The June 2024 quarterly statistics on mineral exploration expenditure released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Monday, shows that Australian mineral exploration expenditure has produced another record year, with a solid June quarter.

Australian mineral exploration expenditure reached a total of A$1.02-billion for the June quarter, an increase of 11.6% on the March quarter (A$909.6-million), but 6.9% lower than the previous corresponding period.

Annual expenditure nationwide for the financial year to June 30, 2024, was a record A$4.2-billion, an increase of 1.6% on the 2023 financial year.

Expenditure on greenfield exploration to discover new deposits increased by 9.4%, or A$26-million, to A$303.3-million, while brownfield exploration increased 12.6%, or A$79.7-million, to A$712-million in the last quarter.

Full financial year expenditure on greenfield exploration was up 1.0% to A$1.31-billion, while brownfield expenditure over the 12 months fell 8.8% to $2.89-billion.

Metres drilled for greenfield exploration rose this quarter by 33.8% to 656.7 km and brownfield metres drilled increased by 29.5% to 1 934.7 km.

Annually, greenfield and brownfield exploration metres drilled fell 14.2% and 10.0% respectively with a softer second half through lower than historic March and June quarters.

“It is encouraging to see the latest mineral exploration expenditure figures increase from the previous quarter. However, there are signs for caution with clouds over the horizon compared to this time last year.

“With many challenges and the ongoing uncertainty around some federal legislation, the June quarter figures provide an important stocktake for the industry.

“There are positive signs, but there remains plenty of work to be done. The industry and investors need certainty moving forward, to build on the last quarter and finish the year strongly,” said Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) CEO Warren Pearce.

He noted that yearly expenditure on greenfield exploration remains subdued and stalled at about A$1.3-billion. Over a five-year period from the 2020 financial year, greenfield expenditure has fallen more than 50%.

“This is very concerning, because if we want to find new mines, we need greenfields mineral exploration investment and effort to lift.”

“Overall, there has been a weaker June quarter across Australia compared with the previous corresponding period last year in all metrics (expenditure/drilling/jurisdictions),” said Pearce.

However, South Australia saw a 6.9% increase in total exploration expenditure to A$75.9-million. However, most of this can be put down to a single project, the resource drill-out at Oak Dam.

Queensland recorded an overall 10.2% increase in total exploration expenditure to A$139.9-million. Driven by strong exploration expenditure in base metals as well as silver, lead, zinc, which are up across the quarter. This correlates with the ability to get out on the ground after the wet season.

However, with year-on-year expenditure down by almost 6%, there are real concerns facing the Queensland industry.

“Member companies are telling us they are bearing the full brunt of risks in exploration at the moment," said Pearce

Expenditure in Victoria this quarter rose by 15.6%, with Tasmania jumping by 14.7%. Victoria and Tasmania are still challenging jurisdictions for exploration activity, with sluggish approval timeframes causing most concern for industry.

Meanwhile, New South Wales had a slight fall of 1.1% in expenditure, with expenditure in all mineral commodities slipping, with the exception of copper which was up by 10.7%.

Western Australia led the nation, with an overall increase across all mineral categories. Nickel expenditure rebounded strongly this quarter, up 24.2% to A$52.9-million, however it remains well below historic averages (and down on June 2023 figures of A$73-million).

With a state election and wet season concluding, the Northern Territory saw a 52% jump in base metals expenditure and a total expenditure of A$47.8-million, an increase of 16.9% on the March quarter.”

“Mineral exploration is holding strong but remains in a holding pattern. The greenfield mineral exploration figures are a real concern, and we need to do more to get onto ground to find the mines of the future,” said Pearce.