Mineral exploration has shown significant growth in 2021–22. 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.

DEM's core functions include:

• assessing new exploration applications, which provide a right to explore
• assessing 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 4: Exploration licence statistics FY2021–22

Table 5: Exploration licence assessment times FY2021–22

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.

Table 6: Exploration PEPR (EPEPR) assessment times FY2021–22

Note: Timeframes are in business days; assessment timeframes are calculated based on the area with the longest target timeframe

During 2021–22 DEM observed an increase in volume of exploration licence applications and EPEPRs. To address this increased volume of applications and to ensure a fit for purpose administrative framework DEM have focused on streamlining processes and implementing new systems that will improve regulatory and assessment efficiency over the coming period.

Table 7: Compliance-related activities for exploration operations FY2021–22

Table 8: Exploration reports reviewed during FY2021–22

Table 9: Application refusals, penalties and enforcement actions issued for exploration licences FY2021–22

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 DEM 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.

In 2021, 66 surrender datasets and 24 partial surrender datasets were collected, uploaded to the DEM database and publicly released via SARIG:

• South Australian Resources Information Gateway (SARIG)

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 DEM. This information is held by DEM for five years before it is publicly released. During FY2021–22 there were 142 sunset data releases comprising 86 exploration licences uploaded to DEM databases for public access.