The 5th edition of the Australian Guidelines for the Submission of Digital Mineral Exploration Data, released on 23 March 2026, represents a major overhaul by the Government Geoscience Information Committee (GGIC) under the Geoscience Working Group (GWG). The updated Guidelines modernise reporting requirements and ensure that exploration data is preserved in high‑quality, accessible formats for future use.
Key enhancements include:
- Updated formatting and clearer terminology across the document.
- Significantly expanded geophysics content, including new sections on airborne geophysics, remote sensing, and hyperspectral data, plus revisions to ground geophysics guidance.
- New petrophysical property requirements, with templates for surface petrophysical measurements and downhole logging data.
- Improved standards for core photography, covering data capture and submission.
- Updated structures and headers across most data submission templates.
- Removal of the DU5 drilling summary template.
- Introduction of a new Codes template (CT5).
Overall, the revised Guidelines provide clearer, more comprehensive direction for consistent, high‑quality geoscientific data submission.
The Australian Guidelines do not supersede the requirements that are outlined in the NT Government Guidelines. Guideline 7: Reporting on Mineral Titles outlines:
- What must be included in annual and final exploration reports.
- Applicable timeframes for submission.
- Penalties for non‑compliance.
- Confidentiality periods
- Formats for submission of technical exploration datasets.
The Australia guidelines can be downloaded Australian-guidelines-for-the-submission-of-digital-exploration-data-Mar-2026.pdf
Further information about reporting on mineral titles in the Northern Territory can be found at Report on mineral titles | NT.GOV.AU