MAGSPEC VH–MDG 0.409 0.800 3.30
1282 Sander C–GSGA 0.531 0.830 3.87
1283 Sander C–GSGJ 0.502 0.769 3.67
1284 Thomson VH–SUX 0.482 0.515 3.91
1285 Thomson VH–THS 0.477 0.743 3.76
11
Table 6. Whyalla Test Lines – Intrepid database field descriptions
Channel name Description
altitude radar altimeter (m)
bearing bearing
cosmic cosmic window counts (cps)
date data field
easting easting (m), GDA94, MGA53
FID Fiducial number
final_k final potassium (K) concentrations (% K)
final_t final thorium (Th) concentrations (ppm eTh)
final_u final uranium (U) concentrations (ppm eU)
flight flight number
laseralt laser altimeter (m)
latitude_GDA94 latitude (GEODETIC, GDA94)
LINE line number
liveTime live time
longitude_GDA94 longitude (GEODETIC, GDA94)
northing northing (m), GDA94, MGA53
pressure pressure (mBars)
survey survey (project) number
temperature temperature (degrees C)
12
APPENDIX 1: TEST FLIGHT EIGENVECTORS
p1280 – MAGSPEC (VH–HIS)
p1281 – MAGSPEC (VH–MDG)
13
p1282 – Sander (C–GSGA)
p1283 – Sander (C–GSGJ)
14
p1284 – Thomson (VH_SUX)
p1285 – Thomson (VH_THS)
15
APPENDIX 2: AVERAGE SPECTRA – LINE 10010
p1281 – MAGSPEC (VH_MDG)
16
17
p1284 – Thomson (VH–SUX)
p1285 – Thomson (VH–THS)
18
APPENDIX 3: POTASSIUM CONCENTRATION IMAGES
p1281 – MAGSPEC (VH–MDG)
p1282 – Sander(C–GSGA)
p1284 – Thomson (VH–SUX)
p1285 – Thomson (VH–THS)
19
APPENDIX 4: URANIUM CONCENTRATION IMAGES
20
APPENDIX 5: THORIUM CONCENTRATION IMAGES
21
APPENDIX 6: TERNARY IMAGES (K–RED, U–BLUE, TH–GREEN)
22
REPORT

1282, 1283, 1284, 1285, 1297 and 1301.
on behalf of
25 January 2018
Minty Geophysics
PO Box 3229
Tel. +61 (0)404083087

ABN 66 186 645 937
1
at their source.
entire survey area.
from 8 airborne gamma-ray spectrometric systems flying (or having already flown) the
following project areas:
 project 1280 (MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys; aircraft – VH-HIS)

 project 1281 (MAGSPEC Airborne surveys; aircraft – VH-MDG)
 project 1282 (Sander Geophysics Ltd; aircraft – C-GSGA)
 project 1283 (Sander Geophysics Ltd; aircraft – C-GSGJ)
 project 1284 (Thomson Aviation; aircraft – VH-SUX)
 project 1285 (Thomson Aviation; aircraft – VH-THS)
 project 1297 (Thomson Aviation; aircraft – VH-JEI)
 project 1301 (MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys; aircraft – VH-HHJ)
acquisition and the final estimates of radioelement concentrations from the eight
different acquisition systems. We also compare some of the characteristics of the
different spectrometers, such as system live time, peak resolution and energy drift.
Note that this current report is an update to the report “Processing of Airborne Gamma-
ray Spectrometric Data over the Whyalla Test Lines for Projects 1280, 1281, 1282,
2
1283, 1284 and 1285”, dated 12 April 2017. This current report includes a further 2
acquisition systems (project 1297 and 1301), and new data for project 1284. For
project 1284, VH-SUX originally flew the test lines in January 2017 using projected
coordinates. The test lines have now been re-flown with this system using geodetic
coordinates, and the results are reported here.



3
height.

ppm U and ppm Th.
4
(VH-HIS). The test lines were flown by VH-HIS in 2 flights. The second flight (flight 2)
Note that the Sander Geophysics p1282 (C-GSGA) test line data had a malfunctioning
temperature sensor at the time of the survey. A constant temperature based on pilot
observation was used for the processing of the data. Since deviations in survey height
for the test lines are small (Table 2), any errors introduced, because of this
assumption, by the height correction should be small. If the estimated temperature is
within 5 degrees C of the actual at the time of the survey, then the errors should be
less than 2%.
RESULTS
concentrations.

5
all six aircraft acquisition systems. The signal is generally concentrated in the lowest-
order 4–6 components, and the higher-order components represent random noise.
One system (p1283, Sander Geophysics, C-GSGJ) produced significant energy drift
components (components 4 and 5).
the test line area. The average height of the Thomson aircraft VH-THS (project 1285)
is also several metres above the nominal survey height. The average speed of all
aircraft is within the maximum permissible under the contract specifications (288 km/h).
spectrometers (Radiation Solutions Inc. RS-500) used by MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys
and Thomson Aviation. The resolutions shown in the table are all significantly better
than that required under the Deed of Standing Offer (7%).
average spectra. I note that the aircraft showing the greatest apparent energy drift (C-

dead time of the RSI RS-500 spectrometers. So, other things being equal, in this area
the RSI spectrometers will record 7.5% more counts than the Exploranium GR820
6
spectrometers. This, coupled with the fact that the Sander aircraft flew systematically
higher over the test lines than MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys and Thomson Aviation,
has resulted in the Sander Geophysics test line data having higher noise envelopes.
This can be seen in the average spectra for each line. Appendix 2 shows the average
spectra for line 10010 for each of the acquisition systems. Random noise can be seen
in the Sander Geophysics average spectra, which is not seen in the spectra from the
MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys and Thomson Aviation acquisition systems.
Ternary images are shown in Appendix 6.
DISCUSSION
RS-500 spectrometers. The Whyalla test lines area has quite low concentrations of
the radioelements. In areas with higher radioelement concentrations, the GR820 dead
time will be correspondingly greater. A dead time of 7.5% is equivalent to flying at an
altitude between 8 and 10 metres higher (~8 metres for K, ~9 metres for U and ~10
metres for Th) in terms of the resulting count rates. This translates into an increase in
the fractional (percentage) standard deviation of the observed count rates of about 4%.
So there is an obvious, measureable advantage in acquiring data using the more
modern spectrometers that have minimal dead-time.
instance.
derived from the six different acquisition systems (Table 5). The most obvious
difference is the very low average U concentration for VH-JEI (project 1297, Thomson
7
Aviation). This is clearly due to the high U sensitivity coefficient for this system, which
is shown in Table 1. The coefficient is obviously not correct. Thomson Aviation is
aware of this, and the aircraft will undergo a further calibration over the Carnamah
Calibration Range in the near future. Excluding the mean U concentration from VH-
JEI, the percentage differences between the maximum and minimum estimated means
in Table 5 are 22% for K, 20% for eU and 15% for eTh. This is a clear demonstration
of the need for some mechanism for adjusting the final radioelement data for each
survey block to ensure consistency across the entire Gawler Craton survey program.
The differences between the different acquisition systems point to the difficulty in
obtaining accurate sensitivity coefficients from the Carnamah Calibration Range,
where the background measurements have to be made either over a nearby salt pan,
or over the ocean some 60 km distant. It would be a worthwhile exercise to review the
way the airborne geophysical survey contractors derive their sensitivity coefficients
using the Carnamah range. I note, for example, that there is an inconsistency in the
Thomson aviation sensitivities for VH-SUX and VH-THS. If one acquisition system has
a higher sensitivity than another system, then this should be the case for each of K, U
and Th. But VH-SUX has a significantly higher U sensitivity, yet lower Th sensitivity
than VH-THS.
greater accuracy.
8
DELIVERABLES

 thompson_p1285_VH_THS: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and
 thompson_p1297_VH_JEI: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and ASEG-
 magspec_p1301_VH_HHJ: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and
Coordinate Systems
datum.
REFERENCES

