The South Nicholson National Drilling Initiative (NDI) Carrara 1 provides unique insights into the energy and mineral resource potential of this frontier region.
The NDI Carrara 1 stratigraphic drill-hole was completed in late 2020, as a collaboration between Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS) and the MinEx CRC. NDI Carrara 1 is the first drill-hole to intersect the undifferentiated Proterozoic rocks of the newly discovered Carrara Sub-basin. NDI Carrara 1 is located on the western edge of the Carrara Sub-basin on the South Nicholson seismic line (17GA-SN1). It reached a total depth of 1,751 m and intersected approximately 630 m of Cambrian Georgina Basin overlying approximately 1,100 m of Proterozoic carbonates, black shales and minor siliciclastics.
Location of the NDI Carrara 1 stratigraphic drill-hole and South Nicholson (L210) and Barkly (L212) seismic survey lines across the South Nicholson region
What we did
We undertook a range of investigations into the lithology, stratigraphy and geotechnical properties of NDI Carrara 1 based on wireline data, together with a range of analyses of over 400 physical samples distributed through the entire core. These analyses included geochronology, isotope studies, mineralogy, inorganic and organic geochemistry, petrophysics, geomechanics, thermal maturity, and petroleum systems investigations.
Outputs
During this project activity, Geoscience Australia and partners collected:
- routine and planned targeted samples, including planned analyses, available in the downloadable spreadsheet [XLSX 84.1 KB]
- hylogger data, available on the Northern Territory Geological Survey's Geoscience Exploration and Mining Information System (GEMIS) website
- sample and core photos, available on the Data Discovery Portal.
Data and publications
- Exploring for the Future petrophysical testing program data release, NDI Carrara 1, Carrara Sub-basin, Australia. Bailey, A. H. E., Wang, L., Carson, C.J., Dewhurst, D., Esteban, L., Kager, S., Monmusson, L., Crombez, V., Delle Piane, C., Nguyen, D., Henson, P. 2022. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
- Exploring for the Future - geomechanical testing program data release, NDI Carrara 1, Carrara Sub-basin, Australia. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Bailey, A., Wang, L., Carson, C., Dewhurst, D., Kager, S., Monmusson, L., Crombez, V., Delle Piane, C., Nguyen, D., Henson, P. 2022.
- Exploring for the Future - NDI Carrara 1 gas geochemistry: Molecular composition, carbon and hydrogen isotopes of hydrocarbon gases and the sources of molecular hydrogen and helium. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Boreham, C.J., Wang, L., Sohn, J., Jinadasa, N., Hong, Z., Chen, J., Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A. 2022.
- Exploring for the Future - Magnetic susceptibility data from NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Australia. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Butcher, G., Grosjean, E., Byass, J., Webber, S., Williams, A., Carson, C.J. 2022.
- Exploring for the Future - Rock-Eval pyrolysis data from NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Australia Destructive Analysis Report. Geoscience Australia,Canberra. Butcher, G., Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A. J., Boreham, C.J., Jinadasa, N., Webster, T., Hong, Z., Carson, C.J. 2021.
- Exploring for the Future - Bulk density data from NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Australia Destructive Analysis Report. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Butcher, G., Grosjean, E., Byass, J., Williams, A., Carson, C.J. 2021.
- A revised Proterozoic tectono-stratigraphy of the South Nicholson region, Northern Territory, Australiainsights from SHRIMP U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology. Carson, C., Kositcin, N., Anderson, J., Henson, P. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 2023.
- Exploring for the Future, Strontium, Oxygen and Carbon Isotopes from NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson Region, Australia. Carson, C., Anderson, J., Klaebe, R., Hall, T., Farkas, J., Gilbert, S., Grosjean, E., Butcher, G. 2023. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
- New U-Pb SHRIMP geochronology from NDI Carrara 1: implications for regional geological evolution and stratigraphic correlations. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Carson, C., Kositcin, N., Henson, P.A., Delle Piane, C., Crombez, V., Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A.GM., Butcher, G. 2022.
- Exploring for the Future - Whole rock inorganic geochemistry data release of NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Northern Territory. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Carson, C.J., Main, P., Champion, D.C., Grosjean, E., Butcher, G., Gilmore, S., Henson, P.A. 2021.
- Exploring for the Future - Quantitative X-Ray diffraction data release of NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Northern Territory. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Carson, C., Grosjean, E., Butcher, G., Webber, S., Gilmore, S., Henson, P.
- A Stratigraphic Reconstruction of Bulk Volatile Chemistry from Fluid Inclusions in NDI Carrara 1. Cowan, S., Boreham, C., Carson, C., Hall, D., Chao, J., Phiukhao, W., Lishansky, R., Moore, R., Groves, D. 2023.
