A Map From the Murky Depths of Hell

I like maps…a lot. I get excited about GIS and the monthly map insert in National Geographic. A great map awakens the explorer in me. So when I saw the new map from CSIRO, I was torn.


The map is brilliant, maybe too brilliant. The map shows the locations of offshore minerals near Australia. Copper, gold, silver, tin, topaz, tungsten, coal, bauxite…and diamonds. Why the recent interest in mining by India, Australia, Canada, and others. Mineral prices are high. The news is that the metal in a penny and a nickel are worth more than $0.01 and $0.05 respectively. The release of this map is discouraging. Thanks for ruining maps for me CSIRO.