9
TABLES
Parameter p1280 p1281 p1282 p1283 p1284 p1285 p1297 p1301

MAGSPEC MAGSPEC Sander Sander Thomson Thomson Thomson MAGSPEC
VH-HIS VH-MDG C-GSGA C-GSGJ VH-SUX VH-THS VH-JEI VH-HHJ
strip – alpha 0.2670 0.2845 0.2600 0.2381 0.2780 0.2710 0.303 0.278
strip – beta 0.4010 0.4517 0.4101 0.3908 0.4080 0.4060 0.453 0.408
strip – gamma 0.7450 0.7986 0.7532 0.7163 0.7770 0.7820 0.793 0.749
strip – a 0.045 0.047 0.048 0.047 0.045 0.049 0.045 0.046
strip – alpha/m 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049
strip – beta/m 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065
strip – gamma/m 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069
height attn. – K 0.00940 0.00940 0.00883 0.00876 0.00943 0.00943 0.0094 0.0094
height attn. – U 0.00840 0.00840 0.00752 0.00766 0.00842 0.00842 0.0084 0.0084
height attn. – Th 0.00740 0.00740 0.00690 0.00689 0.00751 0.00751 0.0074 0.0074
sensitivity – K 129.5 110.4 112.0 118.1 105.9 102.7 83.5 99.4
sensitivity – U 15.1 11.3 10.4 13.1 16.7 12.6 26.8 10.9
sensitivity – Th 7.4 6.5 7.0 7.3 5.9 6.0 5.9 5.9
nominal height (m) 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60
10
1280 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 233 60.9 3.5
1281 MAGSPEC VH-MDG 273 61.2 4.0
1282 Sander C-GSGA 232 70.0 5.8
1283 Sander C-GSGJ 248 68.1 5.9
1284 Thomson VH-SUX 261 60.6 3.7
1285 Thomson VH-THS 257 65.4 4.1
1297 Thomson VH-JEI 253 59.8 4.5
1301 MAGSPEC VH-HHJ 263 62.0 2.8

1280 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 4.29
1281 MAGSPEC VH-MDG 4.54
1282 Sander C-GSGA 5.35
1283 Sander C-GSGJ 5.42
1284 Thomson VH-SUX 4.89
1285 Thomson VH-THS 4.28
1297 Thomson VH-JEI 4.42
1301 MAGSPEC VH-HHJ 4.68
11
calibration.
1280 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 0.423 0.619 3.29
1281 MAGSPEC VH-MDG 0.409 0.800 3.30
1282 Sander C-GSGA 0.531 0.830 3.87
1283 Sander C-GSGJ 0.502 0.652 3.67
1284 Thomson VH-SUX 0.465 0.449 3.88
1285 Thomson VH-THS 0.477 0.743 3.76
1297 Thomson VH-JEI 0.591 0.310 3.97
1301 MAGSPEC VH-HHJ 0.487 0.723 3.81
12
bearing bearing
date data field
FID Fiducial number
LINE line number
liveTime live time
13
p1280 – MAGSPEC (VH-HIS)
p1281 – MAGSPEC (VH-MDG)
14
p1282 – Sander (C-GSGA)
p1283 – Sander (C-GSGJ)
15
p1284 – Thomson (VH-SUX)
p1285 – Thomson (VH-THS)
16
p1297 – Thomson (VH-JEI)
p1301 – MAGSPEC (VH-HHJ)
17
18
19
20
21
p1282 – Sander(C-GSGA)
22
23
24
25
REPORT

1282, 1283, 1284, 1285, 1297, 1301,
1308, 1309 and 1310.
on behalf of
updated 3 September 2018
Minty Geophysics
PO Box 3229
Tel. +61 (0)404083087

ABN 66 186 645 937
1
at their source.
entire survey area.
from 8 airborne gamma-ray spectrometric systems flying (or having already flown) the
following project areas:
 project 1280 (MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys; aircraft VH-HIS)

 project 1281 (MAGSPEC Airborne surveys; aircraft VH-MDG)
 project 1282 (Sander Geophysics Ltd; aircraft C-GSGA)
 project 1283 (Sander Geophysics Ltd; aircraft C-GSGJ)
 project 1284 (Thomson Aviation; aircraft VH-SUX)
 project 1285 (Thomson Aviation; aircraft VH-THS)
 project 1297 (Thomson Aviation; aircraft VH-JEI)
 project 1301 (MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys; aircraft VH-HHJ)
 project 1308 (GPX Surveys; aircraft VH-IBY)
 project 1309 (GPX Surveys; aircraft VH-STB)
 project 1310 (MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys; aircraft VH-HIS)
2
acquisition and the final estimates of radioelement concentrations from the eight
different acquisition systems. We also compare some of the characteristics of the
different spectrometers, such as system live time, peak resolution and energy drift.
Note that this current report is an update to the report “Processing of Airborne Gamma-
ray Spectrometric Data over the Whyalla Test Lines for Projects 1280, 1281, 1282,
1283, 1284, 1285, 1297 and 1301”, dated 25 January 2018. This current report
includes a further 3 acquisition systems - GPX Surveys aircraft VH-IBY for Block 5
(p1308), GPX Surveys aircraft VH-STB for Block 6A (p1309), and MAGSPEC Airborne
Surveys aircraft VH-HIS for Block 7 (p1310).


3

height.

ppm U and ppm Th.
4
(VH-HIS). The test lines were flown by VH-HIS in 2 flights. The second flight (flight 2)
for the test lines are small (Table 2), any errors introduced, because of this
assumption, by the height correction should be small. If the estimated temperature is
within 5 degrees C of the actual at the time of the survey, then the errors should be
less than 2%.
Th height attenuation coefficients supplied by GPX Surveys for VH-IBY (K - 0.00947, U

– 00730, and Th – 0.00638) are significantly different for U and Th from the theoretical
coefficients for these types of detectors (K - 0.0094, U – 0084, and Th – 0.0074).
Consequently, I used the theoretical values for processing the p1308 data as shown in
Table 1.
Th height attenuation coefficients supplied by GPX Surveys for VH-STB (K - 0.00552,

U – 00481, and Th – 0.00540) are very different from the theoretical coefficients and
are assumed to be corrupt. Consequently, I again used the theoretical values for
processing the p1309 data as shown in Table 1.
5
RESULTS
concentrations.

all eleven aircraft acquisition systems. The signal is generally concentrated in the
lowest-order 4–6 components, and the higher-order components represent random
noise. One system (p1283, Sander Geophysics, C-GSGJ) produced significant energy
drift components (components 4 and 5).
the test line area. The average height of the Thomson aircraft VH-THS (project 1285)
is also several metres above the nominal survey height. The average speed of all
aircraft is within the maximum permissible under the contract specifications (288 km/h).
6
spectrometers used by MAGSPEC Airborne Surveys (Radiation Solutions Inc. RS-
500), Thomson Aviation (Radiation Solutions Inc. RS-500) and GPX Surveys (Pico
Envirotec). The resolutions shown in the table are all significantly better than that
required under the Deed of Standing Offer (7%).
average spectra. I note that the aircraft showing the greatest apparent energy drift (C-

