Capricorn Copper and Chinova are among nine exploration companies prospecting in the north west minerals province for deposits of copper, gold and base metals with the help of the latest round of exploration grants, worth $1.13M.

Photo: North west Queensland Supported projects Tenures represented at 300% scale 1. SECTOR PROJECTS PTY LTD 2. FOOTPRINT RESOURCES PTY LTD 3. RED METAL LIMITED 4. CHINOVA RESOURCES PTY LTD 5. AEON WALFORD CREEK LIMITED 6. MINOTAUR EXPLORATION LTD 7. TOPDRILL PTY LTD 8. CAPRICORN COPPER PTY LTD 9. FINDEX PTY LTD

Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said that while the North West Minerals Province provided a golden opportunity for explorers, the positive flow-on effects for local business and the communities added to the impact.

“Funding through the Collaborative Exploration Initiative allows companies to kick-start projects that may have never have got off the ground due to the costs and risks involved in exploring in remote regions of Queensland,” Dr Lynham said.

“We have to get innovative if we are going to get these projects moving, and the Collaborative Exploration Initiative is an excellent example of how a small investment reaps big rewards for Queensland.

“It’s for this reason that we have expanded the program to include other forms of exploration like geophysics and geochemistry – rather than only the traditional drilling methods.

“Queensland explorers are using the complete array of techniques to make discoveries and so the funding initiative has been updated the reflect this,” Dr Lynham said.

The program has generated 48 new mineralisation discoveries over the past 10 years, including a contribution towards Australia’s largest copper-cobalt resource by Aeon Metals, and the Maronan deposit worth up to $9 billion.

Since it started, 58 companies – most junior explorers – have shared in funding to commence exploration. The companies have invested about another $21 million invested in Queensland by the companies themselves – a leverage of 3:1.