Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations (GDC) program

Applicants must meet the essential and project-specific eligibility requirements set out in the Round 19 guidelines. Eligible projects are exploration programs in the Northern Territory under the Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations program. Greenfields diamond drilling is eligible where programs are located away from known deposits, there is no previous diamond drilling in the area of interest or the proposed drilling is to a significantly greater depth than existing drilling, and non-diamond pre-collars account for less than half of proposed drill metreage. Greenfields RC drilling is eligible where no previous drilling of any method has been conducted in the area of interest, or previous drilling was shallow RAB or aircore that did not effectively test bedrock. Greenfields non-diamond drilling is eligible where no previous drilling of any method has been conducted in the area of interest. Brownfields diamond drilling is eligible where the proposed program drills an untested conceptual target significantly deeper than existing drilling and/or a target not adequately tested by drilling, the target is outside an existing identified resource, and non-diamond pre-collars account for less than half of proposed drill metreage. Brownfields projects are not eligible if they involve shallow holes into known mineralisation, resource definition or development drilling, or RC, RAB, aircore or sonic drilling except pre-collars. Regional-scale geophysics is eligible where acquisition significantly improves the resolution and quality of existing data and covers a contiguous area greater than 350 square kilometres, the complete contiguous tenement package when less than 350 square kilometres, or passive seismic, reflection seismic or MT traverses greater than 25 kilometres. Innovative targeting is eligible where the technique or approach has not been tested in the project area, or where no seismic re-processing has been undertaken or previous re-processing was inadequate or not to modern standards. Mineral characterisation and testwork is eligible where there is insufficient existing analysis to determine whether minerals of interest may be present in economically significant quantities, particularly critical minerals; or where mineralisation contains potentially economic accumulations of critical minerals and has had no substantial early-stage metallurgical or ore characterisation testwork; or where a non-standard or novel approach is proposed for early-stage metallurgical testwork or ore characterisation for gold and/or uranium. Mineral characterisation and testwork is not eligible where the project development stage is pre-feasibility and above, unless new critical minerals are being assessed.