Round 1 - Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program

Round 1 - Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program
The Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Exploration Program seeks to promote investment in NSW minerals through co-investment in underexplored areas to search for deposits of metallic minerals and critical minerals and high-tech metals.
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Key information

  • Status: Closed
  • Grant amount: From $5,000 to $250,000
  • Application opened: 16 April 2025
  • Application closed: 30 June 2025, 5:00 pm

Program objective

The objective of the Program is to the support the long-term sustainability of the NSW resources sector by encouraging mineral exploration and discovery to:

  • ensure a sustainable economic resource pipeline for the state, particularly in greenfield and near mine site areas of the state
  • test new geological ideas and models
  • identify new deposits of Group 1, 6 and 10 minerals under the Mining Act 1992, with a focus on deposits of NSW Priority Metals as identified in the Strategy, and
  • strengthen relationships between government and industry.

This program is administered by NSW Resources.

Eligibility

1

Who can apply

To be eligible for grant funding, an applicant must meet all the following requirements:

  1. be one of the following:
    • a company incorporated in Australia
    • a company limited by guarantee
    • an incorporated trustee on behalf of a corporate trust
    • an incorporated association or co-operative
    • a partnership
    • a sole trader
    • an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation incorporated under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006.
  2. have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  3. be registered for GST
  4. be a fit and proper person/legal entity
  5. not be insolvent, bankrupt or subject to ongoing legal proceedings
  6. hold a relevant title under the Mining Act 1992
  7. hold or commit to obtaining public liability insurance of not less than $20 million per occurrence or hold equivalent or better self-insurance to the satisfaction of the Department, prior to executing a funding deed with the Department
  8. if applicable, provide evidence of land access agreements in place to undertake the project
  9. declare in the application form that the applicant is not aware of any issues which could cause reputational or other risks to the NSW Government
  10. declare in the application form that the applicant is not aware of, or being subject to an active investigation under the Mining Act 1992
  11. be financially viable and able to provide a minimum 50% co-contribution
  12. be able to demonstrate technical capacity to deliver the proposed project
  13. have previous project delivery experience
2

Who the grant is targeted towards

The intended recipients of grants under the Program include a range of active NSW exploration organisations who hold a relevant mining title in NSW under the Mining Act 1992.

3

Types of projects funded under this grant

The project/activities must meet all the following requirements to be eligible:

  • Program: align with the objectives of the Program
  • Support exploration for Group 1, 6 and 10 minerals under the Mining Act 1992
  • Deliver, or have the potential to deliver, significant benefits to NSW
  • Timeframe: The project must be completed by 30 September 2027.
4

When the project can start and end

The project must be completed by 30 September 2027.

5

What costs you can apply for

The project costs must support the objectives of the Program.

The following types of project costs are eligible for funding: Direct third party costs of drilling, geophysical or geochemical survey costs as charged by a contractor and described in the relevant invoices. The work must be directly related to the target described in the application.

Some examples of eligible project costs are as follows (listed for guidance only):

  • Exploration Geochemistry
    • Survey costs including data acquisition and supporting costs
    • Sampling costs including contractor costs
    • Analysis and assay costs
  • Exploration Geophysics
    • Study costs including supporting costs
    • Acquisition and data processing
  • Exploration Drilling
    • Costs relating to drilling including supporting costs such as mobilisation
    • Drilling costs
    • Sampling costs including drill hole sampling and assays
6

What costs you can't apply for

The following project costs are ineligible for funding:

  • any expenditure incurred prior to the date the Department notifies applicants of successful application by a Letter of Offer
  • capital works costs, civil costs, licence applications
  • repayment of existing debts and/or budget deficits
  • purchase of non-fixed assets
  • capital and operational costs of existing equipment which may be utilised in the project
  • statutory fees and charges, including overhead charges such as insurance and leases
  • ongoing costs for business administration, operation or maintenance, including staff salaries
  • costs associated with grant applications, monitoring and administration costs, including any funding provided to professional services to support application submission
  • costs relating solely to marketing, advertising or product promotion, including education and information campaigns
  • costs which require ongoing funding from the NSW Government, beyond the delivery timeframe for the Program
  • legal costs
  • staff training and development costs.
7

Types of projects not funded under this grant

The following will not be eligible for funding:

  • Resource definition drilling that is not exploration
  • Works that have been completed prior to the date the Department notifies applicants of successful application by a Letter of Offer
  • Rehabilitation of sites
  • Research and academic studies
  • Exploration for minerals not in Group 1, 6 and 10 minerals under the Mining Act 1992
  • Geotechnical surveys.
8

What co-contributions are required

All applicants must provide a co-contribution. Co-contributions must be at least 50% of the total project cost (unless otherwise approved by the Department in writing).

