Whilst there is a legislative ban on carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects within Queensland’s portion of the Great Artesian Basin, the geological prospectivity for the deployment of such technology to reduce Queensland’s carbon emissions remains high. The successful start-up and operation of the Moomba CCS project during the year is testament to this, with around 84 MMscf/d (1.7 MTPA) of CO2-e being injected into underground reservoirs at Strzelecki and Marabooka just across the border in South Australia. In recent years, exploration has expanded into minerals critical for the renewable energy transition and low-carbon future. Global demand for such critical minerals continues to build, transforming once overlooked elements into strategic priorities. Australia’s Critical Minerals (comprising 31 minerals vital for modern technology, emissions reduction, advanced manufacturing, and defence) continues to underpin global and national exploration priorities. As global demand surges driven by the energy transition and digital development, critical minerals have become central to international trade agreements and strategic bargaining, with countries seeking secure and diversified supply chains. A recent International Energy Agency report warns that China currently refines around 75% of processing capacity for key minerals, creating significant geopolitical risk and reinforcing the urgency to diversify supply sources 2 .
Australia, and Queensland are particularly well-positioned to respond, owning substantial critical mineral reserves and advancing downstream processing to add value locally. In what the Queensland Premier described as a strategic opportunity amid U.S. tariff dynamics and the Quad partners’ critical minerals initiative 3 , the Queensland 2025 budget allocated $8.5 million to ready the Queensland Resources Common User Facility, a step towards establishing shared processing infrastructure to strengthen local supply chains and regional economic resilience. In parallel with these developments, the government has opened nine new areas (totalling nearly 17,000 km²) for gas exploration across the Cooper-Eromanga and Bowen-Surat basins, aiming to attract investment, boost energy supply, reduce prices, and address the looming east-coast energy shortfall. This move is accompanied by a review of the exploration tender process, reflecting efforts to ensure long- term energy security. Looking through the lens of Queensland’s 15-year QEC Exploration Scorecard, prospectivity may not change dramatically year-to-year, but 2025 has seen a meaningful refresh of data platforms, geoscience initiatives, and exploration policy. Together, these underline Queensland’s enduring potential and evolving capabilities in driving resource discovery, particularly in the critical minerals and gas sectors.
2 IEA : Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 3 state.gov: Joint statement from the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Washington
EXPLORATION SCORECARD 2025
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