A field guide to status, commodities, coordinates and provenance — and the gaps a clean-looking dataset can still hide.
“The AGSON Geoscience Portal is a data discovery and analysis portal for geoscience data.”
— Geoscience Australia
Start with status, not the name
A mine name can survive several owners, pauses and restarts. Treat the status field as a point-in-time description from the cited source, not a permanent label.
“Operating”, “care and maintenance”, “development” and “historical” describe different evidence states. Always check the retrieval date before using a listing for planning or procurement.
Coordinates are a reference point
Government datasets commonly provide a representative point for a deposit or operation. That point may be an entrance, centroid or mapped occurrence; it is not a lease boundary.
Use coordinates to understand regional context. Use the responsible state authority for cadastral, tenure or access decisions.
Commodity lists need context
A record may include a primary commodity, by-products, historic production or exploration targets. A listed commodity does not by itself prove current production.
The useful question is not only “what is here?” but “which source said so, and when?” That is why every Mines & Quarries record keeps its provenance beside the facts.
A practical verification sequence
Check the source and retrieval date. Compare the operational status. Confirm the location against the state portal. Then follow the operator or regulator source for time-sensitive decisions.
This register is a discovery layer, not a substitute for regulatory, safety, tenure or investment due diligence.
Questions people ask
Is a mapped point the mine boundary?
No. It is a representative location from the source dataset, not a cadastral or tenure boundary.
Does “operating” mean the site is operating today?
It reflects the latest source release we ingested. Check the retrieval date and the responsible authority for current status.
Why can the same site have different names?
Historic names, project names, deposits and operating complexes can overlap. Provenance helps resolve those differences.
Can I report a correction?
Yes. Every listing links to the records form, where you can identify the page and provide supporting material.