Federal funding is good news for Qld explorers says QRC

THE Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of a $100 million, four-year renewal of its Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive (JMEI).

“This is great news for Queensland explorers who are bringing amazing new technology like remote sensing, machine learning, and bio-indicators to the field,” QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said.

“The program will give eligible exploration companies access to tax incentives to attract new investors into the sector and potentially benefit 500-plus mineral exploration companies currently operating across Queensland.”

Mr Macfarlane said around 70 percent of exploration companies in Queensland have a market capitalisation value of less than $500 million, meaning they’re eligible to apply for tax incentives under the renewed JMEI program.

“Exploration is like the research and development of the minerals industry - it’s how we uncover new geological knowledge – so it’s great to see the Federal Government recognise the importance of exploration by renewing this program for another four years,” he said.

“The renewed funding will place Queensland mineral explorers in a stronger position to find that next big discovery.

“The last major minerals discovery in Queensland was almost 30 years ago, when Glencore’s Ernest Henry copper mine was discovered near Cloncurry in 1993, so we’re well overdue.”

Mr Macfarlane said the announcement of new federal funding, coupled with the Queensland Government’s Collaborative Exploration Initiative, provided explorers with much-needed financial incentives to keep exploring and developing potential new pipelines of opportunity for Queensland.

He congratulated the national peak body for exploration AMEC for the leading role it had played in securing additional exploration funding.

“This announcement also fits in well with the $125 million in federal funding announced last year through the Exploring for the Future initiative which focussed on exploration for the Barkly-Isa-Georgetown project,” Mr Macfarlane said.

Mr Macfarlane said Queensland had an abundance of minerals in high demand that have the potential to supply Australia and trading partners such as Canada, India, Japan and the EU with the critical minerals of the future.

“Explorers are currently looking for minerals such as cobalt, indium and Rare Earth Elements as well as metals like copper and gold which are all crucial components in renewable energy technology and are used in everyday devices such as smartphones and batteries,” he said.

www.qrc.org.au

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