A Standard Metadata Template for Representing Soil Specimens

This dataset contains a standard template for representing the metadata of soil specimens in the CSIRO Mineral Resources Discovery program. The template includes core properties of samples such as their name, identifier, type, and location, as well as associated metadata such as project, drilling contexts, hazard declaration and physical storage. The template will be used to catalogue legacy and specimens systematically collected through mineral exploration projects. It has been developed iteratively, revised, and improved based on feedback from researchers and lab technicians. This standardized template can prevent duplicate sample metadata entry and lower metadata redundancy, thereby improving the program's physical sample curation and discovery.