The federal government is set to provide $566.1m over 10 years towards deploying geoscientists to map Australian resources and deliver data, maps and other tools for the resources industry.
It is part of a plan to find new deposits for minerals and sources of energy under the Future Made in Australia policy.
The investment, which will be part of next week’s budget, will be led by Geoscience Australia.
It will include mapping all of Australia’s groundwater systems, with the aim of acquiring a deeper understanding of potential resources.
It will also map offshore areas of Australia in a bid to find sites for carbon capture and storage, and possible sites for clean hydrogen projects.
The program will also support regional communities, farmers and First Nations peoples to manage their land and water resources, and be more informed about potential mining projects.
Anthony Albanese is set to announce the funding, which he will label “a new era of mineral exploration”, in Perth on Wednesday.
“We will fund the first comprehensive map of what’s under Australia’s soil – and our seabed meaning we can pinpoint the new deposits of critical minerals and strategic materials we need for clean energy and its technology, as well as traditional minerals like iron ore and gold and potential storage sites for hydrogen,” the Prime Minister will say.
Mr Albanese will say the government will ensure the findings are “freely available to industry” so “companies know where to drill, dig and explore to find the mineral resources that will power our future growth and prosperity”.
“It will assist with infrastructure planning, environmental assessments and supporting the agriculture sector,” Mr Albanese will say.
“And help create a sustainable pipeline of projects – on an orderly timeline.
“So much of our future prosperity depends on finding more critical minerals, extracting more critical minerals – and doing more with critical minerals before we export them.”
The funding will commence on July 1.