dead time of the new-generation Radiation Solutions Inc and Pico Envirotec
spectrometers used by the other contractors. So, other things being equal, in this area
the RSI/Pico Envirotec spectrometers will record 7.5% more counts than the
Exploranium GR820 spectrometers. This, coupled with the fact that the Sander aircraft
flew systematically higher over the test lines than the other contractors, has resulted in
the Sander Geophysics test line data having higher noise envelopes. This can be
seen in the average spectra for each line. Appendix 2 shows the average spectra for
line 10010 for each of the acquisition systems. Random noise can be seen in the
Sander Geophysics average spectra, which is not seen in the spectra from the other
acquisition systems.
Ternary images are shown in Appendix 6.
DISCUSSION
7
and Pico Envirotec spectrometers. The Whyalla test lines area has quite low
concentrations of the radioelements. In areas with higher radioelement
concentrations, the GR820 dead time will be correspondingly greater. A dead time of
7.5% is equivalent to flying at an altitude between 8 and 10 metres higher (~8 metres
for K, ~9 metres for U and ~10 metres for Th) in terms of the resulting count rates.
This translates into an increase in the fractional (percentage) standard deviation of the
observed count rates of about 4%. So there is an obvious, measureable advantage in
acquiring data using the more modern spectrometers that have minimal dead-time.
instance.
derived from the six different acquisition systems (Table 5). The main outliers are as
follows:
 There is a very low average U concentration for VH-JEI (project 1297, Thomson
Aviation). This is clearly due to the high U sensitivity coefficient for this system,
which is shown in Table 1. The coefficient is obviously not correct. Thomson
Aviation is aware of this, and the aircraft will undergo a further calibration over
the Carnamah Calibration Range at some stage.
 There is a very high average U concentration for VH-IBY (project 1308, GPX
Surveys). This is clearly due to the anomalously low U sensitivity coefficient for
this system, which is shown in Table 1. GPX should be advised of this
anomaly.
 There is an anomalously low average K concentration for VH-STB (project
1309, GPX Surveys). Again, this is clearly due to the anomalously high K
sensitivity coefficient for this system, which is shown in Table 1. GPX should be
advised of this anomaly.
Excluding the results for the above 3 outliers, the percentage differences between the
maximum and minimum estimated means in Table 5 are 30.7% for K, 45.9% for eU
and 17.1% for eTh. This is a clear demonstration of the need for some mechanism for
adjusting the final radioelement data for each survey block to ensure consistency
across the entire Gawler Craton survey program. The differences between the
different acquisition systems point to the difficulty in obtaining accurate sensitivity
coefficients from the Carnamah Calibration Range, where the background
measurements have to be made either over a nearby salt pan, or over the ocean some
60 km distant. It would be a worthwhile exercise to review the way the airborne
8
geophysical survey contractors derive their sensitivity coefficients using the Carnamah
range. I note, for example, that there is an inconsistency in the Thomson aviation
sensitivities for VH-SUX and VH-THS. If one acquisition system has a higher
sensitivity than another system, then this should be the case for each of K, U and Th.
But VH-SUX has a significantly higher U sensitivity, yet lower Th sensitivity than VH-
THS.
I also noted earlier that the height attenuation coefficients for VH-STB (p1309 GPX
Surveys) are apparently corrupt. This raises the suspicion that the Carnamah
calibration data for this system are probably not suitable for estimating sensitivities
either.
greater accuracy.
9
DELIVERABLES

 gpx_p1308_VH_IBY: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and ASEG-GDF
format) for project 1308 Whyalla Test Lines.
 gpx_p1309_VH_STB: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and ASEG-GDF
Coordinate Systems
datum.
10
REFERENCES

11
TABLES
Parameter p1280 p1281 p1282 p1283 p1284 p1285 p1297 p1301 p1308 p1309 p1310
MAGSPEC MAGSPEC Sander Sander Thomson Thomson Thomson MAGSPEC GPX GPX MAGSPEC
VH-HIS VH-MDG C-GSGA C-GSGJ VH-SUX VH-THS VH-JEI VH-HHJ VH-IBY VH-STB VH-HIS
strip – alpha 0.2670 0.2845 0.2600 0.2381 0.2780 0.2710 0.303 0.278 0.318 0.325 0.278
strip – beta 0.4010 0.4517 0.4101 0.3908 0.4080 0.4060 0.453 0.408 0.455 0.467 0.446
strip – gamma 0.7450 0.7986 0.7532 0.7163 0.7770 0.7820 0.793 0.749 0.839 0.847 0.795
strip – a 0.045 0.047 0.048 0.047 0.045 0.049 0.045 0.046 0.036 0.039 0.051
strip: alpha/m 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049
strip: beta/m 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065 0.00065
strip: gamma/m 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069 0.00069
height attn. – K 0.00940 0.00940 0.00883 0.00876 0.00943 0.00943 0.0094 0.0094 0.0094 0.0094 0.0094
height attn. – U 0.00840 0.00840 0.00752 0.00766 0.00842 0.00842 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084
height attn. – T 0.00740 0.00740 0.00690 0.00689 0.00751 0.00751 0.0074 0.0074 0.0074 0.0074 0.0074
sensitivity – K 129.5 110.4 112.0 118.1 105.9 102.7 83.5 99.4 116.5 149.0 125.4
sensitivity – U 15.1 11.3 10.4 13.1 16.7 12.6 26.8 10.9 7.46 11.74 14.5
sensitivity – T 7.4 6.5 7.0 7.3 5.9 6.0 5.9 5.9 6.47 6.55 7.3
nominal height 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60
12
1280 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 233 60.9 3.5
1281 MAGSPEC VH-MDG 273 61.2 4.0
1282 Sander C-GSGA 232 70.0 5.8
1283 Sander C-GSGJ 248 68.1 5.9
1284 Thomson VH-SUX 261 60.6 3.7
1285 Thomson VH-THS 257 65.4 4.1
1297 Thomson VH-JEI 253 59.8 4.5
1301 MAGSPEC VH-HHJ 263 62.0 2.8
1308 GPX Surveys VH-IBY 249 62.0 6.7
1309 GPX Surveys VH-STB 250 57.9 4.9
1310 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 215 61.5 3.4

1308 GPX Surveys VH-IBY 5.03
1309 GPX Surveys VH-STB 5.07
13
calibration.
1308 GPX Surveys VH-IBY 1.26
1309 GPX Surveys VH-STB 0.54
1280 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 0.423 0.619 3.29
1281 MAGSPEC VH-MDG 0.409 0.800 3.30
1282 Sander C-GSGA 0.531 0.830 3.87
1283 Sander C-GSGJ 0.502 0.652 3.67
1284 Thomson VH-SUX 0.465 0.449 3.88
1285 Thomson VH-THS 0.477 0.743 3.76
1297 Thomson VH-JEI 0.591 0.310 3.97
1301 MAGSPEC VH-HHJ 0.487 0.723 3.81
1308 GPX Surveys VH-IBY 0.411 1.270 3.56
1309 GPX Surveys VH-STB 0.339 0.707 3.65
1310 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 0.432 0.467 3.43
14

bearing bearing
date data field
FID Fiducial number
LINE line number
liveTime live time
15
16
17
18
19
p1308 – GPX Surveys (VH-IBY)
p1309 – GPX Surveys (VH-STB)
20
p1310 – MAGSPEC Surveys (VH-HIS)
21
22
23
24
25
26
p1310 – MAGSPEC Surveys (VH-HIS)
27
p1282 – Sander(C-GSGA)
28
29
30
31
REPORT

over the Whyalla Test Lines for all survey aircraft used
during PACE Gawler Craton Survey Program
on behalf of
7 September 2020
Minty Geophysics
PO Box 3229
Tel. +61 (0)404083087

ABN 66 186 645 937
1
Craton Airborne Geophysical Survey Program (hereafter referred to as the “Gawler
survey”) were required to fly the test lines prior to the start of production flying
at their source.
entire survey area.
from the 10 airborne gamma-ray spectrometric systems used in the Gawler survey, as
summarised in Table 1 (table courtesy Geological Survey of South Australia).
The report describes the processing procedure, and compares the final estimates of
radioelement concentrations over the test lines from the ten different acquisition
systems. This current report is an update to the reports “Processing of Airborne
Gamma-ray Spectrometric Data over the Whyalla Test Lines for Projects 1280, 1281,
1282, 1283, 1284, 1285, 1297 and 1301”, dated 25 January 2018, and “Processing of
Airborne Gamma-ray Spectrometric Data over the Whyalla Test Lines for Projects
1280, 1281, 1282, 1283, 1284, 1285, 1297, 1301, 1308, 1309 and 1310”, dated
3 September 2018. Although 5 more surveys have been flown since then (p1298,
p1299, p1300, p1302 and p1311), they were flown by aircraft that had already flown
the Whyalla test lines and were thus not required to do so again.
There is one exception: VH-HIS (MAGSPEC) flew the test lines as part of both p1280
and p1310. For p1280, the test lines were flown in 2 flights. The second flight
2
removing all the background radiation. For this reason, we have chosen to use the
test lines flown for p1310 as being representative for p1280.
This is summarized in Table 1 and subsequent tables. The test lines flown for p1310
also apply to p1302 and p1280. The same holds for p1281 (also applies to p1300),
p1301 (also applies to p1311), p1284 (also applies to p1298) and p1285 (also applies
to p1299).
Subsequent to the previous processing of the test line data by Minty Geophysics (see
report of 3 September 2018), all of the surveys comprising the Gawler survey program
have been reprocessed by Baigent Geophysics. So the current re-processing of the
test line data described in this report uses the calibration coefficients used by Baigent
Geosciences.