- Exploring for the Future - Fluid Inclusion Petrology and Microthermometry on selected samples from NDI Carrara 1. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Cowan, S., Hall, D., Phiukhao, W., Chao, J., Carson, C., Boreham, C. 2023.
- NDI Carrara 1 sedimentology, microstructural analyses, and sequence stratigraphy - Final report. Crombez, V., Delle Piane, C., Dewhurst, D. 2022. CSIRO report for Geoscience Australia.
- NDI Carrara 1 seal capacity from mercury porisometry analysis. Dewhurst, D.N. CSIRO report for Geoscience Australia.
- Carbon Isotopic Data of Bitumen and Kerogens in NDI Carrara 1, Northern Territory, Australia Data Release. Grosjean, E., Hall, T., Butcher, G., Long, I., Sohn, J., Jinadasa, N., Anderson, J., Carson, C., Klaebe, R. 2024. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
- Resource potential of the Proterozoic−Paleozoic Carrara depocentre, South Nicholson region, Australia. Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A.J.M, Boreham, C.J., Wang, L., Johnson, L., Hope, J.M., Ranasinghe, P., Brocks, J.J., Bailey, A. H. E., Butcher, G.A., Carson, C.J. 2023. Record Volume 186, Organic Geochemistry, December 2023, 104688. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
- Geochemistry of oil stains from NDI Carrara 1 and NDI BK10, Northern Territory, Australia. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A., Boreham, C.J., Jinadasa, N., Sohn, J., Butcher, G., Hong, Z., Carson, C.J. 2022.
- Exploring for the Future - Rock-Eval pyrolysis data from kerogens of NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Australia. Destructive Analysis Report. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Grosjean, E., Boreham, C.J., Butcher, G., Jarrett, A., Long, I., Jinadasa, N., Webster, T., Hong, Z. 2022.
- The energy resource potential of the Carrara Sub-basin revealed by new stratigraphic drilling. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A., Boreham, C., Butcher, G., Carson, C., Bailey, A., Wang, L., Munson, T.J., Henson, P. 2022.
- Exploring for the Future - SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology of NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Northern Territory. Kositcin, N., Carson, C. 2022. Record 2022/042. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
- Adsorption and desorption isotherms from shales in NDI Carrara 1, Northern Territory. Lupton, N., Heryanto, D. 2022. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
- Report on the biostratigraphy of the Georgina Basin succession in NDI Carrara 1. Laurie, J.R. 2022.
- Exploring for the Future - Pb isotope data release of NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Northern Territory. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Maas, R., Carson, C.J. 2022.
- Exploring for the Future - Petrology of selected volcaniclastic intervals from NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Northern Territory. Madden, R.H.C., Carson, C., Tilbury, R.D. 2022. Record 2022/041. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
- Exploring for the Future - Petrology release of NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Northern Territory. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Madden, R.H.C., Carson, C.J. 2022.
- XRD Report - Mineralogy of NDI Carrara 1 Samples. Owen, N., Fan, R., Delle Piane, C.
- Source rock type, maturation levels and hydrocarbon potential of a suite of samples from NDI Carrara 1 well, Northern Territory. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. Ranasinghe, S.P., Crosdale, P.J. 2022.
- Wireline log data analysis in NDI Carrara 1, Northern Territory. Wang, L., Bailey, A., Grosjean, E., Carson, C., Carr, L., Butcher, G., Boreham, C., Henson, P. 2023. Record 2023/026. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
- Exploring for the Future - Thermal property data release for NDI Carrara 1, South Nicholson region, Northern Territory. White, N., McLaren, S., Carson, C. 2023. Record 2023/45. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.
Workshops and conferences
- Industry viewing workshop poster, 31 August 2021
- Exploring for the Future - SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology from NDI Carrara 1 and implications for regional stratigraphic correlations, resource potential and geological evolution of the Carrara Sub-basin. Carson, C.J., Kositcin, N., Henson, P.A., Delle Piane, C., Crombez, V. Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A.J.M. and Butcher, G.
- The energy resource potential of the Carrara Sub-basin revealed by new stratigraphic drilling. Grosjean, E., Jarrett, A.J.M. Boreham, C.J., Butcher G., CJ Carson, Bailey, A.H.E., Wang, L., Munson, T.J. and Henson, P.A.
Australian Exploration Geoscience Conference (AEGC)
- Wang, L., Bailey, A., Grosjean, E., Carson, C., Carr, L., Butcher, G., Boreham, C., Southby, C., Henson, P. 2023. Data analysis and interpretation of well logs in NDI Carrara 1, Northern Territory. Geoscience Australia, Canberra
- Bailey, A.H.E., Grosjean, E., Wang, L. 2021. Stratigraphic drilling in the era of EFTF: The Barnicarndy 1 and NDI Carrara 1 wells.
Collaboration
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