Grants in Mining

The Co-funded Exploration Drilling Program supports explorers by covering up to half of their exploratory drilling expenses. It's a flagship initiative of the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), running twice yearly and refunding up to 50% for innovative drilling projects, with specific limits.

The Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program will invest $2.5 million over the next two year to encourage more exploration in NSW, by funding successful applicants to undertake drilling, geophysics and geochemistry.

The Ignite Ideas Fund offers funding for commercialising highly innovative products or services, at or beyond the minimum viable product stage. This fund serves as a companion program to the Advance Queensland Ignite Spark Program, which supports projects in advancing highly innovative products or services from prototype development through testing and validation to market readiness.

The Investment Attraction Fund (IAF) supports WA-based projects in new energies sectors—including green iron and steel, critical minerals (battery and processing), renewable hydrogen, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS)—to diversify the economy, scale up local businesses, and create local jobs.

The Industrial Transformation Stream (ITS) is designed to support the decarbonisation of existing industrial facilities located in regional Australia. Through targeted funding, the program enables projects that reduce Scope 1 and/or Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions. This can be achieved through a range of approaches, including electrification, energy efficiency improvements, the integration of renewable energy technologies, fuel switching, and the development of enabling infrastructure such as energy storage and demand management systems.

The CEI offers merit-based funding to encourage industry investment in under-explored areas of Queensland. It supports innovative exploration techniques and promotes the discovery of future minerals, aiming to enhance the resource industry's success by expanding knowledge of the region's geology and resource potential.

The Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation has released the Local Capability Fund, which provides grants to help small and medium enterprises to enhance their competitiveness and secure work on large-scale projects in Australia and overseas. The Supplying Key Projects Round is designed to support Western Australian SMEs in enhancing their business capabilities and capacity to supply to major projects undertaken by the Federal, Western Australian and local governments, along with the private sector. The priority sectors for this funding round include energy, mining, civil construction, defence and marine.

The METS Innovation Program aims to support research initiatives spearheaded by Mining, Equipment, Technology, and Services (METS) companies servicing to WA’s mining sector. With a $3 million funding allocation, the program offers a targeted grant scheme providing matched funding of up to $250,000 for qualifying grant recipients, along with project facilitation support for collaborative ventures. It focuses on advancing technologies in MRIWA’s strategic areas, including low-emissions technologies, precision and low-impact mining, critical minerals, and innovative uses of tailings and waste.

The Powering the Regions Fund's Safeguard Transformation Stream Round 1 grant offers up to $50 million to trade-exposed facilities, enabling them to decrease emissions and support Australia's emissions reduction goals.