3


height.

ppm U and ppm Th.
processing have been supplied by Baigent Geosciences, and are summarised in
Table 2.
in one important respect: we have used the mean count rates from the over-water
section of each line as the background value for that line. This removes the greatest
source of possible inconsistency in the data processing – that of accurate background
4
estimation. So any differences in the final radioelement estimates are most likely due
to errors in the estimation of system sensitivities.
Note that in previous iterations of this report we also compared some of the
characteristics of the different spectrometers, such as system live time, peak resolution
and energy drift. We applied the NASVD method to the raw spectra from each of the
test line surveys in order to assess their suitability for this type of analysis. The results
were reported in the 3 September 2018 version of this report and are not duplicated
here. The NASVD-smoothed spectra were not used for the further processing of the
data to radioelement concentrations. This is to avoid any possible sources of
The use of the over-water backgrounds was successful in all cases. The final data
were shown in Appendix 5 of the 2 September 2018 report, and with the exception of
p1280 (not used in the current comparison), were found to be free of levelling errors.
for the test lines are small, any errors introduced because of this assumption should be
small. If the estimated temperature is within 5 degrees C of the actual at the time of
the survey, then the errors should be less than 2%.
RESULTS
The average radioelement concentrations across the Whyalla test lines derived from
the final processed data are listed in Table 3. The field names in the final delivered
Intrepid databases are listed in Table 5.
5
DISCUSSION
greater accuracy.
As an example, suppose we chose MAGSPEC’s VH-HIS calibration as the standard to

which all other systems are to be levelled. Then the scaling factors to be applied to all
the other surveys are simply the ratio of the VH-HIS radiolement means in Table 3 with
each of the other survey system means. The required ratios in this case are shown in
Table 4. After applying these scaling factors, the remaining surveys data can be
levelled to the VH-HIS surveys using shift adjustments only.
Brian Minty
Minty Geophysics
7 September 2020
6
DELIVERABLES

 gpx_p1308_VH_IBY: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and ASEG-GDF
 gpx_p1309_VH_STB: final radiometric data (Intrepid database and ASEG-GDF
Coordinate Systems
datum.
7
REFERENCES

8
TABLES
Table 1. Summary of aircraft and operators used in the PACE Gawler Craton Airborne
Geophysical Survey Program (table courtesy Laszlo Katona, Geological Survey of
South Australia).
Survey GA Project
Block name Supplier Aircraft Callsign
Block Number
3A Andamooka P1282 Sander Geophysics C-GSGA
3B Torrens P1283 Sander Geophysics C-GSGJ
9A Childara P1301 MagSpec VH-HHJ
9B Kingoonya P1311 MagSpec VH-HHJ
7 Spencer P1310 MagSpec VH-HIS
10 Lake Eyre P1302 MagSpec VH-HIS
2A Murloocoppie P1280 MagSpec VH-HIS
5 Streaky Bay P1308 GPX VH-IBY
1A Tallaringa North P1297 Thomson Aviation VH-JEI
1B Tallaringa South P1298 Thomson Aviation VH-SUX
4A Barton P1284 Thomson Aviation VH-SUX
2B Warrina P1281 MagSpec VH-MDG
8B Billa Kalina P1300 MagSpec VH-MDG
6 Gairdner P1309 GPX VH-STB
4B Fowler P1285 Thomson Aviation VH-THS
8A Coober Pedy West P1299 Thomson Aviation VH-THS
9
Projects p1310 (7) p1281 (2B) p1301 (9A) p1282 (3A) p1283 (3B) p1284 (4A) p1285 (4B) p1297 (1A) p1308 (5) p1309 (6)
(Blocks) p1280 (2A) p1300 (8B) p1311 (9B) p1298 (1B) p1299 (8A)
p1302 (10)
Operator MAGSPEC MAGSPEC MAGSPEC Sander Sander Thomson Thomson Thomson GPX GPX
Aircraft VH-HIS VH-MDG VH-HHJ C-GSGA C-GSGJ VH-SUX VH-THS VH-JEI VH-IBY VH-STB
alpha 0.284 0.284 0.278 0.260 0.260 0.298 0.298 0.298 0.276 0.276
beta 0.451 0.451 0.408 0.410 0.410 0.405 0.405 0.405 0.405 0.405
gamma 0.798 0.798 0.749 0.753 0.753 0.759 0.759 0.759 0.759 0.759
a 0.066 0.066 0.066 0.048 0.048 0.066 0.066 0.066 0.066 0.066
alpha/m 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049 0.00049
beta/m 0.00065 0. 00065 0. 00065 0. 00065 0. 00065 0. 00065 0. 00065 0. 00065 0. 00065 0. 00065
gamma/m 0.00069 0. 00069 0. 00069 0. 00069 0. 00069 0. 00069 0. 00069 0. 00069 0. 00069 0. 00069
attn - K -0.00943 -0.00943 -0.00943 -0.00943 -0.00943 -0.00943 -0.00943 -0.00943 -0.00943 -0.00943
attn - U -0.00842 -0.00842 -0.00842 -0.00842 -0.00842 -0.00842 -0.00842 -0.00842 -0.00842 -0.00842
attn - Th -0.00751 -0.00751 -0.00751 -0.00751 -0.00751 -0.00751 -0.00751 -0.00751 -0.00751 -0.00751
sens - K 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 116.59 1116.59
sens - U 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 7.46 7.46
sens - Th 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.47 6.47
survey height 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60
10
Projects Operator Aircraft K mean U Mean Th mean

(%) (ppm) (ppm)
1310, 1280, 1302 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 0.541 0.665 3.895
1281, 1300 MAGSPEC VH-MDG 0.452 0.906 3.348
1301, 1311 MAGSPEC VH-HHJ 0.485 0.793 3.488
1282 Sander C-GSGA 0.595 0.866 4.268
1283 Sander C-GSGJ 0.590 0.796 4.233
1284, 1298 Thomson VH-SUX 0.499 0.711 3.573
1285, 1299 Thomson VH-THS 0.498 0.880 3.556
1297 Thomson VH-JEI 0.507 0.849 3.635
11
Table 4. Scaling factors (multiplicative) to scale the surveys to the VH-HIS datum
Projects Operator Aircraft K scaling U scaling Th scaling

factor factor factor
1310, 1280, 1302 MAGSPEC VH-HIS 1.00 1.00 1.00
1281, 1300 MAGSPEC VH-MDG 1.19 0.73 1.16
1301, 1311 MAGSPEC VH-HHJ 1.11 0.83 1.11
1282 Sander C-GSGA 0.90 0.76 0.91
1283 Sander C-GSGJ 0.91 0.83 0.92
1284, 1298 Thomson VH-SUX 1.08 0.93 1.09
1285, 1299 Thomson VH-THS 1.08 0.75 1.09
1297 Thomson VH-JEI 1.06 0.78 1.07
12
bearing bearing
date data field
FID Fiducial number
LINE line number
liveTime live time
13
APPENDIX 4. LANDHOLDER NOTIFICATION INFORMATION

