Exploration statistics

Australian Mineral Exploration Expenditure 2023

Background:

The 2023 calendar year figures shown below are derived from March, June, September and December 2023 quarterly data, with the December quarter released in March 2024. The ABS also reports seasonally adjusted and trend data.

Key Points:

• Total mineral exploration expenditure for the 2023 calendar year was $4,269.8 million (Figure 1).
• Exploration expenditure in and around known deposits (brownfields) in 2023 was $2,940.4 million and expenditure for undiscovered mineralisation in frontier regions (greenfields) was $1,329.6 million. Brownfields drilling totalled to 7,872,600 metres (m) and greenfields drilling totalled 2,960,300 m (Figure 2).
• Exploration spending by commodity in 2023 (Figure 3) was:
  • gold $1,249.7 million
  • other commodities (such as lithium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphate, tin, tungsten and vanadium) $767.5 million
  • iron ore $700.3 million
  • copper $666.8 million
  • cobalt and nickel $324.5 million
  • coal $322.3 million
  • silver-lead-zinc $106.4 million
  • mineral sands $72.7 million
  • uranium $54.9 million
• Exploration expenditure by jurisdiction in 2023 (Figure 4) was:
  • Western Australia $2,599.3 million (61% of the national total)
  • Queensland $592.1 million (14%)
  • New South Wales $367.0 million (9%)
  • South Australia $293.1 million (7%)
  • Northern Territory $228.1 million (5%)
  • Victoria $151.8 million (4%)
  • Tasmania $38.8 million (1%)