- EIS delivers $7.28 million in grants to 50 successful
applicants
- Battery and critical minerals exploration continues
to grow
- Regions throughout Western Australia set to
benefit
Mines and Petroleum
Minister David Michael today announced the successful applicants for Round 30
of the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) Co-funded Drilling Program.
Fifty applicants,
including six prospectors, will receive grants worth $7.28 million for projects
to be drilled between December 2024 and November 2025.
Seventeen of the
successful companies are targeting battery minerals including lithium and Rare
Earth Elements (REE).
Recent success
stories from co-funded drilling projects include Kingfisher Mining, which
reported a new lode of REE mineralisation at its Mick Well project.
Western Mines Group also reported success this month with the company's
EIS co-funded drilling in early 2024 confirming a belt-scale mineral system at
its nickel sulphide Mulga Tank project.
WA1 Resources is
achieving promising results having drilled a discovery hole into its P2 Target
in 2022 with the assistance of an EIS co-funding grant. The company believes
the site may host a large, mineralised carbonatite system located approximately
35 kilometres from the Luni discovery in the West Arunta, south of Halls Creek.
Applications for
Round 31 of the Co-funded Drilling Program, Series 8 of the Energy Analysis
Program (EAP) and Venture 2 of the Co-funded Geophysics Program (CGP) will open
in February 2025.
For more information
on the EIS and this round's successful applicants visit: Co-funded
Drilling Program.
Comments attributed to Mines
and Petroleum Minister David Michael:
"The race to find critical
minerals underlines the Cook Government's aim to position WA as a dynamic
global supplier of future battery minerals and materials.
"It is pleasing to
see exploration expenditure continue to rise in WA, hitting a record $2.6
billion in 2023, with demand for critical minerals soaring on the back of
global decarbonisation initiatives.
"The EIS continues to
support major mineral discoveries, with each project increasing the odds of
opening new mines and creating jobs in regional communities.
"Our mining sector
has once again demonstrated the significance of mineral exploration to WA's
prosperity, with mineral sales reaching $192 billion in 2023."