Other NSW Government grants cannot be used as co-contributions.

Quarterly project reporting is described in the funding deed. Reporting requirements in the funding deed must be completed before grant funds will be paid.

To claim, the Department must be invoiced after compulsory reporting is submitted to the Department and the project work has been completed and payments made to contractors. The applicant must invoice the Department and provide evidence of payment of costs for cross-referencing before grant payments will be made.

Most recent recipients

All recipients (27)

What your application needs to include

1

Prepare your application with this checklist

You can download resources for applications including Program Guidelines, FAQs, Sample Funding Deed and Project Plan Template on our website.

Each application must include the documents listed in the Application Form which include the following:

  • Organisation details including ABN, and an explanation of primary activities
  • Contact information for the key contact on the project
  • Details of current Public Liability Insurance Policy or confirmation that Public Liability Insurance Policy of at least $20 million will be taken out prior to the execution of the Funding Deed
  • Details of the relevant title under the Mining Act 1992 where the work is proposed to be undertaken, including information about the Licence Holder/s
  • Identification of the exploration target and commodity types
  • Alignment of the project with the intent of the Program
  • Details of how the proposed project will impact the overall exploration program
  • Overview of the geology and past exploration in the region
  • Details of the work already undertaken in the region to define targets, including an exploration rationale, plans, cross sections or previous surveys that have identified the proposed targets
  • A Project plan, including:
    • Start date, expected end date and delivery milestones
    • Activity details such as area to be studied, number of holes, estimated number of meters to be drilled, assay information, or survey techniques
    • A map of the project/prospect location
  • Anticipated information to be acquired as part of the program
  • Details of how the proposed project will advance exploration
  • Detail of how the project will test sound geological models and innovative concepts and ideas
  • A project budget based on quotes, detailed estimates, reasonable assumptions or previous costs, based on experience with similar projects
  • Total project cost
  • Grant funding amount being requested
  • Identification of risks, potential consequences and mitigation measures that will be put into place to manage risks.
2

Address the eligibility criteria

Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.

Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.

Start the application

Applications for this grant are accepted via the SmartyGrants portal. 

Applicants must submit their applications by 5pm 30 June 2025.

Note: If you are a new applicant to SmartyGrants, you will need to register and create a password. If you are already registered, you can log in with your existing username and password.


Apply now

After the application is submitted

Successful applications will be decided by: Deputy Secretary, NSW Resources, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Determining which applications are successful involves these stages:

1. Eligibility Cull

  • Staff from the Department will assess the applications against the eligibility criteria.
  • The Department may ask applicants to provide additional information to assist the assessment process. Advice may be sought from other government agencies to assist in the eligibility assessment. Confidentiality will be maintained throughout the process.
  • Applications that have met the eligibility criteria will move to the next stage.

2. Assessment

  • The Department will assess eligible applications against the assessment criteria.
  • The Department may seek advice from other NSW Government agencies and other sources such as probity advisors.
  • Applications will be moderated and reviewed by an assessment panel convened by the Department (Assessment Review Panel) to ensure consistency in assessment. Each application will be assessed on its merit and compared to other eligible applications before a recommendation is made in writing to the decision maker.
  • A review of previous compliance and reporting commitments will be undertaken as part of the Assessment process and will be provided to the Assessment Review Panel for consideration.
  • Applicants may be contacted during this step to clarify information provided in their application. The Department will notify applicants if additional information and supporting material is required and the timeframes in which it is required.
  • The Department will assess each application on its merits and competitively against the other applications and provide recommendations to the Assessment Review Panel.
  • The Assessment Review Panel will make written recommendations to the decision maker.

3. Decision-Making

  • The decision maker is the Deputy Secretary, NSW Resources, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development as listed in the Grant Program Details.
  • The decision maker will review the availability of grant funds, the recommendations of the assessment team and, where relevant, the outcomes of the eligibility cull.
  • The decision maker may take other factors into account including advice from a probity advisor and issues that could cause reputational or other risks to the NSW Government.
  • In limited circumstances, the decision maker may waive selection criteria, for example, where not doing so would: lead to perverse or unfair outcomes; be contrary to the policy intent; or damage the reputation and integrity of the Program.
  • The decision maker’s decision is final in all matters, including:
    • the approval to award a grant
    • the amount awarded
    • the terms and conditions of the grant.

Both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified of assessment outcome.

Anticipated assessment outcome date is 30/09/2025

Support and contact

Contact NSW Resources if you need more information on eligibility, time frames, or if you have questions about the application form on the portal:

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