A sharp rise in drilling activity is signalling growing confidence across Australia’s mineral exploration sector, despite overall spending remaining largely steady at the end of 2025.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows exploration expenditure slipped slightly by 1.5 per cent to $1.05 billion in the December quarter of 2025, down from $1.07 billion in the September quarter.

However, the number of metres drilled increased by 11.4 per cent over the year, highlighting sustained on-ground activity by explorers.

Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) chief executive officer Warren Pearce said the increase in drilling activity was an encouraging sign for the sector.

“This latest set of data from the ABS confirms strong industry sentiment over the last six months, with investment starting to flow in 2026,” Pearce said.

“With drilling metres increasing more than double figures over the last twelve months, it demonstrates confidence in the exploration space and a desire for exploration teams to get on the ground.”

Pearce said the rise in drilling also reflects favourable market conditions, particularly for gold explorers.

“And with a surging gold price, it is no surprise that has led to a significant jump in gold exploration spend,” he said.

Gold exploration spending jumped 49.3 per cent year-on-year across Australia, while mineral sands exploration expenditure surged 96.7 per cent over the same period.

AMEC said brownfields drilling continued to dominate exploration programs, increasing by 16.5 per cent annually, while greenfields drilling declined by 3.5 per cent.

Pearce said the figures pointed to a stable finish to 2025, with the outlook for exploration activity strengthening as new capital begins to flow into the sector.

“The results reflect a steady end to 2025 and with a buoyant market and solid capital raisings by explorers, we should expect a continued rise in exploration for the year ahead,” he said.

According to AMEC, recent capital raisings have yet to fully translate into exploration expenditure, with only 13 per cent of funds raised in the December quarter of 2025 having been deployed into exploration activities so far.

Annual exploration spending for the 2025 calendar year reached $3.95 billion, up slightly on the previous year, though still below the record quarterly exploration expenditure of $1.02 billion recorded in the June quarter of 2022.

The latest activity figures come on the back of the ABS Business Indicators figures that show mining has powered a rise in gross operating profits for businesses across Australia, with both higher activity volumes and stronger growth contributing to the lift.

The ABS figures – which track private sector sales, wages, profits and inventories – showed overall company gross operating profits rose 5.8 per cent in the December quarter, while wages and salaries increased 0.9 per cent, with gross operating profits for mining businesses climbing 8.1 per cent over the quarter.

Read more: Gold explorers up their spending

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