Welcome to South Australia

World-class resources

South Australia offers world-class mineral and energy resources, critical for the world to achieve its decarbonisation aims with a track record of policy certainty in supporting investment.

Globally, South Australia is ranked second only to Denmark for annual Variable Renewable Energy generation; and has 11 of Australia’s 33 Renewable Energy Zones with some of the world's best complimentary wind and solar.

We have Australia’s largest onshore oil and gas province, the Cooper Basin, and hold more than 65% of Australia’s copper and graphite resources, 80% of Australia’s uranium, and 28% of its gold.

South Australia is home to the world’s largest zircon mine at Jacinth Ambrosia and world class mining assets, including Olympic Dam (Cu/Au/U), Carrapateena (Cu/Au/Ag) and Prominent Hill (Cu/Au/Ag). South Australia is also highly prospective for critical minerals including cobalt, rare earth elements, nickel and magnesium.

Investors looking to increase their competitiveness in a carbon constrained future, will find our large endowment of onshore storage reservoirs are ripe for investment in new technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Our competitive advantage

South Australia is a stable and low-risk destination for investment.

South Australia is ranked 7th in the world for Investment Attractiveness, 6th for Political Stability and 8th for Best Practices in Mineral Potential, by the Fraser Institute, 2020.

Low-cost clean energy, world class universities and home to Australia’s space and defence industries, is making South Australia a destination of choice for international companies looking to achieve global competitive advantage in a net zero environment.

Our pro-business government, highly skilled workforce, and enviable lifestyle makes South Australia one of the great boutique regions of the world, renowned for our wine, food, clean living and climate.

Our capital city Adelaide is Australia’s most liveable city, and ranked third in the world, by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index, 2021.

Geographically, South Australia is ideally placed for businesses looking to access not only the Australian market, but also key, fast-growing Asian markets such as China, India and South-East Asia.

A well-connected ecosystem

With a population of 1.7 million (1.37 million in Adelaide), our size is our unique advantage.

South Australia is home to some of the best innovation and business precincts where industry, academia and government are working together to accelerate innovation, entrepreneurship, research and technical solutions to global challenges.

Tonsley Innovation District is home to leading energy and mining businesses, start-ups, research centres and educational institutes including the Onshore Petroleum Centre of Excellence, the South Australia Dill Core Reference Library, Australian Hydrogen Centre, Hydrogen Park SA, SIMEC Energy Australia and ZEN Energy, Tesla’s Australasian Service Centre, CMW Geosciences and TAFE SA.

SA-H2H Hydrogen Technology Cluster is the home of hydrogen technology collaboration in South Australia, where members work together to build market scale links between hydrogen projects targeting domestic and export markets.

CORE Innovation Hub works with start-ups, SMEs, researchers, suppliers and industry partners to connect and collaborate across the mining, resources and energy sectors.

Heavy Industry Low Carbon Transition – Cooperative Research Centre links companies with researchers to develop solutions that will enable heavy industry to compete in the low-carbon global economy.

Roundtable for Oil and Gas brings together more than 2,250 representatives from over 1,150 organisations including industry, governments, and peak representative bodies to share information about the latest developments in the upstream natural gas and oil sector.

Australian Critical Minerals Research Centre is world-renowned for expertise in novel isotope geochemistry, mineral geochemistry and geophysics, which it is using to develop new exploration tools; boost understanding of critical mineral ores and mineral chemistry; and provide research that is commercialised by industry.

For companies locating to and/or expanding in South Australia, the South Australian Government provides extensive support and case management services.