Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program

What is the Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program?

The Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program (the Program) is part of the NSW Government initiative to drive mining investment in NSW by co-funding explorers in NSW to search for deposits of metallic minerals including critical mineral and high-tech metals.

The objective of the Program is to support the long-term sustainability of the NSW resources sector by encouraging mineral exploration and discovery to:

• ensure a sustainable economic resource pipeline for the state, particularly in greenfield and near mine site areas of the state test new geological ideas and models and
• identify new deposits of Group 1, 6 and 10 minerals under the Mining Act 1992, with a focus on deposits of NSW Priority Metals as identified in the Strategy, and
• strengthen relationships between government and industry.

The Program aligns with the NSW Government’s commitment to promote mineral exploration in the NSW Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy by incentivising greenfield exploration and driving discovery of new critical minerals resources by investigating potential resources from secondary mine output sources.

The Program is modeled on the former New Frontiers Exploration Program and the New Frontiers Cooperative Drilling Program and the scope is now extended to include exploration geophysics and geochemistry.  

Why has the program been expanded to geochemistry?

Exploration geochemistry is one of the fundamental datasets of mineral exploration. Most mineral exploration programs rely on geochemistry as part of the suite of exploration techniques used for mineral exploration.

The inclusion of exploration geochemistry in the Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program recognises the vital contribution that exploration geochemistry makes to mineral exploration programs. 

Am I eligible to apply if I am being investigated for breaches under the Mining
Act 1992?

No. Any personal, business, or probity risks that could cause reputational or other risks to the NSW Government may make you ineligible.

You are required to declare whether you are currently under investigation. Providing false or misleading information in your application will render your application ineligible or invalid.  

How is the grants program being delivered?

The Program will be delivered through an open-competitive application process. This process invites applications from eligible entities to compete for funding. This approach ensures that all applicants are assessed against the same criteria, promoting fairness and transparency.

What types of projects can be funded?

The Program is being delivered across multiple project types:

Exploration Geochemistry: Sampling programs which aim to identify geochemical anomalies or targets that warrant further exploration and that have a high potential for the discovery and development of economic mineral deposits. For example, soil and stream sediment sampling, vegetation sampling, ground water sampling.

Exploration Geophysics: Acquisition using geophysical techniques used to locate and map geophysical anomalies in the earth’s crust to advance further exploration and that have a high potential for the discovery and development of economic mineral deposits. For example, airborne and ground geophysical surveys (magnetics, gravity, electrical methods).

Exploration Drilling: Drilling programs (with a focus on deep drilling) that seek to further define targets that have a high potential for the discovery and development of economic mineral deposits and have the potential to accelerate investment in the resources sector. For example, rotary, RAB/open hole, air core, RC and diamond drilling.

Applicants may apply for funding for multiple projects and multiple project types, however, a separate application must be submitted for each project and project type.

Example 1 (multiple project types):

“Organisation A” has a single project which involves Geophysics and Drilling at the same site. Both activities are eligible for funding under the Program.

Organisation A submits two separate applications for funding, one under the project type “Exploration Geophysics” and one under the project type “Exploration Drilling”.

Example 2 (multiple projects):

“Organisation B” is undertaking a program of drilling operations across multiple projects.

Organisation B submits multiple applications for funding under the project type “Exploration Drilling”.

The maximum amount that a single applicant can be funded (across multiple projects) is $370,000. 

Who is not eligible for funding?

Ineligible organisations include:

• local councils or their Section 355 Committees
• Joint Organisations of Councils
• Australian or NSW Government agencies
• unincorporated associations
• businesses that are insolvent, bankrupt or subject to ongoing legal proceedings.

Are joint applications, or applications from consortiums allowed?

Applications from consortium are eligible. A lead applicant must be nominated and must satisfy the eligibility criteria. A letter of support is required from each organisation involved in the application. 

Can I apply for funding under a subsidiary company?

No, the applicant must be the entity with which a funding deed is executed.

