Mineral exploration hit a two-year low in the three months leading up to June, as deep cuts to spending by both large and small mining companies since the start of the year caught up with the industry in the final months of the 2023-24 financial year.
The decline was driven by a drop in demand and prices for minerals such as lithium, iron ore, and nickel.
Total spending on exploration by Australian resource companies fell by 5.5% in the June quarter, reaching just over $991 million (still a significant amount of money).
This was the lowest quarterly spending since mid-2022 and was 6.9% lower than in the June quarter of 2023.
However, spending on oil and gas exploration decreased from the March quarter but was up compared to June 2023.
A total of $313 million was spent on oil and gas exploration in the June quarter, down 16% from March but up more than 28% from a year ago.
Overall, total spending decreased by $57 million in the quarter and nearly $90 million from the peak of $1.08 billion in the final quarter of 2023.