Strong interest anticipated for EIS Round 22 as applications continue to rise
| Date: | Friday, 21 August 2020 |
|---|
- Round 22 follows McGowan Government’s $5 million exploration funding boost
Applications for Round 22 of the Exploration Incentive Scheme’s (EIS) flagship co-funded drilling program open today.
This round follows the McGowan Government’s $5 million EIS funding boost as part of the WA Recovery Plan.
The additional funds will increase the EIS to $15 million in 2020-21, resulting in an extra $3 million being available across co-funded drilling Rounds 22 and 23.
The program encourages innovative drilling in greenfields and under-explored areas of Western Australia.
By the end of Round 19, 808 projects had completed 868,300 metres of drilling that resulted in more than 29 discoveries.
Recent successes include Peako’s confirmed copper-silver-gold mineralisation in the East Kimberley and Brightspark Graphite’s discovery of graphite-rich zones near Manjimup.
Explorers can receive a refund of up to 50 per cent for innovative drilling projects, with caps of $150,000 (multi-hole project), $200,000 (single deep hole), and $30,000 for prospectors.
Round 22 closes at 5pm on Friday September 18, 2020. For more information, visit http://www.dmirs.wa.gov.au
Comments attributed to Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston:
“The McGowan Government will continue to support Western Australia’s resources industry as the State recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The additional $5 million will create jobs in regional areas and allow more companies to be granted co-funding.
“Applications for the co-funded drilling program continue to rise, which is evidence of the exploration sector’s resilience.
“A previous economic impact study found that every $1 million invested in the EIS generates $10.3 million of exploration activity in WA.”
