The Queensland Government has announced it will invest a further $30 million over three years to support the state’s resources and exploration industries.

State Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Andrew Cripps, said that the funding will be provided for Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) initatives as part of the recently delivered State Budget.

“The Geological Survey of Queensland plays a vital role in attracting exploration and resource investment by providing industry with key geoscientific and resource data and information,” Mr Cripps said.

“This $30 million, made possible by the first successful competitive cash bidding process, will fund a number of priority initiatives designed to support mineral and energy-related exploration and make Queensland more attractive for resource investment.”

Mr Cripps said GSQ initiatives to be funded over the next three years include:

  • Industry Priorities - Industry will be consulted through the Queensland Exploration Council to identify priority geoscience projects which will have the greatest contribution to maximising exploration success
  • Mount Isa Geophysics – seismic and crustal conductivity surveys in the Cloncurry, Julia Creek and Dajarra-Boulia areas aimed at stimulating greenfields exploration in one of the most prospective regions of the world
  • Geochemical Data Extraction – Extracting invaluable geochemical data locked in DNRM’s company report archive and providing easy searchable access to industry, government and the public
  • Collaborative Drilling Grants – Extend the program promoting exploration success by co-funding drilling by innovative explorers targeting high value deposits under shallow cover
  • Extension of Core Library – Expand Queensland’s capacity to store and preserve economically and scientifically valuable core samples acquired from company and government drilling to ensure this resource of subsurface knowledge is not lost to the State and the exploration industry
  • Cape York Mineral Resource Assessment - Geological mapping and sampling to re-evaluate emerging strategic mineral potential (such as rare earths) of the region
  • Seismic Section Scanning – Undertake a program to preserve the rapidly decaying archive of hard-copy format company seismic sections by converting them to digital formats. These sections represent an invaluable record of Queensland’s subsurface basins, and re-surveying would be cost-prohibitive in today’s economic climate.