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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-07-22 Daily Xml
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GOVERNMENT GEOLOGY ANNIVERSARY

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:24): My question is addressed to the Minister for Mineral Resources Development. Will he provide this chamber with details of the recent celebrations to mark the 125th anniversary of South Australian geology and the benefits of that science for this state?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (15:24): I thank the honourable member for his question. Last month I, along with the shadow minister, was honoured to attend a dinner to mark 125 years of South Australian government geology. South Australia does have a long mining history, dating back to the early days of federation, and much of that history is tied to the work of the South Australian Geological Survey.

We lay claim to being the first colony in Australia where mining was considered a crucial activity and we can boast many firsts as a state, some of which include: the first metal mine in Australia; the first company mining town—Burra; the first to drill for oil at Salt Creek on the Coorong (and there is a replica drill there to commemorate that fact for anyone who drives past Salt Creek); the first reported discovery of uranium 100 years ago; the first gold mine at Montacute; and the first official government geological report and book to be published in Australia. These successes were the catalyst that saw mining become the driving force behind South Australia's growing economy, prompting the government of the time to take an active role in furthering this expansion.

Of all the initiatives taken by the South Australian government since this time, the appointment of Henry Yorke Lyell Brown as government geologist in October 1882 was probably the most significant because within 12 months Brown had established the South Australian geological survey and produced the first geological map of South Australia. During the next 10 years the role of the survey was further refined to account for the changing circumstances of the state, but the principal role was—and remarkably remains the same today—stimulating and developing the mining industry with the view of securing benefits for the entire state.

The start of the 20th century saw the geological survey and the Department of Mines officially combined to further stimulate private exploration expenditure. Economic recession and depression saw the committee looking to mining activities as a saviour. In 1914, Premier Archibald Peake recalled:

It is a matter of history that in bad times mining has come to the rescue of South Australia.

During this period the link between mining and manufacturing was expanded, and that led to the rising importance of Port Pirie, through its direct link to the Broken Hill mines, and Whyalla through the iron ore mines of the Middleback Ranges, as well as the establishment of a blast furnace and shipbuilding industry.

After World War I, Coober Pedy opal made an impact on world markets, and oil and gas exploration was ramping up across the state, with Robe 1 drilled in the Otway Basin. The first structural map of South Australia was also produced around this time. Following World War II, the greater diversity and specialisation of the mineral and energy sectors, new technologies and methodologies and increasing demands on services provided the opportunity to expand the geological survey.

A general upswing of the industry in the 1960s saw discoveries of copper, lead, zinc, uranium, oil, gas, coal, lime sand and other industrial and precious minerals eventuate as exploration activity increased. The search for oil and gas rapidly gained momentum in the Cooper Basin, with the discovery in 1963 of gas in Gidgealpa 2, leading to the construction of the Moomba to Adelaide pipeline and the sale of gas to Adelaide in 1970. Throughout the 1970s, oil was discovered in each of the Cooper, Eromanga and Officer Basins, with the first commercial export of crude oil and condensate from Stony Point, which is now Port Bonython, in 1983. The sustained efforts of many geologists within the department and industry continue to uncover new deposits of coal and uranium, including the Olympic Dam copper/uranium/gold/silver find on Roxby Downs Station in 1975.

Continued mineral exploration is crucial to the further development of the state's mineral resources. Throughout its existence the underlying ethos of the geological survey has been the belief that the principal role of government was to promote the mineral resources for the personal wealth of capital investors and for the benefit of the public at large, and this ethos remains unchanged today. The work of the geological survey has ensured the best repository of geological knowledge about South Australia remains open and freely available to both the industry and the general public. The geological survey serves as a fine example of how the government and industry can work together to promote prosperity through environmentally sustainable mineral and petroleum exploration within this state.

This 125th anniversary of South Australian geological surveys is very important for this state, and it is very fitting that this year we should be having such great success in relation to increased exploration within South Australia.

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