The Australian Government has identified potential deposits of rare earth elements, vital for clean energy and defence applications, in early results from the $3.4 billion Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity program.
The initiative, led by Geoscience Australia, is a 35-year project designed to fully map the country and provide free data to support exploration of minerals, groundwater, and other resources.
An early assessment of the program’s findings has highlighted high potential sites for heavy rare earth elements, including dysprosium and terbium, in remote areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King, said the results demonstrated the importance of geoscience in supporting mineral exploration and helping Australians understand the resources beneath their feet.
“These results are just the start of how the Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity program will help us understand where to find the critical minerals and resources we will need to support clean energy, defence and medical technology,” Minister King said.
“Accurate and reliable precompetitive geoscience from the program will allow explorers to get a head start on future discoveries.”
The Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity program forms part of the Albanese Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy, which is supported by approximately $28 billion in government funding to strengthen Australia’s critical minerals sector and global supply chains.
Earlier in January, Minister King announced details of the nation’s Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, with an initial focus on gallium, antimony, and rare earths.
High potential sites were identified by analysing geological unconformities – where rocks of vastly different ages lie directly on top of one another – and linking these time gaps to models of heavy rare-earth mineral systems.
Areas highlighted in the assessment include the Birrindudu-Halls Creek region on the WA-NT border, parts of the Yeneena, Louisa, and Murraba basins in Western Australia, and sections of the South Nicholson Basin in the Northern Territory.
Geoscience Australia has published the full assessment on its website, providing detailed data to support exploration efforts across the country.
