Exploration
Exploration is the process of locating mineral resources and assessing whether they could be economically mined.
It is critical to the development of mining in NSW and the economic benefits it generates. Exploration identifies the location of mineral resources that could be mined to replace existing mines as they exhaust their resources, and expand mineral production to keep up with growing global demand for minerals such as copper, gold, silver, cobalt, nickel and rare earths, all of which are essential in our day to day lives.
Very few exploration programs lead to mine proposals.
Mineral exploration is like finding a ‘needle in a haystack’. A very small proportion of exploration programs discover economically recoverable minerals and progress to become mining proposals. Those that do generally take more than a decade from the initial discovery to the time a mine is developed.
Given the low chances of success, exploration is commercially risky. There is tight competition for exploration investment both domestically and internationally and it is important that NSW remains an attractive destination for investors by providing a supportive policy and regulatory framework.
Exploration is generally a very low impact, temporary activity that is fully rehabilitated once completed.
Exploration can be as simple as mapping, collecting, and analysing rocks and soil from the ground surface. More detailed investigations may involve various forms of drilling to understand the types of rocks and minerals beneath the surface. These activities are supported by a range of analytical techniques such as geological modelling.
Most exploration equipment is of a similar size to farming equipment and many forms of exploration drilling are similar to water bore drilling commonly undertaken for agricultural purposes.
Explorers must fully rehabilitate exploration sites and lodge security deposits with the regulator, which are not returned until rehabilitation is complete.
There is a strict regulatory regime governing land access and environmental approvals for mineral exploration.
Before any exploration begins, an explorer must first be granted an exploration licence by the NSW Government and then enter into a land access arrangement with the landowners.
An access arrangement sets out things like where on the property the exploration activities will take place, agreed times, for how long and under what conditions, and what compensation will be paid to the landholder. The NSW Government has prepared information on land access on the Mining, Exploration and Geoscience website.
Aside from some preliminary activities, explorers require environmental approvals from the NSW Government before exploration activities can commence.
Exploration licences do not permit mining, and they do not indicate that a mining lease will be granted. If a mineral discovery is made there is another separate, comprehensive approval process for any proposed mine. Landholders are under no obligation to sell their land.