South Australian AusLAMP Magnetotelluric (MT) Survey Stakeholder Engagement

In August 2014 the University of Adelaide commenced the South Australian (SA) phase of the national Australian Lithospheric Architecture Magnetotelluric Project (AusLAMP). This document is a report on the stakeholder engagement and factors contributing to engagement success.

AusLAMP is aimed at acquiring magnetotelluric (MT) data across Australia on a grid of approximately 50 x 50 km. These MT measurements can be used to image the electrical resistivity properties of the crust and upper mantle to depths of hundreds of kilometres. Electrical resistivity imaging allows characterisation of the deep-crust and upper mantle, and can define the fundamental building blocks of the lithosphere, as well as delineate major structures and boundaries. This information is of significance to researchers attempting to reconstruct the tectonic evolution of the Australian continent, and also provides fundamental clues about large scale structures which may control mineral deposition and hydrocarbon formation.

AusLAMP is a national collaboration led by Geoscience Australia (GA) with contributions from AuScope (a component of NCRIS, the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy), Australian Universities, research organisations and State and Territory geological surveys. The acquisition phase of AusLAMP will collect over 2800 MT measurements across Australia over the next decade. Figure 1 shows the proposed locations of the AusLAMP stations. The University of Adelaide is Australia’s leading university in Magnetotelluric (MT) acquisition, processing and modelling and is the custodian of the AuScope National MT Facility.

Respectful and responsible stakeholder engagement around access to land is of fundamental importance if the AusLAMP project objectives are to be achieved. For the surveys conducted in South Australia so far, engagement with stakeholders has enabled complete and comprehensive land access, and the experiences for both researchers and landholders have been overwhelmingly positive. This report details the community engagement practices and learnings from the three campaigns of AusLAMP completed in SA to date.