PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The most recent round of Western Australia’s cofunded drilling programme has again attracted significant interest from resource companies eager to explore greenfields or underexplored areas, the state’s Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore said on Friday.

The first application round for 2011 closed on March 25 and attracted 60 applications, including eight from prospectors.

“The cofunded drilling programme is a competitive industry-targeted programme that encourages exploration in greenfields and underexplored areas. Gold and base metals exploration targets featured in many of the applications, with iron-ore, nickel and the platinum-group elements the next most popular commodities,” Moore said.

He noted that the 60 applications, which sought a total of A$5,75-million in cofunding from the state government, were competing for an available pool of A$4-million.

The cofunded drilling programme is the centrepiece of the A$80-million exploration incentive scheme (EIS) which is funded through the state government’s Royalties for Regions programme.

This initiative was aimed at ensuring the security of Western Australia’s resource sector by helping explorers find the mines of the future.

“The programme has supported several new discoveries over the past two years including iron-ore, uranium, copper and new gold discoveries near Warbuton and in the Tropicana belt,” said Moore.

“The successful applicants in the latest round will undergo an exhaustive evaluation of the criteria addressed in the online application system. This evaluation is undertaken by an independent panel of exploration geologists with significant industry experience.”

The programme refunds up to 50% of direct drilling costs to successful applicants with refunds capped at A$30 000 for prospectors and A$150 000 for general projects. This amount can increase to A$200 000 for a single, deep-hole project.

Moore said the latest round of grants would cover drilling undertaken between July 2011 and June 2012.

“Another round of applications will be announced in August/September this year for drilling projects occurring between January and December 2012,” he said.

Applications will only be accepted through the online application system.

Moore recently reported that the value of Western Australia’s minerals and petroleum production had reached a record A$91,6-billion in 2010.