- $6.1
million offered across co-funded drilling and energy analysis program
- EIS to
expand in 2024 to include co-funded geophysics program
Mines and Petroleum
Minister Bill Johnston today announced the successful applicants for Round 28
of the Exploration Incentive Scheme's (EIS) co-funded drilling program and Series
6 of the energy analysis program.
Round 28 will offer
grants worth more than $6 million to 33
general applicants and three prospectors for projects to be drilled in between
December 2023 and November 2024.
More than half of the
successful applicants are searching for battery minerals, including five projects exploring for lithium, six for
rare earth elements and 13 for nickel.
Series 6 will offer $120,000 in total to three successful applicants who
are undertaking analysis and reprocessing projects in the Canning Basin and the
Officer Basin.
The overall funding
across both programs is $6.1 million.
Recent EIS success
stories include Miramar Resources confirming the presence of copper sulphide
mineralisation at its Whaleshark project in the Ashburton region, while OD6
Metals delivered encouraging rare earth element results at its Splinter Rock
project near Esperance.
The EIS will expand next
year to include a co-funded geophysics program that will offer $2 million per
year to co-fund greenfields exploration geophysics data acquisition.
This program will open
for applications in February 2024 along with Round 29 of the co-funded drilling
program and Series 7 of the EAP.
For more information on
the EIS and this round's successful applicants, visit:
http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Geological-Survey/EIS-Government-co-funded-1433.aspx
Comments attributed to Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston:
"The Cook Government
understands that supporting exploration activity across Western Australia is
crucial to our State's economic success.
"No other Australian
State comes close to matching our commitment to mineral exploration, and we are
working hard to ensure WA continues to lead the pack.
"The ongoing interest in
the Exploration Incentive Scheme reflects the strength of WA's exploration sector
and industry's confidence in our State's economic future."