If calling please ask for:
Laszlo Katona
Our Reference: MER F2016/000324
15 May 2018
J CITIZEN
41 ANYWHERE ST
ANYWHERE SA 5000 AU
Dear Land Holder
Notice of an Airborne Geophysical Survey in your area
I write to inform you that the South Australian Government through the Geological Survey of South
Australia, is about to continue an airborne geophysical survey that will cover much of central South
Australia – a geological region known as the Gawler Craton (please see the attached map). The
survey is scheduled to begin in June 2018. We have sent this letter to you as a review of land
titles within the survey area indicate the following titles are owned by J CITIZEN:
CL 999 99
This survey is a key program of the Geological Survey of South Australia. More information on the
airborne geophysical survey is provided in the information sheet included with this letter.
The survey will collect geophysical data by using a small, fixed-wing aircraft flying approximately
60m above the ground. As this is an aerial survey, no on ground data collection is required. The
aircraft will be flying mainly along either east-west or north-south oriented flight lines spaced 200m
apart as they cover the required survey area.
In total, the survey will capture over 1,600,000 line kilometres of new geophysical data (magnetic,
radiometric and digital elevation data) over an area of approximately 300,000 square kilometres.
The information gathered will provide new and updated geological information to the community
and assist the government with making decisions on the development of its mineral and energy
resources.
The survey is led by the South Australian Government, and being undertaken pursuant to section
15 of the Mining Act 1971 in accordance with State Government geoscientific investigations. The
South Australian Government has also granted Geoscience Australia (Commonwealth Department
of Industry, Innovation and Science) the authority to assist in the management of the survey.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Level 4, 101 Grenfell Street Adelaide 5000 | GPO Box 320 Adelaide SA 5001
Tel (+61) 08 8463 3159 | Fax (+61) 08 8226 3200 | www.dpc.sa.gov.au | ABN 83 524 915 929
A dedicated website has been developed to inform the community about every aspect of the Gawler
Craton Airborne Survey. The website will provide information about the data being captured and
will allow the community to subscribe to email updates and follow the progress of the survey.
The website address is: www.minerals.dpc.sa.gov.au/gcas
If you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact:
i. Laszlo Katona (Project Leader – Gawler Craton Airborne Survey) on 08 8429 2530 or
Laz.Katona@sa.gov.au; or
ii. Geoscience Australia free call number 1800 091 964.
Yours sincerely
Laszlo Katona
PRINCIPAL GEOSCIENTIST – GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Map of the Gawler Craton Airborne Survey Regions. Regions shown in mauve (5, 6A, 7 and 9B)
are commencing in June 2018. Note: Internal survey boundaries are subject to change without
notice.
Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Information Sheet
Airborne Survey
The world’s largest high-resolution airborne geophysical and terrain
imaging program, the Gawler Craton Airborne Survey aims to set the
foundations for the next generation of resources industry growth
and job creation in the services, supply and manufacturing sectors in
South Australia, while supporting environmental and community programs.
? What and where is the Gawler Craton?

The Gawler Craton is the name of the oldest and largest geological province in South Australia, occupying
over 40% of the state’s total area. It is characterised by ancient geology dating back approximately
3,000 million years and hosts the world class Olympic Dam copper deposit. Refer to map for an indication
of the Gawer Craton Airborne Survey boundaries.
? What is an airborne survey?

An airborne survey captures high resolution geophysical
and topographic mapping data. The survey is performed
by low-flying aircraft, using sensors that will acquire
magnetic intensity, radiometric and elevation data that
will help us to better understand the geology, and inform
stakeholders in how best to manage our natural resources
in South Australia. This mapping data will be freely
available online via the Department’s South Australian
Resource Information Geoserver (SARIG) application
<map.sarig.sa.gov.au>
? What sort of information is being

captured by this survey?
The Gawler Craton Airborne Survey aircraft will have
instruments capturing magnetic intensity, radiometrics
and ground elevation. You can learn more about these
and other geoscientific data by reading our geophysical
data page www.minerals.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au/
geoscience/geoscientific_data/geophysical_data
More information on the survey visit: www.minerals.dpc.sa.gov.au/gcas
PACE part of
South Australia’s
Copper Copper Strategy
www.minerals.dpc.sa.gov.au/copperstrategy
? What will the survey information be used for?
Data captured by the survey reveals the composition of rocks at and beneath the earth’s surface.
After being made freely available to the public via SARIG, the information will provide a greater
understanding of the geoscience framework, enabling land management, resource potential and
water research activities. Together, these will support a balanced approach to future economic,
environmental and community programs in South Australia.
? Who is managing the survey?

The survey is being managed by Geoscience Australia, which is Australia’s national geoscience
agency. The Survey is funded by the South Australian Government through the flagship PACE
Copper initiative under the Next Generation Copper Discovery Program. Geoscience Australia will
be contracting several surveying companies to collect data over survey regions across the Gawler
Craton.
? Where will the aircraft be flying?

The survey area has been divided into blocks and the progress of all aircraft we will be tracked as
the blocks are being flown. Using the map found at www.minerals.dpc.sa.gov.au/gcas you will
have access to the current status of all aircraft and will be able to find out where the aircraft are or
when they are expected to be in your area.
? How will I know when an aircraft is near my property?

If a survey has not yet commenced on your block, you can subscribe to email updates to receive
an alert for when the survey is scheduled to begin. If the survey has already begun on your block,
you can view the current flight plan (www.minerals.dpc.sa.gov.au/gcas) to see the proximity of
the flight plan to your location. The map provides information about the planned start date of the
survey in each block. There is also a locate me button on the web page which will show you the
survey block you are located in.
? What type of aircraft is being used for the survey?

As the survey has been divided into blocks and a number of different survey contractors will be
performing surveys over the broader region, there will not be one single type of aircraft used.
However, the type of aircraft will be one of several models of fixed wing Cessna, with a single
propeller engine. More information on the aircraft being used in each block will be available closer
to the start of each survey via the map.
? Will the aircraft be transmitting any signals to the ground?

The survey aircraft has a range of instruments on board. The instruments used for the Gawler
Craton Airborne Survey include:
xx A laser altimeter for measuring altitude and computing the elevation at the earth’s surface.
The laser altimeter system operates at a frequency that is safe to humans and animals.
xx A satellite navigation system.
xx A magnetometer for measuring variations in the magnetic field of the earth resulting from the
magnetic property of rocks beneath the aircraft. The magnetometer is a passive instrument
and does not emit a signal.
xx A gamma ray detector for measuring the natural radioactivity of soil and rocks in the upper 30
centimetres of the earth’s surface. The gamma ray detector is a passive instrument and does
not emit a signal.
? Will the aircraft be gathering any other information?

No, the aircraft will not be capturing any information or data, other than geophysical and elevation
data.
18/07/2017–204847
or the Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Mr Laszlo Katona
For further information please contact Project Leader, Gawler Craton Airborne Survey
Geoscience Australia on 1800 091 964 Phone: +61 8 8204 2853
Email: Laz.Katona@sa.gov.au
APPENDIX 5. COMMUNITY NOTICE EXAMPLE

Public Notice
Notification of Airborne Geophysical Survey in Northern South Australia
The South Australian Government, through the Geological Survey of South Australia, is about to
commence an airborne geophysical survey over Regions 5, 6A, 6B, 7 and 9B,on the attached
map, which are within a geological region known as the Gawler Craton.
The survey is a scientific investigation that is being undertaken in accordance with section 15 of
the Mining Act 1971. The survey is scheduled to begin in March 2018 and will take up to 5
months to complete.
The survey will be performed by one of several models of fixed-wing Cessna, with a single
propeller engine. The aircraft will fly approximately 60m above the ground along east-west and
north-south oriented flight lines spaced 200m apart. As this is an airborne survey, there will be
no on ground data collection or sampling.
The aircraft use sensors that will capture magnetic intensity, radiometric and elevation data.
This information will provide a greater understanding of the composition of rocks at and beneath
the earth’s surface that will help to inform natural resources management, resource potential
and water research activities in the region.
The survey is being led by the South Australian Government in partnership with Geoscience
Australia (part of the Federal Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science).
This survey is a key program of the Plan for Accelerating Exploration (PACE) Copper Initiative,
which is part of South Australia’s Copper Strategy.
A dedicated website www.minerals.dpc.sa.gov.au/gcas has been developed to inform the

community about the Gawler Craton Airborne Survey. The website will provide information
about aircraft activity during the survey and allows the community to subscribe to email updates
on the progress of the survey.
For further information, please contact Laszlo Katona (Project Leader – Gawler Craton Airborne
Survey) on 08 8204 2853 or Laz.Katona@sa.gov.au
APPENDIX 6. RADIOMETRIC REPROCESSING REPORT