Can applicants apply for more than one grant?

Yes. Applicants are eligible to lodge multiple applications for each project type up to the maximum funding amount per stream. Applicants are eligible to apply to multiple streams, noting that the maximum funding per applicant is limited to $370,000. 

If an applicant is applying to multiple project types or multiple projects under each type, a separate application is required to be lodged for each type and project.

Applicants can apply for funding if they have been successful in previous rounds of the New Frontiers Exploration Fund and the New Frontiers Cooperative Drilling Program.

Applicants must provide a co-contribution of at least 50% of the total project cost. Other NSW Government grants cannot be used as co-contributions.

Is there a minimum or maximum grant amount?

Yes, each project type has a separate funding allocation, and minimum and maximum thresholds of funding for each application as per the details below:

Project type: Exploration Geochemistry
Total funding allocation (GST exclusive): $350,000
Minimum funding per applicant (GST exclusive): $5,000
Maximum funding per applicant (GST exclusive): $50,000

Project type: Exploration Geophysics
Total funding allocation (GST exclusive): $500,000
Minimum funding per applicant (GST exclusive): $20,000
Maximum funding per applicant (GST exclusive): $70,000

Project type: Exploration Drilling
Total funding allocation (GST exclusive): $1,650,000
Minimum funding per applicant (GST exclusive): $50,000
Maximum funding per applicant (GST exclusive):

• $150,000 for projects with a drilling depth of up to 250m
• $250,000 for projects with a drilling depth greater than 250m 

Is co-contribution required?

Yes, applicants must provide a co-contribution of at least 50% of the total project cost. Government co-funding will be to a maximum of 50% of the total, or up to the capped values for each project type.

Other NSW Government grants cannot be used as co-contributions. 

Land access agreements

Applicants must have suitable land access arrangements at the time of application. Applicants will be required to provide evidence of land access arrangements to the Department as part of the application. 

Does my project need to be based in NSW?

All applications must deliver, or have the potential to deliver, significant benefits to NSW and must be conducted in NSW.

Projects must relate to a resource located in NSW.

Is it necessary to hold a mineral title in NSW? 

Yes, applicants must hold a relevant title in NSW under the Mining Act 1992.

What kind of projects are eligible for funding?

To be eligible for funding, the project must:

• align with the objectives of the Program
• support exploration for Group 1, 6 and 10 minerals under the Mining Act 1992
• be completed by 30 September 2027
• deliver, or have the potential to deliver, significant benefits to NSW.

Applicants may apply for funding under one or more of the three project types:

• Exploration Geochemistry
• Exploration Geophysics
• Exploration Drilling

What kind of projects are not eligible for funding?

The following will not be eligible for funding:

• Resource definition drilling that is not exploration
• Rehabilitation of sites
• Research and academic studies
• Exploration for minerals not in Group 1, 6 and 10 minerals under the Mining Act 1992
• Geotechnical surveys
• Works that have been completed at the time that the Department notifies applicants of successful application by a Letter of Offer. 

Do I need insurance?

Applicants must hold or commit to obtaining public liability insurance of not less than $20 million prior to executing a Funding Deed.

Applicants must also hold relevant workers’ compensation insurance and any additional insurance policies specified by the Department.

If the applicant does not have any employees, then workers compensation is not required.

What if the project has already commenced?

Applications can be made for projects that have already commenced; however, applicants are not eligible to claim funding for works that have been completed prior to receiving a Letter of Offer.

There is no promise of funding until both the applicant and the Department have executed a funding deed (and the applicant has met any other funding conditions).

Importantly, this means that any financial commitments you make for funded activities prior to the execution of a funding deed by the Department are made at your own risk. 

What happens if the application is successful?

Successful applicants will be required to enter into a Funding Deed. The Funding Deed sets out the project delivery, reporting requirements and other obligations of the applicant and the Department, including terms of payment. 

What are the reporting requirements?

