2024 EIS funding to boost WA's minerals exploration

EIS delivers $7.28m in grants to 50 successful applicants
17 of them battery and critical minerals companies
Regions and resources explorers the winners

A total of 50 applicants, including six prospectors, will be backed with a share in $7.28 million of funding to support drilling between December 2024 and November 2025 across WA as part of the State Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme.

A large swathe of the funding has gone towards ASX small cap explorers around Lake Johnston, an emerging lithium district near Esperance, the WA Goldfields and Pilbara regions, along with many other highly prospective regions across the state.

It’s a welcome boost for critical minerals exploration in WA, with the EIS contributing half of the costs on deep holes or novel multi-hole programs at a time when lower prices are hurting explorers’ capacity to raise fresh capital from investors.

In fact, 17 of the companies on Round 30’s list are targeting battery minerals including lithium and REEs, with drilling for new gold deposits also on the cards with spot prices punching through all-time highs.

The EIS program has been in operation for well over a decade and has an enviable resume when it comes to generating economic growth from government investment.

Notably, Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) and Sirius Resources tapped the program for co-funding on campaigns that eventually yielded the Gruyere gold and Nova nickel discoveries.

Success stories

Recent success stories from co-funded drilling projects include Kingfisher Mining (ASX:KFM), which reported a new lode of REE mineralisation at its Mick Well project, while Western Mines Group (ASX:WMG) also reported a win this month through EIS co-funded drilling earlier this year, confirming a belt-scale mineral system at its nickel sulphide Mulga Tank project.

Asra Minerals (ASX:ASR) recently confirmed strong gold grades at Mt Stirling which hosts a 152,000oz gold deposit, however it’s the unique clay-hosted REEs within the tenure it’s exploring that the company has received funding for.

Once known for nickel, Lake Johnston has also become a hotbed for lithium, as TG Metals (ASX:TG6) has found out after discovering Li2O-rich spodumene at the Burmeister project.

Metallurgical testwork has the junior thinking it can lower opex with a simple ore sorting and heavy liquid/dense media separation process to produce high-grade, low impurity concentrate up to an impressive 6.31%.

WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) is another EIS funding alumni after turning up promising results from a drilled discovery hole into its P2 Target in 2022 and the once minnow now has a market cap of $880m as it develops one of the world’s most exciting and high-grade niobium discoveries in WA’s West Arunta region.

New round

Among the companies in the current round are a host we’ve got our eyes on for their critical minerals potential.

GreenTech Metals (ASX:GRE) is up in the Pilbara looking to prove up the Whundo VMS copper-zinc project and has options for processing through its Alliance with Anax Metals (ASX:ANX) or Artemis Resources’ (ASX:ARV) Radio Hill processing plant.

The project already hosts a 6.2Mt at 1.12% copper and 1.04% zinc resource, and has just signed on mining guru Julian Hanna who previously led Western Areas from junior to $2bn nickel sulphide miner with its high grade Forrestania nickel mines.

Regener8 Resources (ASX:R8R) is about to get drilling with its shiny new EIS grant too. It recently inked a milestone-based compensation plan for its critical minerals project, offering up to 1 million in shares to the Upurli Upurli Nguratja Aboriginal Corporation to clear the pathway to drilling and give back to the region’s community for its East Ponton project.

The landholding is highly prospective for paleochannel-hosted nickel, cobalt and perhaps even uranium, as the Hatlifter target shares many geological similarities to Deep Yellow’s (ASX:DYL) Mulga Rock.

Also in the mix is St George Mining (ASX:SGQ), which confirmed high grades of zinc, lead and silver mineralisation in its first-ever drill program at the Ajana project and is looking for lithium, rare earths and copper at what it believes is an area rich in a range of commodities just 25km from Mineral Resources’ (ASX:MIN) Mt Marion lithium operation.

Round 30 recipients of WA’s EIS funding. Source: WA Govt.

WA Mines and Petroleum Minister David Michael says the race to find critical minerals underlines the State Government’s aim to position WA as a dynamic global supplier of future battery minerals and materials.

“It is pleasing to see exploration expenditure continue to rise in WA, hitting a record $2.6 billion in 2023, with demand for critical minerals soaring on the back of global decarbonisation initiatives,” Michael says.

“The EIS continues to support major mineral discoveries, with each project increasing the odds of opening new mines and creating jobs in regional communities.

“Our mining sector has once again demonstrated the significance of mineral exploration to WA’s prosperity, with mineral sales reaching $192 billion in 2023.”

Applications for Round 31 of the Co-funded Drilling Program, Series 8 of the Energy Analysis Program (EAP) and Venture 2 of the Co-funded Geophysics Program (CGP) will open in February 2025.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Asra Minerals, GreenTech Metals, Norwest Minerals, Regener8 Resources and St George Mining are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.