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Exploration in the House – Geoscience for Discovery

Presentations will feature highlights and results of current projects by the Geological Survey of NSW and their implications for exploration, mining, research and investment.

Exploration in the House 2026 program

 

8:30 am  |  Registration, tea and coffee

9:00 am  |  Welcome
Dr Phillip Blevin, Chief Geoscientist and Head of the Geological Survey of New South Wales (GSNSW)

9:05 am  |  Welcome to Country
Yvonne Weldon, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council

9:10 am  |  Introduction
Georgina Beattie, Deputy Secretary, NSW Resources

9:20 am  |  Geological Survey of NSW – work programs, outcomes and achievements for 2025–26
Dr Phillip Blevin, Chief Geoscientist and Head of the Geological Survey of New South Wales

9:35 am  |  NSW exploration and discovery highlights
Glen Cathers, Manager Resources Assessment, GSNSW

9:45 am  |  The Central Lachlan seismic project – revealing the Macquarie Arc
Dr Luke Mahoney, Senior Geoscientist, GSNSW

10:00 am  |  Thermal and isotopic mapping of NSW orogens – mapping the footprints of mineralisation
Dr Joel Fitzherbert, Principal Geoscientist, GSNSW

10:15 am  |  The GSNSW petrophysical properties project – towards a petrophysical atlas of NSW
Jola Jaworska, Senior Geoscientist, GSNSW

10:30 am  |  MinView – new datasets, stratigraphic unit tables and functionality 
James Ballard, Senior Geoscientist Geospatial, GSNSW

10:40 am  |  Morning tea and MinView display

11:15 am  |  From trilobites to targets: Cambrian fossils and critical mineral exploration from the basement of the Macquarie Arc
Dr Patrick Smith, Geoscientist Asset Curator, GSNSW

11:30 am  |  Geological reassessment of the Rockley–Gulgong Belt
Dr Gary Colquhoun, Principal Geologist, GSNSW

11:40 am  |  Rare Earth Elements in NSW from magmas to regolith
Brenainn Simpson, Senior Geoscientist, GSNSW

11:55 am  |  High-purity silica project and trace element characterisation of pyrites across NSW
Sam Hill, Graduate Geoscientist, GSNSW

12:05 pm  |  An update on improvements to the WB Clarke Geoscience Centre and HyLogger projects
Dan Logan, Manager Mineral Systems, GSNSW

12:15 pm  |  Closing remarks
Dr Phillip Blevin, Chief Geoscientist and Head of the Geological Survey of New South Wales

12:20 pm  |  Networking lunch

1:00 pm  |  Close

Please note this program is subject to change.