Southern Cross CCS Hub

Boorthanna Carbon Vault 1 is a planned carbon dioxide geologic storage project being advanced by Australian Carbon Vault in the Boorthanna Trough of the Arckaringa Basin in South Australia, Australia. The project targets deep saline sandstone reservoirs of the Boorthanna Sandstone, part of a larger geological system that offers extensive pore space overlain by thick mudstone and shale seals, making it well-suited for permanent CO₂ sequestration. The Boorthanna formation lies at depths typically below ~800 meters, allowing for cost-effective injection and long-term containment of CO₂. The broader Arckaringa Basin license spans about 18,221 km² (~4.5 million acres) with an independently assessed prospective storage resource of ~1.6 billion metric tons of CO₂, positioning the basin among the largest onshore storage opportunities globally. While Boorthanna Carbon Vault 1 remains at the development and reservoir evaluation stage, work has included extensive compilation of existing well data, seismic surveys, and geological characterization to build static and dynamic reservoir models that inform long-term CO₂ movement and containment. Future phases are expected to include laboratory studies, dynamic simulation, and pilot injection tests prior to full operational deployment. The project’s location near energy-intensive industries and its proximity to potential future CO₂ import infrastructure (e.g., at Port Bonython) could support integration with direct air capture (DAC) and other capture sources, aligning with Australia’s broader decarbonization goals.