Geological Survey of Queensland department director David Mason said the survey would be an extension of the North Bowen Basin survey completed in 2002.

"It will cover an area extending from Clermont south to Emerald, east to Duaringa, and inland from Marlborough,” Mason said.

"The Bowen Basin in Central Queensland contains about 30 operating coal mines and is the major coal-producing area of the state."

"The data will be valuable to the coal industry, to the petroleum and mineral industries, and to the state's burgeoning coal seam gas industry. Radiometric data collected will be especially valuable for land use soil studies," he said.

Mr Mason said the survey would be flown by UTS Geophysics from Perth, Western Australia. Pitt Research P/L of Adelaide, South Australia, would be providing quality control services for the survey.

"About 65,000 line kilometres of magnetic and radiometric data, at a line spacing of 400 metres and a survey height of 80 metres, will be collected, starting this week".