The Minns Labor Government is positioning NSW to be a global leader and industry partner in the race for critical minerals, rare earths elements and high-tech metals by supporting millions of dollars of investment in exploration.
The NSW Government has announced grants that will facilitate around $5 million of funding for 29 exploration projects to undertake drilling, geophysics and geochemistry exploration and find the next major critical minerals project.
Under the Critical Minerals and High Tech Metals Exploration Program, the NSW Government will provide almost $2.5 million in co-investment funding to the 29 projects. Explorers must then match it to receive the funding.
By partnering with the mining industry to pursue exploration, we can help discover more deposits of the critical minerals needed to manufacture modern technologies, including electric vehicles, mobile phones and solar panels.
Global demand for copper is rising rapidly, with prices climbing more than 20% this year. NSW is stepping up to meet this demand. Copper production in the state has increased by a third over the past three years, to around 190,000 tonnes this financial year.
With 21 of the 29 projects focused on copper exploration, this investment builds on NSW's position as an industry partner and leading global supplier, and helps unlock new deposits to support the electrification of the economy, as well as AI data centres, clean energy technologies and infrastructure.
As demand for rare earth elements - naturally occurring metallic elements with powerful magnetic properties - grows in strategic importance, NSW is also supporting its exploration and production.
New exploration being supported by this round of funding is targeting opportunities for rare earth elements and zirconium.
Other minerals being targeted for exploration include silver and cobalt, vital to renewable energy technologies, manufacturing, infrastructure, and advanced medical equipment and diagnostics tools.
Successful applicants in the Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program include:
- Waratah Minerals to undertake drilling activities to explore for copper at the Spur Porphyry Project in the renowned Macquarie Arc. Waratah Minerals previously discovered one of the most significant copper-gold deposits in NSW in the last decade.
- Neo Double Eagle Resources will explore for rare earth elements crucial in the production of smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence technologies, with drilling activities at Binge Grumble Mountain.
- Alkane Resources will undertake drilling activities in the Central West using a new exploration model suggesting that hidden deep beneath the historic gold mines at Peak Hill may lie undiscovered copper resources. This project demonstrates that underexplored areas exist underneath known historic deposits.
- Silverton Minerals will be employing an innovative, low-impact technology which passively measures the natural electromagnetic fields in an exploration area generated by distant lightning strikes to identify possible mineral-bearing structures beneath the ground northwest of Broken Hill.
Exploration is critical in the early stages of any mining project. Intense and highly scientific activities are required to confirm the strength of a mineral deposit and its viability before a company can consider going through the planning process.
Already, there are approximately 1500 exploration titles currently being explored for minerals across the state, and this funding will further aid the search for the next big critical minerals, high-tech metals or rare earth elements deposit.
There are currently 15 active major metals and critical minerals mines across NSW, employing more than 6,000 people, mostly across the Central West and Far West.
The announcement comes as NSW prepares to host the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC), the largest international mining event in the Southern Hemisphere, with more than 10,000 delegates from 120 countries set to participate in Sydney this week.
The NSW Government is also hosting the Critical Minerals Investment Showcase, promoting investment-ready projects across the state to global funders from Europe, the Middle East, India, Korea and Japan.
This funding round is a key pillar of the NSW Government's Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy which is driving new investment in critical minerals and high-tech metals exploration production, processing and manufacturing.
Successful projects will commence exploration in coming months, advancing the search for critical minerals and high-tech metals needed to support future industries and power our way to Net Zero.
Further information about the successful projects and recipients is available at Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos:
"NSW has the critical minerals and high-tech metals that the world needs to drive a clean energy future, create new jobs, and build resilient supply chains.
"Whether it's the copper we need for data centres, antimony for batteries, or the rare earth elements for electric vehicles, NSW has the opportunity be at the centre of the critical minerals boom.
"These co-investment grants highlight the Minns Labor Government's partnering with industry, and for NSW to be a leading player in the global race for critical minerals.
"NSW has an abundance of critical minerals and high-tech metals waiting to be discovered. We're supporting miners and explorers alike to boost supply of these strategically important resources.
"This is the biggest round of exploration funding ever offered in NSW. From exploration to production, we are supporting targeted initiatives at each stage of the project pipeline."
