Mineral exploration continued significant growth in 2022–23. There was continued significant growth in Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that June 2022 figures were 21% higher than for the same period in 2021, while there was a substantial 34% increase across the financial year.

There was continued growth in exploration in South Australia, with the 2022–23 financial year total at $228.2 million, up 86% from $122.3 million the previous financial year. The mineral exploration expenditure figures for 2022–23 are the highest since 2012–13.

A core function of the Department for Energy and Mining is to assess:

  • new exploration applications, which provide a right to explore
  • exploration programs for environment protection and rehabilitation (EPEPRs), which provide a framework for efficiently and effectively managing exploration activities
  • regulation and compliance of exploration activity.

Table 2.1: Exploration licence statistics 2022–23

* Figures as at 30 June 2023

TypeNumber Area (km2)
Applications received 68 101,225
Licences granted 122 62,477
Licence relinquishments (full and partial) 28 6,950
Licences current* 881 362,506
Percentage of state* 39% –
Total licensees* 219 –
Applications current* 127 91,622
Total applicants* 62–

Table 2.2: Exploration licence assessment times 2022–23

* Exploration licence application assessment times include the department's technical assessment plus external agency comment/approval. The technical assessment is conducted by departmental staff. Time is from the Monday following the end of the application week to the decision on the successful applicant.

# The Exploration Release Area Panel is used only when competing applications for an exploration release area are received.

Assessment type Number completed Target timeframe (days) Median timeframe (days) Percentage achieved within timeframe (%) Number within target days
Exploration licence applications* 111 90 (3 months) 85 31.5 35
Exploration Release Area Panel# 6 60 (2 months) 82 0 0
Total 117     

The implementation of the amended Act and regulations in January 2021 has seen significant changes to the administration of mineral exploration across South Australia. The legislative changes reflect the most substantial changes to the regulatory framework in the past two decades and have necessitated significant internal process changes which have led to delays in the administration and processing of exploration licence transactions.

In 2022–23 the department has reduced the medium timeframe for exploration licence applications to 85 days, down from 239 days in 2021–22.

Average assessment times for exploration licence applications shown by quarter

Target days with DEM is 90 days or less. Timeframes exclude ELs in Aboriginal Lands.

Table 2.3: Exploration PEPR (EPEPR) assessment times 2022–23

Note: Timeframes are in business days; assessment timeframes are calculated based on the area with the longest target timeframe.
*Some applications may contain multiple area types.

Prescribed EPEPR by land type Number completed* Target timeframe (days) Average timeframe (days) Percentage that achieved timeframe (%)
Freehold/pastoral/perpetual lease area 41 25 44 51.2
Prescribed wells and/or water resource area 18 35 43 50
Jointly proclaimed national park or conservation park 8 85 25 87.5
Regional reserve 4 50 45 50
Geological monument 1 35 10 100
Planning and Design Code Zone – Conservation 2 40 19 100
Vegetation heritage agreement 9 40 40 77.8
Total 83  

Average EPEPR assessment times shown by quarter (Q3 2018 to Q2 2023)

Exploration licence, EPEPR and reporting assessments conducted 2018–19 to 2022–23

The second half of 2022 saw a continued downward trend in exploration licence application processing times observed in the above graph.

Table 2.4: Compliance-related activities for exploration operations 2022–2023r

Compliance activityNumber
Site inspection 13
Reported incident 2
Registered complaint 1
Notice of non-compliance issued 11
Formal direction issued 1
Unauthorised mining/exploration investigations 3
Compliance report received 113
Compliance report assessed 53

Table 2.5: Exploration reports reviewed during 2022–23

*Reports cover multiple exploration licences

Exploration reporting Number reviewed
Exploration licence annual expenditure reports 770
Exploration licence annual technical reports 310
Joint annual technical reports* 64
Surrenders of exploration licences 50
Partial surrenders of exploration licences 36
Total 1,540

Table 2.6: Penalties and enforcement actions issued for exploration licences 2022–23

Compliance instrument Tenement holder Tenement number*NoncomplianceOutcome
Environmental direction Demetallica Operations Pty Ltd EL 6270Failure to submit a monitoring plan to ensure a leaking drillhole through the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) was appropriately decommissioned Submit and implement a detailed monitoring plan

Open-file release of company exploration reports and associated data

It is a requirement of the Mining Act that exploration companies provide the exploration data generated on an exploration licence to the department on surrender or partial surrender of the tenement. The data is made publicly available via the South Australian Resources Information Gateway (SARIG) to provide a central resource for the sector.

From 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 there were 50 surrender and 36 partial surrender datasets released for a total of 1.42GB uploaded to the departments databases for public access.

Sunset data release program

In accordance with the Mining Act and mining regulations, data and information generated through authorised exploration activity is required to be reported to the department. This information is held by the department for five years before it is publicly released.

From 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 there were 162 sunset data releases comprising 456 exploration licences for a total of 5.64 GB uploaded to the departments databases for public access.