P1308 – Streaky Bay SA
Radiometric Processing Report
May 2020
Project: P1308 - Streaky Bay

Table of Contents
1. Datum Specification ..................................................................................... 3
2. Parallax .......................................................................................................... 4
3. Radiometric Processing............................................................................... 5
3.1 Processing Flow.............................................................................................5
3.2 Window Energy Limits....................................................................................5
3.3 Spectral Stripping Ratios................................................................................6
3.4 Aircraft, Cosmic Backgrounds and Height Attenuation coefficients.................6
3.5 Tie Line Levelling ...........................................................................................7
3.6 Micro-levelling Method ...................................................................................7
3.7 Interpolation Method ......................................................................................8
3.8 Principal Component plots from the NASVD Process.....................................8
4. Deliverable Items ........................................................................................ 10

4.1 Final Radiometric Located Data file..............................................................11
5. Radiometric Processing Flow Chart ......................................................... 14
Processing Report Page 2 of 14

1. Datum Specification
The output survey coordinates are based on the Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94),
zone 53.
It has the following parameters:

Projection name: Map Grid of Australia
Datum: Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA94)
Reference Frame: ITRF92 (International Terrestrial Reference 1992)
Epoch: 1994.0
Ellipsoid: GRS80
Semi-major axis: 6.378.137.0 metres
Inverse flattening: 298,257222101
False Northing: 10,000,000 m N
False Easting: 500,000 m E
Scale Factor: 0.9996

2. Parallax
Parallax corrections were applied as follows:
0.6 second for radiometric data.

3. Radiometric Processing
3.1 Processing Flow

The processing steps radiometric data were as follows:
1. Application of necessary parallax corrections to data
2. Check radar altimeter data for spikes
3. NASVD spectral reconstruction
 Examine the output to determine the number of components required.
 Select 8 components for spectral reconstruction.
4. Standard 256 channel radiometric corrections:
 Dead-time correction performed on 256 channel data.
 Check if energy recalibration required
 Remove background radon from window data using Minty’s method (1996)
 Perform STP height corrected spectral stripping
 Perform STP height correction of window data to average survey height (60 m).
5. Micro-levelling
Spectral reconstruction was applied using the NASVD process, and the reconstruction
employed using 8 spectral components.
Micro-levelling was applied in the method as described below.
3.2 Window Energy Limits
The energy bounds for the windows were
Window Name Energy Range (Mev)

Potassium 1.374 – 1.566
Thorium 2.416 – 2.799
Uranium 1.662 – 1.854
Total Count 0.414 – 2.799

3.3 Spectral Stripping Ratios
The stripping ratios used in the processing were:
Alpha 0.276
Beta 0.405
Gamma 0.759
a 0.066
b 0.001
g 0.001
3.4 Aircraft, Cosmic Backgrounds and Height Attenuation

coefficients
Total Count Potassium Uranium Thorium

Aircraft Bkg 56.26 12.808 0493 0.4461
Cosmic Bkg 0.9896 0,.0535 0.042 0.0539
Height Attn -0.00743414 -0.00943236 -0.00842858 -0.00751008
Sensitivity 29.16 116.59 7.46 6.47
The above values are for the windows only. During processing the equivalent 256 channel raft
and cosmic backgrounds are removed as shown below.
Background spectra

Cosmic spectra
3.5 Tie Line Levelling

Tie line levelling was applied to the data by least squares minimisation, using a polynomial fit
of order 0, of the differences in elevation values at the crossover points of the survey traverse
and tie line data.
The least squares tie line levelling process employs a two pass Gauss-Seidel iterative scheme.
The essential steps in this process are:
In the first pass the tie lines were first adjusted to minimise, in the least squares sense, the
crossover values with the traverse line values being held constant.
The second pass held the levelled tied line values constant, and minimised in the least squares
sense, the crossover values with traverses.
The DC correction values are then applied to the traverse line and tie line data.
To reduce the effects of radar altimeter and gps errors on the recorded elevation data at the
crossover points, data having a radar altimeter difference greater than 20 metres in a radius of
100 metres on the traverse or tie lines were excluded from the tying process.
3.6 Micro-levelling Method

Micro-levelling techniques were then selectively applied to the tie line levelled data to remove
minor residual variations in profile intensity. The micro-levelling is performed in two stages.

The first stage is a decorrugation technique performed on the interpolated data. This consisting
of using a long wavelength filter along the flight line direction and a short wavelength filter
perpendicular to the filter line direction. These errors are then removed from the magnetic data
profile data. Any small busts remaining then a secondary technique is used. The selective
micro-levelling was applied in order to leave unaffected any data having no residual levelling
artefacts. Selective micro-levelling proceeds using the following steps:
Areas of interest that required micro-levelling were identified through the use of image
processing visualisation.
Polygons were used to define areas requiring extra levelling. A new micro-levelled grid is
calculated and only areas within the defined polygon were applied to the profile
3.7 Interpolation Method
The interpolation used is a minimum curvature algorithm. The algorithm is based on the
worked published by Briggs 1974, Briggs I. C.: Machine contouring using minimum
curvature. Geophysics. Vol. 39, No. 1. February 1974. pp. 39-48.
A tension factor of 0.2 was used to interpolate the radiometrics.
The mesh size for data interpolation was 40 x 40 metres.
3.8 Principal Component plots from the NASVD Process
PC - 1 PC - 2
0 0.3
-0.05
-0.1 0.1
-0.15
-0.1
-0.2
-0.25
-0.3
1 51 101 151 201 251
1 51 101 151 201 251
PC - 3 PC - 4
0.25 0.3
0.15
0.1
0.05
-0.05
-0.1
-0.15
-0.25 -0.3
1 51 101 151 201 251 1 51 101 151 201 251

PC - 5 PC - 6
0.25 0.25
0.15 0.15
0.05 0.05
-0.05 -0.05
-0.15 -0.15
-0.25 -0.25
1 51 101 151 201 251 1 51 101 151 201 251
PC - 7 PC - 8
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0 0
-0.1 -0.1
-0.2 -0.2
1 51 101 151 201 251 1 51 101 151 201 251
PC - 9 PC - 10
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0 0
-0.1 -0.1
-0.2 -0.2
1 51 101 151 201 251 1 51 101 151 201 251
Percentage significance and Accumulated percentage significance of

eigenvectors:
Percent for eigenvector 1 : 59.315 Accumulated : 59.315

4. Deliverable Items
The deliverable items included all digital data. The located data conformed to ASEG-GDF
format and the gridded data was suppled in ERMapper format. The description of the located
data is below:
There was one area supplied:
P1308
Located data supplied in ASEG GDF

File name Definition
* _rads Final Radiometric Window Data
Gridded data supplied in ER Mapper format

File name Definition Units
* _Dose Rate Final radiometric dose rate gridded data nGy/hr
* _POT Final radiometric potassium gridded data percent
* _TH Final radiometric uranium gridded data ppm
* _URA Final radiometric thorium gridded data ppm
* Denotes the area name as described above