Successful applicants will be required to submit quarterly reports to update the Department on the progress of the project.

Reports are submitted through the SmartyGrants portal and payment of grant funding is dependent on the submission of satisfactory reporting. 

If I have a construction materials quarry, can I apply for funding?

No, projects must support exploration for Group 1, 6 and 10 minerals under the Mining Act 1992. 

What can grant funds be used for?

Funding is only claimable for all direct costs of drilling, geophysical or geochemical survey costs as charged by a contractor and described in the relevant invoices.

The work must be directly related to the target described in the application.

Eligible costs for each project type include:

• Exploration Geochemistry
  • Survey costs including data acquisition and supporting costs
  • Sampling costs including contractor costs
  • Analysis and assay costs.
• Exploration Geophysics
  • Study costs including supporting costs
  • Acquisition and data processing.
• Exploration Drilling
  • Costs relating to drilling including supporting costs such as mobilisation
  • Drilling costs
  • Sampling costs including drill hole sampling and assays. 

How will the applications be assessed?

The Department will assess each application on its merits and competitively against the other applications and provide a report to an Assessment Review Panel. The Assessment Review Panel will provide recommendations to the decision maker.

The Assessment Review Panel may consider principles including, for example:

• alignment with the strategy, including whether the project targets one or more of the identified NSW priority metals: Rare Earth Elements, Scandium, Cobalt, Copper and Silver
• the total amount of funding available
• previous and current compliance with relevant legislation and policy
• previous funding received under NSW Government funded projects
• viability of the outcomes
• geographical spread
• industry impact
• other factors deemed relevant or important in a regional context
• any personal, business and/or probity risks that could cause reputational or other risk to the NSW Government
• suitability of a project for other government funding opportunities
• alignment with other immediate and long-term NSW Government policies and strategies.

The Assessment Review Panel also may consider input from other NSW Government agencies or other sources (such as regulatory bodies and probity advisors).

An independent probity advisor will be present during Program Review Panel meetings. Funding recommendations made by the Program Review Panel will be considered and approved by the Department. 

When will successful applications be announced?

Successful projects are expected to be announced in September 2025. 

Who can I contact with questions? 

Applicants can obtain support in preparing their applications, for example, technical support with online forms and practical guidance on eligibility or how to complete an application by contacting the Department:

Phone: (02) 4063 6860

Email: NSW.Resources@dpird.nsw.gov.au 

Topic: Variations

Question: Is there capacity to vary projects as projects progress and change direction? (flexibility is required where projects evolve and companies want to change direction)

Answer: Yes; applications to vary will be considered on a case by case basis. Project variations must remain aligned with the Program Guidelines and Objectives of the program. As this is an open-competitive round, variations must not alter the project significantly from what was submitted for assessment.

Topic: Tailing dams

Question: Is testing of tailing dams an eligible project?

Answer: The Guidelines do not explicitly exclude tailings dams in the Program Objectives or Assessment Criteria. However, please refer to the recently released results of the Geological Survey NSW Mine Reuse Project, where tailings were assessed for critical minerals and other metals at 28 sites across NSW. The reports are available in DiGS at GS2024/0024 (the NSW Government Digital Imaging Geological System)

Topic: Data Publishing and Confidentiality

Question: To what extent will successful grantees be required to disclose project findings/results?

Answer: Exploration licence holders have mandatory exploration reporting obligations under the Mining Act 1992 – due to this, grant reporting requirements are tailored to minimise duplication and focus on delivery of the funded project.

Question: How will grant program reporting/publishing impact on confidentiality?

Answer: All geological data reported for exploration licences will subsequently be released publicly, 5 years after submission as per the Annual Report Release Policy.

