Mineral Exploration Reporting (SA)

Mineral explorers are required to report expenditure every 2 years on their exploration projects under South Australian legislation.

Refer to the Department of State Development's Mineral exploration reporting guidelines for South Australia

Tenements for which exploration reports are required

• Exploration Licences (EL)

Types of mineral exploration reports required:

• 2 Year Expenditure Report
• Within 60 days of the end of the commitment period
• A separate report must be lodged for each EL, unless it is in an amalgamated expenditure arrangement (AER)
• Forward s reports to the EL Reporting Officer, Mineral Resources Division, DSD.Exploration@sa.gov.au.

• Annual Technical Report
• A digital copy of Technical reports must be submitted annually, or on the expiry, partial surrender or full surrender of a licence. Hard copies are no longer accepted.

Combined technical reporting

Where an exploration project is being conducted across adjoining licences, the licensee can apply to the Director of Mines (Attention: EL Reporting Officer) for joint reporting status for those licences. Such arrangements are encouraged by the Department of State Development as they reduce the number of reports to be completed by companies and reduce handling by the department.

Requests for joint annual reporting status should be submitted in writing to the Director of Mines (Attention: EL Reporting Officer), and provide the following information:

• list of tenements to be jointly reported displaying details of ownership of each tenement
• map showing the extent of the project area, boundaries of the licences covered, and relevant geoscientific and geographical information/justification to assist in assessment of the proposal
• proposed date for submission of reports (this should coincide with the anniversary of one of the licences within the reporting group)
• any Technical reports due or overdue on licences within the nominated group.

In considering requests for joint annual reporting, the department will take into account the exploration target or objective, the geographical distribution of the licences (i.e. contiguous licences), licence ownership, the history of reporting on the licences and the previous exploration and reporting performance of the explorer. Where one licence or part of a licence from the group is surrendered or expires, partial surrender reporting requirements will apply (Sections 4.2 and 5).

Six-monthly Summary reports are not included in joint reporting arrangements and should be submitted as per normal requirements. Expenditure commitments for each licence must still be met unless a special arrangement has been reached with the Department of State Development.

Expenditure Reports

The following categories of exploration expenditure are allowable in meeting the obligations specified as a condition of an EL:

• Geological and geophysical costs — all field costs incurred in the conduct of geological mapping and geophysical surveys, procurement of samples, laboratory analysis and data processing; all office costs incurred in laboratory analysis, data processing, reproduction, interpretation, assessment and presentation of results.
• Drilling costs — includes site preparation (construction and maintenance of access roads, drill sites, camp sites and water supply) and rehabilitation; drilling and completion costs (rigging-up, drilling, coring, fishing, casing, logging and other surveys, core analyses, rigging-down, consumable goods, hire of plant and equipment, repair and maintenance).
• Logistics — includes camp costs (accommodation etc.), transport (personnel, plant, equipment, materials), salaries and wages (supervisory, technical and non-technical), insurance (equipment, personnel pertaining to operations on the EL) and final report costs (data processing, reproduction and presentation of results).
• Office administration costs (up to 10% of allowable expenditure incurred by a licensee, provided that the amount claimed in each case does not exceed the actual office costs applicable to the EL).
• Costs relating to gaining access to ground for exploration including native title and Aboriginal heritage requirements.
• Tenement rentals.
• Other costs not provided for above and deemed applicable to be listed with reasons for inclusion, for consideration by the delegated authority