4.1 Final Radiometric Located Data file
.
COMM Survey area : A5 Streaky Bay
COMM Dates of acquisition : 21/06/2018 to 30/09/2018
COMM
COMM CLIENT DETAILS
COMM --------------
COMM Company flown by : GPX Surveys Pty Ltd
COMM
COMM Data reprocessed : Baigent Geosciences Pty Ltd
COMM Date of reprocessing : November 2019
COMM
COMM Client : GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA
COMM Client Project Number : P1308
COMM
COMM AIRBORNE SURVEY EQUIPMENT
COMM -------------------------
COMM Aircraft : Cessna 210 VH-IBY
COMM Magnetometer : Geometrics G-822A
COMM Magnetometer Resolution : 0.0002 nT
COMM Magnetometer Sample Interval : 10Hz
COMM Data Acquisition : Pico Envirotec AGIS
COMM Spectrometer : Pico Envirotec GRS-10+
COMM Crystal Size : 33.6 litres : 8 individual crystals, 4
per pack in downward configuration
COMM Spectrometer Sample Interval : 1Hz
COMM GPS Navigation System : GPX MNav using Hemisphere GPS-R330 DGPS
Receiver
COMM GPS Sample Interval : 5Hz
COMM
COMM SURVEY DESIGN
COMM -------------
COMM Flight Line Direction : 090-270 degrees
COMM Flight Line Separation : 200 metres
COMM Tie Line Direction : 180-360 degrees
COMM Tie Line Separation : 2000 metres
COMM Terrain Clearance : 60 metres
COMM Survey Flown : 21/06/2018 - 30/09/2018
COMM Survey Line Nomenclature : 5100010 to 5106530
COMM Tie Line Nomenclature : 8190010 to 8190740
COMM
COMM DATUM and PROJECTION
COMM --------------------
COMM Datum : Geodetic Datum of Australia 94 GDA94
COMM Projection : Mag Grid of Australia MGA
COMM Zone : Zone 53
COMM
COMM LOCAL TIME ZONE
COMM ---------------
COMM Time Zone (LOCAL_TIME) : Australian Central Standard Time (UTC +
9.5)
COMM
COMM PARALLAX
COMM --------
COMM Dataset coordinates are parallaxed, secondary channels are parallaxed where
required.
COMM
COMM Coordinate parallax : 0.5 seconds
COMM Radar altimeter parallax : 0.0 seconds
COMM Laser altimeter parallax : 0.0 seconds

COMM Barometric pressure parallax : 0.0 seconds
COMM Temperature parallax : 0.0 seconds
COMM
COMM SYSTEM CORRECTIONS SUMMARY
COMM --------------------------
COMM
COMM Spectral data reconstructed using NASVD
COMM Data has been corrected for aircraft and cosmic backgrounds.
COMM Height corrected to a constant datum of 60 metres,
COMM minimum height of 5 and a maximum of 150 metres.
COMM Data has also been corrected for radon using the method described by Minty
COMM and corrected for channel interaction.
COMM
COMM AIRCRAFT BACKGROUND
COMM Total Count : 56.26
COMM Potassium : 12.808
COMM Uranium : 0.493
COMM Thorium : 0.4461
COMM COSMIC STRIPPING RATIOS
COMM Uranium : 0.042000
COMM Thorium : 0.053900
COMM COMPTON STRIPPING RATIOS
COMM alpha : 0.276
COMM beta : 0.405
COMM gamma : 0.759
COMM a : 0.066
COMM b : 0.001
COMM g : 0.001
COMM HEIGHT ATTENUATION COEFFICIENTS
COMM Total Count : -0.00743414
COMM Potassium : -0.00943236
COMM Uranium : -0.00842858
COMM Thorium : -0.00751008
COMM SENSITIVITY CONSTANTS
COMM Uranium : 7.46
COMM Thorium : 6.47
COMM WINDOW ENERGY LEVELS : Low Energy High Energy
COMM Total Count : 400 2810 keV
COMM Potassium : 1370 1570 keV
COMM Uranium : 1660 1860 keV
COMM Thorium : 2410 2810 keV
COMM Cosmic : 3000 keV
COMM
COMM
COMM Channel name Format Units Null
Value
COMM___________________________________________________________________________
COMM
COMM JOB Code I8 -999999
COMM Line number A9
COMM Flight date A9 YYYYMMD
COMM Flight I5 -999
COMM fiducial f12.1 -999999.00
COMM bearing F5.0 -99.
COMM gda_long f12.6 -999.000000
COMM gda_lat f12.6 -99.000000
COMM mga_east f11.2 -99999.00

COMM mga_north f11.2 -99999.00
COMM rad_alt f8.2 -999.00
COMM laser_alt f8.2 -999.00
COMM gps_height f8.2 -999.00
COMM dem_radar f8.2 -99.00
COMM dem_laser f8.2 -99.00
COMM baro_pressure f8.2 -999.00
COMM temp_air_deg_c f5.1 -9.0
COMM dose_rate_nasvd f10.4 -999.0000
COMM pot_pct_nasvd f9.4 -99.0000
COMM ura_ppm_nasvd f9.4 -99.0000
COMM th_ppm_nasvd f9.4 -99.0000
COMM
DEFN ST=RECD,RT=COMM;RT:A4;COMMENTS:A80
DEFN 1 ST=RECD,RT=;BGSJOB:I8:NULL=-999999:NAME=BGS Job Code
DEFN 2 ST=RECD,RT=;LINE:A9:NULL=-9999999:NAME=line
DEFN 3 ST=RECD,RT=;DATE:A9:NULL=-9999999:UNIT=YYYYMMDD
DEFN 4 ST=RECD,RT=;FLIGHT:I5:NULL=-999:NAME=flight
DEFN 5 ST=RECD,RT=;FIDUCIAL:f12.1:NULL=-999999.0:NAME=FIDUCIAL
DEFN 6 ST=RECD,RT=;BEARING:F5.0:UNIT=DEGREES:NULL=-99:NAME=BEARING
DEFN 7 ST=RECD,RT=;GDA94LNG:f12.6:UNIT=degrees:NULL=-999.000000:NAME=GDA94LNG
DEFN 8 ST=RECD,RT=;GDA94LAT:f12.6:UNIT=degrees:NULL=-99.000000:NAME=GDA94LAT
DEFN 9 ST=RECD,RT=;MGAEAST:f11.2:UNIT=METRES:NULL=-99999.0:NAME=MGA_EAST
DEFN 10 ST=RECD,RT=;MGANORTH:f11.2:UNIT=METRES:NULL=-99999.0000:NAME=MGA_NORTH
DEFN 11 ST=RECD,RT=;RAD_ALT:f8.2:UNIT=METRES:NULL=-999.00:NAME=RAD_ALT
DEFN 12 ST=RECD,RT=;LASERALT:f8.2:UNIT=METRES:NULL=-999.00:NAME=LASERALT
DEFN 13 ST=RECD,RT=;GPS_HT:f8.2:UNIT=METRES:NULL=-999.00:NAME=GPS_HGT
DEFN 14 ST=RECD,RT=;DEMRADAR:f8.2:UNIT=METRES:NULL=-99.00:NAME=DEMRADAR
DEFN 15 ST=RECD,RT=;DEMLASER:f8.2:UNIT=METRES:NULL=-99.00:NAME=DEMLASER
DEFN 16 ST=RECD,RT=;BAROPRES:f8.2:UNIT=hPa:NULL=-999.00:NAME=PRESSURE
DEFN 17 ST=RECD,RT=;TEMP_DEGC:f5.1:UNIT=DEGC:NULL=-9.0:NAME=TEMP_DEG
DEFN 18 ST=RECD,RT=;DOSERATE:f10.4:UNIT=nGy/h:NULL=-999.0000:NAME=DOSERATE
DEFN 19 ST=RECD,RT=;POTPCNT:f9.4:UNIT=PERCENT:NULL=-99.0000:NAME=POTPCNT
DEFN 20 ST=RECD,RT=;UPPM:f9.4:UNIT=ppm:NULL=-99.0000:NAME=UPPM
DEFN 21 ST=RECD,RT=;THPPM:f9.4:UNIT=PPM:NULL=-99.0000:NAME=THPPM
;END DEFN

