WA atlas of mineral & petroleum fields

This Atlas shows the location of Western Australia's mineral deposits and petroleum fields, set against a background of simplified geology and topographic information.

The Atlas, published every two years, draws together data from a number of sources. The minerals and construction materials information comes from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) ‘Mines, mineral deposits, and prospects’ database (MINEDEX).

The Atlas also includes major mining-related infrastructure sites captured in MINEDEX — i.e. nickel, alumina, and silicon smelters or refineries — but does not display MINEDEX prospects, exploration targets, occurrences, geological observations, most infrastructure types (excluding the smelters and refineries), or the Inventory of Abandoned Mines (WABMINES) mine features.

Information on petroleum wells and fields in Western Australia (onshore and in State waters) and for adjacent offshore waters controlled by the Commonwealth is derived from a variety of sources, including DMP’s ‘Western Australian petroleum and geothermal information management system’ database (WAPIMS) and the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) . Only major fields are shown, and are identified by a representative well for that field.

A total of 19,344 sites are plotted in the 2015 Atlas, only some of which display commodity abbreviations. The names of about 10% of those sites (1999 sites) are printed on the maps and appear in the index pages, with priority given to operating mines and larger deposits. More site name information, including commodities, is provided on the 1:1 million scale maps. All petroleum fields are named, and construction material sites belonging to the subset of ’Dimension stone’ are also named. Commodity groups are arranged alphabetically on both the Atlas Reference and Commodity Group index pages.

Commercial ownership of named sites (and projects) is listed in the index. Mineral commodities, ownership, stage of development, and location of each site have been extracted from the MINEDEX database, which is continually being updated. Digital downloads or live web-based enquiries, including an up-to-date extract of these map-specific data, are available from DMIRS’ Online systems.

The Atlas shows the location of WA mineral deposits and petroleum fields on a background of simplified geology and topographic information.