MARKETS

Qld govt launches latest round of grants

THE Queensland government has opened another round of the Collaborative Drilling Initiative, with...

Kristie Batten
Qld govt launches latest round of grants

Under the program, mineral, coal, petroleum and geothermal explorers can apply to recover half the costs of drilling, up to a limit of $150,000 per proposal.

One condition is that applicants must have granted tenure over the area to be explored to be eligible for a grant.

This marks the sixth round of the CDI, which is part of the $18 million Greenfields 2020 program announced on July 1 as part of the broader $29 million Smart Mining – Future Prosperity program.

Mines and Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said exploration is vital to maintain the growth of the state’s mining industry.

"We announced Greenfields 2020 in the state budget because we are committed to establishing Queensland as Australia's greenfield exploration capital by 2020," he said.

"The grants enable companies to apply new concepts or ideas in areas of the state that may never have been explored or considered a high investment risk because of the costs involved."

Robertson said the Smart Mining program had boosted exploration expenditure.

"Exploration investment in Queensland has increased from $240 million in 2004 to $816.5 million in the 12 months to March 2010.''

During the first four rounds of the CDI, 55 exploration companies have received more than $6 million in collaborative drilling grants to carry out 79 drilling projects worth over $22 million.

"There are already 27 technical successes related to the discovery of mineralisation and geology, prompting further drilling in their respective areas," Robertson said.

Over the next four years, the government has allocated $55.8 million to encouraging greenfields exploration, $12.5 million to streamlining the processing of mining and petroleum projects through the regulatory system, and $10.7 million to upgrading tenure management systems.

Companies will have until Friday, April 1, 2011, to apply for grants under Round 6 of the CDI.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production