5. Radiometric Processing Flow Chart
Import Raw Aircraft
Data
Check, despike and

noise checks
Flight Path Plots
Spectral Smoothing
NASVD
Radiometric
Corrections
Interpolate
No Micro Level
(Selective)
Image Interpolate
Finished
?
Yes
Final Production of
Located Data Images and maps
Grided Data

APPENDIX 7. PARAMETERS USED FOR RE-GRIDDING OF TMI AND
RADIOMETRICS

TMI Gridding Job File (Intrepid Software)
Process Begin
Name = GriddingPro
Parameters Begin
Input_Datasets Begin
Input_Dataset_1 Begin
Input_Dataset =
D:\GCASGridMerge\DS\2017SA001_PACECopper_GCAS_Region2a_MAG_DS..DIR
Input_X = X_long_out
Input_Y = y_lat_out
Data = magnetics_final_microlevelled
Band = 1
Survey_Lines Begin
LineType = LineType
Survey_Lines End
Input_Dataset_1 End
Input_Datasets End
Gridding_Method Begin
Extrapolation_Limit =5
Cell_Assignment = Closest
Name = Nearest_Neighbour
Weight_Type = Unity
Save_Triangles = no
Gridding_Method End
Grid_Refinement Begin
Fill_Holes = no
Edge_Clipping = Original_data_limits
Laplace_Iterations =2
Smoothing_Iterations = 2
Minimum_Curvature Begin
Iterations = 1000
Max_Residual = 0.1
Tension = 0.0
Relaxation_Factor = 1.375
Kernel_Size = 25
Honour_Original_Data = 1
Minimum_Curvature End
Grid_Refinement End
Output_Grid Begin
Output_Grid = D:\GCASGridMerge\CoNodularGrids\GCAS_2A_DD.ers
Datum = GDA94
Projection = GEODETIC
Cell_Size_X = 0.000360
Cell_Size_Y = 0.000360
Band = 1
Band_Name = magnetics_final_microlevelled
Bands = 1
DataType = IEEE4ByteReal
Rotation = 0.0
Null_Value = -99999.0
Origin_X = 133.485200
Origin_Y = -27.772227
Columns = 4247
Rows = 3424
Output_Grid End
Parameters End
Process End
Radiometric Gridding Job File (Intrepid Software)
Process Begin
Name = GriddingPro
Parameters Begin
Input_Datasets Begin
Input_Dataset_1 Begin
Input_Dataset =
D:\GCASGridMerge\Rads\DS\GCAS_2a_RAD_BGS..DIR
Input_X = gda94lng
Input_Y = gda94lat
Data = doserate
Band = 1
Survey_Lines Begin
LineType = LineType
Survey_Lines End
Input_Dataset_1 End
Input_Datasets End
Gridding_Method Begin
Extrapolation_Limit =5
Cell_Assignment = Closest
Name = Nearest_Neighbour
Weight_Type = Unity
Save_Triangles = no
Gridding_Method End
Grid_Refinement Begin
Fill_Holes = no
Edge_Clipping = Extrapolation_limits
Laplace_Iterations =2
Smoothing_Iterations = 2
Minimum_Curvature Begin
Iterations = 1000
Max_Residual = 0.0
Tension = 0.200000
Relaxation_Factor = 1.375
Kernel_Size =9
Honour_Original_Data = 1
Minimum_Curvature End
Grid_Refinement End
Output_Grid Begin
Output_Grid =
D:\GCASGridMerge\CoNodularDose\GCAS_2a_RAD_BGS_doserate.ers
Datum = GDA94
Projection = GEODETIC
Cell_Size_X = 0.000360
Cell_Size_Y = 0.000360
Band = 1
Band_Name = doserate
Bands = 1
DataType = IEEE8ByteReal
Rotation = 0.0
Null_Value = -99999.0
Origin_X = 133.485200
Origin_Y = -27.772227
Columns = 4244
Rows = 3420
Output_Grid End
Parameters End
Process End
APPENDIX 8. URLS FOR ALL GCAS DELIVERABLES

Data Type Merged Data Packages and Summary Report
TMI https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wci/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2042546
RAD https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wci/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2042547
DEM https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wci/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2042548
Reprocessed Rad https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wci/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2042549
Summary Report https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wci/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2042928
Survey Block CSIRO Report, Value Added Data and Magnetic Source Models
1A, Tallaringa North https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040210
1B, Tallaringa South https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040211
2A, Murloocoppie https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040344
2B, Warrina https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040212
3A, Andamooka https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040706
3B, Torrens https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040707
4A, Barton https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040215
4B, Fowler https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040216
5, Streaky Bay https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040217
6, Gairdner https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040218
7, Spencer https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040220
8A, Coober Pedy West https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040221
8B, Billa Kalina https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040222
9A, Childara https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2041138
9B, Kingoonya https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040224
10, Lake Eyre https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2040225
Survey Block Contractor Supplied Data and Operations Reports

1A, Tallaringa North https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039781
1B, Tallaringa South https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039782
2A, Murloocoppie https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039783
2B, Warrina https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039784
3A, Andamooka https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039785
3B, Torrens https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039786
4A, Barton https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039787
4B, Fowler https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039788
5, Streaky Bay https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039789
6, Gairdner https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039790
7, Spencer https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039792
8A, Coober Pedy West https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039793
8B, Billa Kalina https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039794
9A, Childara https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039795
9B, Kingoonya https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039796
10, Lake Eyre https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2039797

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The Gawler Craton Airborne Survey,

2017 – 2021: Final Report

Laszlo Katona, Gary Reed and

Laszlo F Katona, Gary D Reed and Philip J Heath

Geological Survey of South Australia,

Report Book 2021/00017

South Australian Resources Information Gateway (SARIG)

© Government of South Australia 2021

Preferred way to cite this publication

Department for Energy and Mining iii Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining iv Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 1 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 2 Report Book 2021/00017

Figure 2. Gawler Craton Airborne Survey and Woomera Prohibited Area.

Department for Energy and Mining 3 Report Book 2021/00017

DIGITAL DATA DELIVERY FORMATS

WHYALLA TEST LINES

Department for Energy and Mining 4 Report Book 2021/00017

COMMUNITY INFORMATION AND ENGAGEMENT

Department for Energy and Mining 5 Report Book 2021/00017

• FAQ: Frequently asked questions answered.

The web page is accessible at https://energymining.sa.gov.au/minerals/gcas

Figure 4. GCAS Community Information website during acquisition, showing completed

Department for Energy and Mining 6 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 7 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 8 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 9 Report Book 2021/00017

Figure 7. GCAS merged radiometrics ternary image.

Department for Energy and Mining 10 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 11 Report Book 2021/00017

Figure 10. GCAS merged radar derived DEM.

Department for Energy and Mining 12 Report Book 2021/00017

COLLABORATION WITH CSIRO

• A study to enhance the expression of geological structure in TMI images.

Department for Energy and Mining 13 Report Book 2021/00017

• Reduction to Pole (RTP)

• The first vertical derivative of Bouguer gravity

MAGNETIC SOURCE MODELLING

• Magnetic traverses over selected magnetic bodies

Department for Energy and Mining 14 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 15 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 16 Report Book 2021/00017

Note: all grids also released in image (tif) format

Department for Energy and Mining 17 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 18 Report Book 2021/00017

WHYALLA TEST LINES

Department for Energy and Mining 19 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 20 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 21 Report Book 2021/00017

Figure 14. A comparison of 1VD of 200 m line-spaced GCAS gridded to 40 m cells; 80 m

Department for Energy and Mining 22 Report Book 2021/00017

DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS

COLLABORATION WITH CSIRO

MAGNETIC SOURCE MODELLING

Department for Energy and Mining 23 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 24 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 25 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 26 Report Book 2021/00017

Department for Energy and Mining 27 Report Book 2021/00017

(South Australian PACE Copper Initiative, Airborne Geophysics Component Stage 3)

Weekly Progress Reports

Total Count radiometric Image To demonstrate progress to date and how

Periodic Supply of Data