A Townsville company is among 13 explorers who will be digging, sampling, drilling, and surveying across Queensland in a bid to uncover the in-demand new economy minerals used in the global energy transition.
Speaking in Townsville today with Sunshine Gold managing director Damien Keys, Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the company received part of the $2.5 million Collaborative Exploration Initiative funding to search for rare earth minerals and gold near the historic mining town of Ravenswood.
Related article: Vanadium to be ‘workhorse’ of battery/renewables sector
“The resources sector is central to Queensland’s economy and will continue to be the backbone of Queensland’s economic recovery as we emerge from the Omicron wave,” Stewart said.
“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to investing in the growing new economy minerals sector, which is powering the global energy transition and creating the next wave of resources jobs for Queenslanders.
“These grants of $2.5 million provide the financial safety net for junior explorers like Sunshine Gold to be innovative and uncover more deposits, which will lead to more projects and more jobs.
“We want Queensland to mine, process, and manufacture those new economy minerals to create jobs and produce royalties that will fund Queensland schools, hospitals and roads.”
The Collaborative Exploration Initiative grants are part of the Palaszczuk Government’s $23 million New Economy Minerals Initiative, which aims to support a sustainable pipeline of new economy minerals projects into the future.
The latest round of grants will support projects across rural and regional Queensland including projects near Chillagoe, Georgetown, Mount Isa, Townsville, and Proserpine.
Keys said the grants would allow his company to accelerate their projects, one of which involves geophysical exploration, field mapping and geochemical soil sampling near Ravenswood, 130km south west of Townsville.
“It allows us to fast-track exploration that would have taken us longer,” he said.
“We will be able to refine drill locations and it progresses us to the next stage of drilling.
“The grants validate our work to date and our science, and it takes off the funding pressure that junior explorers always contend with.”
Member for Mundingburra Les Walker said these grants were important in creating more jobs in the growing new economy minerals sector.
“It’s the Palaszczuk Government who is backing the resources industry through grants like this, as well as our plan to build a common-use vanadium processing plant in Townsville,” he said.
Member for Thuringowa Aaron Harper said the resources industry was important for Townsville.
“The resources sector employs thousands of people directly and indirectly in the city so these exploration grants are important to continue to grow the industry as the demand for new economy minerals increases,” Harper said.
Stewart said jobs in minerals and exploration sectors continue to boom on the back of increased investment in the sector.
“The resources industry directly supports about 80,000 jobs across the state, particularly in the regions, which account for about two-thirds of all mining jobs,” he said.
Related article: World faces lithium shortage for EV batteries
“Jobs in minerals mining and quarrying have almost drawn level with jobs in coal mining, which shows the potential minerals have for creating jobs and economic benefits for our state.”
Data collected from the projects will be available via the Queensland Government’s geological Open Data Portal, to encourage further exploration and mining investment in Queensland.
