Explorers get fresh crack at WA drilling funds
Western Australia’s co-funded drilling scheme has helped explorers strike high-grade manganese, antimony and gold over the past year, and Round 34 of the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) Co-funded Exploration Drilling Program is now open for the companies chasing the next find.
“Western Australia’s Exploration Incentive Scheme remains one of our state’s most important tools for encouraging responsible exploration investment, supporting regional jobs, and strengthening the State’s pipeline of future resource projects,” WA Mines, Petroleum and Exploration Minister Daniel Pastorelli said.
The scheme splits the cost of drilling with companies willing to test unproven ideas or sink holes into ground that others have walked past. It is the kind of gamble that explorers often struggle to fund on their own, and the state picks up part of the bill when the geology looks worth the risk.
The results from the past year show what that money can turn up. Black Cat Syndicate cut into a previously unknown lode at its Mt Clement Antimony Project in WA’s Pilbara, hitting antimony, lead and silver that no one had picked up before.
Nearby, Black Canyon Resources struck high-grade manganese and iron at its North Manganese Corridor, part of the Wandanya Project, where shallow reverse circulation (RC) drilling opened up a fresh greenfields discovery.
Gold has come out of the scheme too. At Ora Banda Mining’s Little Gem prospect within the Davyhurst Gold Project near Kalgoorlie, Round 29 drilling found new lode systems and set up the follow-up work that led to March’s Sapphire Trend discovery, opening up more of the gold field.
The government has kept lifting its spend. In May, more than $7 million went to 46 applicants across a range of commodities.
“We see continued success from the EIS, and that’s why the Cook Labor Government made an election commitment in 2025 to increase the annual EIS budget to $18 million per year,” Pastorelli said.