Grant reporting relates directly to the funded activities:

• Project delivery updates/status
• Evidence of works completed 
• Evidence of expenditure and payment of invoices

The Department is required to publish key information about grants awarded to the Grants and Funding Finder web site:

• Name of project to be funded
• Name of successful grant recipient
• Location or contact address of the grant recipient
• Location of the project to be funded
• Funding amount granted to each recipient for the particular project/ service
• The term of the funding deed in relation to each grant/project
• Number of grant applicants
• Number of grant recipients
• Source agencies
• Designated decision-maker

Data collected for the purpose of reporting on project delivery is not published externally by the Department.

If a progress report contains confidential information, the grant recipient must mark the relevant parts accordingly. Clause 17 of the funding deed (DOCX, 109.88 KB) provides information regarding how confidential information is to be managed by both the Department and the grant recipient.

Should successful applicants seek to  report on grant/project progress through ASX/market announcements; consulting the Department on these and media releases is a requirement under the terms and conditions of the funding deed.

Topic: Greenfields vs Brownfields

Question: Is there any preference, weighting or distinction made between projects in/on greenfields vs brownfields?

Answer: There is no such distinction made within the program guidelines or assessment criteria. All proposed projects will be assessed on their merits, and their alignment against the objective of the program/program guidelines.

It is up to applicants to demonstrate how a  project will meet the program objective and address the selection criteria – regardless of the greenfield or brownfield status.

Program objective: To support the long-term sustainability of the NSW resources sector by encouraging mineral exploration and discovery to:

• ensure a sustainable economic resource pipeline for the state, particularly in greenfield and near mine site areas of the state
• test new geological ideas and models
• identify new deposits of Group 1, 6 and 10 minerals under the Mining Act 1992, with a focus on deposits of NSW Government priority metals as identified in the Critical Minerals Strategy
• strengthen relationships between government and industry.

Selection criteria:

• Grant will achieve value for money by advancing exploration
• Applicant has sufficient capability, experience and skills
• Deliverability and technical merit
• Consistency of the proposal with the objectives of the Program and NSW Government priorities or policies

Topic: Drilling Depth

Question: How is drilling depth determined, and how should applicants classify their drilling project? (for example, a project with more than one drilling hole with each hole of different lengths)

Answer: The distinction of drilling depth is based on the depth of an individual hole. 

A project is classified based on whether the depth threshold is met.

• 3 individual holes of <100m depth each = Shallow Drilling Project (eligible for funding of up to $150k)
  • 1 individual hole >250m deep and 1 hole <100m deep = Deep Drilling Project (eligible for funding of up to $250k)

Topic: Land Access Agreements

Question: How explicit/specific does land access agreement evidence need to be? Can these be general access agreements, or specific for the proposed project?

Answer: Applicants must have suitable land access arrangements at the time of application and will be required to provide evidence of land access arrangements to the Department as part of the application.

As land access arrangements are between the explorer and the landholder/s, NSW Resources should not be provided with a copy of the access arrangement.  Rather, NSW Resources seeks sufficient details to confirm that a land access arrangement is in place to support the exploration activities the subject of the grant application.

As projects must be completed by 30 September 2027 (funding for activities undertaken after this date are not eligible for reimbursement) the confirmed status of land access arrangements provides confidence that the project will be delivered within the program timeframes. 

Topic: Projects Across Multiple Exploration Licences

Question: Can applicants apply for funding of a project that encompasses multiple tests/exploration licences? 

For example – Conducting geochemistry testing across different sites in same region, that are spread across multiple exploration licences.

Answer: Multiple exploration licences may apply to a single eligible grant activity (project).

Applications should relate to a project, rather than an individual exploration licence. 

A separate application will need to be submitted for each grant/project type (drilling, geochemistry or geophysics). The example included in the question would be a single grant application/project.

Topic: Multiple Successful Projects

Question: Where an applicant has multiple applications that are ranked high/are successful, is there an opportunity for consultation to determine the actual awarded mix of funding up to the $375,000 cap?

Answer: The Assessment Review Panel may seek clarification of information provided in applications and may consider consultation with applicants where necessary in the event an applicant has submitted successfully applications that exceed the maximum funding amount.