Exploration statistics

Australian Mineral Exploration Expenditure 2024

Background:

The 2024 calendar year figures shown below are derived from March, June, September and December 2024 quarterly data, with the December quarter released in March 2025. The ABS also reports seasonally adjusted and trend data.

Key Points:

• Total mineral exploration expenditure for the 2024 calendar year was $3,949.0 million (Figure 1).
• Exploration expenditure in and around known deposits (brownfields) in 2024 was $2,823.0 million and expenditure for undiscovered mineralisation in frontier regions (greenfields) was $1,125.9 million. Brownfields drilling totalled to 7,129,600 metres (m) and greenfields drilling totalled 2,463,400 m (Figure 2).
• Exploration spending by commodity in 2024 (Figure 3) was:
  • gold $1,187.0 million
  • other commodities (such as lithium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphate, tin, tungsten and vanadium) $667.5 million
  • iron ore $769.7 million
  • copper $575 million
  • cobalt and nickel $208.5 million
  • coal $329.2 million
  • silver-lead-zinc $74.7 million
  • mineral sands $45.9 million
  • uranium $71.3 million
• Exploration expenditure by jurisdiction in 2024 (Figure 4) was:
  • Western Australia $2,512.1 million (64% of the national total)
  • Queensland $566 million (14%)
  • New South Wales $280.5 million (7%)
  • South Australia $275.3 million (7%)
  • Northern Territory $176 million(4%)
  • Victoria $105.2 million (3%)
  • Tasmania $34 million (1%)