The Queensland government said more than $27 million has been set aside in the state budget to enable the next generation of North West resource projects with the gas industry set to grow.
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Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dr Anthony Lynham said the money would be invested over four years to expand resource exploration and development for gas in new basins and minerals in the North West Minerals Province.
“Our multi-billion dollar mineral resources sector is at a critical juncture where some mines are entering the end of their project cycle, and this new investment is focused on the next frontiers,” Dr Lynham said.
“Without an ongoing exploration program, we will not be able to keep the keep discovery conveyor belt moving which provides our resources stream in the longer term.”
Dr Lynham said the budget had funding for different forms of mapping so explorers could better understand what’s below the ground vertically and latitudinally.
This includes:
$7.125m for the Strategic Resources Exploration Program to provide vital geological data to encourage new discoveries of gas and minerals in the North West
$3.6m for gas exploration in the new frontier Georgina, South Nicholson and Isa Super basins
$4.275m for mineral geophysics to pinpoint the locations of potential new mineral prospects over wide areas.
$1.45m for mineral geochemistry programs to identify the type of potential mineral deposits
$4.95m for mineral synthesis to develop a comprehensive understanding of the NWMP geology.
$925,000 to support national research into advanced techniques used in the discovery of mineral deposits in frontier regions
$3.6m for the Collaborative Exploration Initiative which helps explorers target and test identified mineral prospects in frontier regions.
Dr Lynham said this funding is part of the Strategic Blueprint for the NWMP and the focus on gas would tackle the national energy issue of shortages in the east coast. “Now the Bowen, Surat and Cooper Basins are in production the time has come to open the next big frontier,” he said.
“Our geoscience data for these basins shows there are potential opportunities for gas production. Resource companies are already exploring the North West and with our new program, we will encourage more companies to open up this frontier.”
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
