Greenfields exploration takes a hit 

The release of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) June 2025 quarterly data for mineral exploration and expenditure show some solid numbers, along with reason for concern. 

There was significantly stronger performance of gold exploration during the June quarter, with expenditure up 36% from the March 2025 quarter to $400.1m. 

An extra $100m, or a jump of 35%, was spent on gold exploration compared to the previous corresponding period. 

AMEC chief executive Warren Pearce says gold has been on an incredible run of late and these stats back it up.  

“It’s also a sizeable indicator that things are starting to improve,” he said. 

“In fact, gold was responsible for 40% of all exploration activity recorded across the quarter.” 

Iron ore exploration also rose, up 21.7% ($38.5m) to $216.1m. 

The statistics also reveal year on year expenditure for national greenfields exploration down 17% ($52.4m) to $253.2m, compared to $305.6m in the June 2024 quarter.  

National brownfields exploration remained relatively flat year on year at $753.1m. 

Mr Pearce says the greenfields exploration figure is the most concerning for the industry and demonstrates the need for things to change. 

“This continuing reduction in greenfields activity has critical implications for future new project discovery and development and filling the pipeline needed to ensure the future economic prosperity of the nation,” he said. 

“The data reflects some of the concerns shared by AMEC and our members for some time, including the continuing barriers for industry to get on ground. 

“This is impacting the investment environment and is visible to investors.” 

Led by an uptick in brownfield mineral exploration, WA and Tasmania were the only jurisdictions to buck the trend, with 10.2% and 19.8% growth in total exploration spend respectively. 

Overall, AMEC says the numbers are solid. The total national exploration spend for FY25 was $3.83b, with brownfields accounting for $2.82b and greenfields $1.01b. Total metres drilled were only slightly down by 1% compared to last year. 

Despite the drop in greenfields exploration, total deposits rose 23.3% ($190.2m) to $1,006.4m, new deposits rose 20.8% ($43.6m) to $253.2m and existing deposits rose 24.2% ($146.5m) to $753.1m. 

Looking at a five-year period, there was a 21% increase in exploration spend, to $19.2b. From a state perspective South Australia and Tasmania have impressive triple figure growth over the same period, with 161% and 177% growth respectively.