Australia’s mineral exploration drilling activity has reached its highest quarterly level in almost five years, with drilling around existing deposits reaching record levels and a sharp rebound in new-deposit drilling contributing to a broader increase in activity.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data found that 3,461.6 kilometres were drilled during the June 2026 quarter, a 29.1 per cent increase from March and 20.3 per cent higher than the same period in 2025.
Seasonally adjusted drilling increased 1.2 per cent during the quarter to 3,170km, while the trend measure rose 4.4 per cent to 3,192km. The trend figure was 23.8 per cent higher than in June 2025.
Australian Drilling Industry Association (ADIA) chief executive officer Jeff Miller said the figures showed the strength of activity moving through the drilling sector.
“For drilling contractors, one of the clearest measures of what is happening on the ground is not simply exploration dollars, but metres drilled,” Miller said.
“On that measure, activity remains very strong. Seasonally adjusted metres are almost 20 per cent above where they were a year ago, while the trend series suggests the underlying recovery extends beyond a single strong quarter.”
New-deposit drilling provided one of the strongest areas of growth, increasing 68.9 per cent during the quarter to 821.8km after falling 24.6 per cent in the March quarter.
Drilling around existing deposits also increased, rising 20.3 per cent to 2,639.8km, the highest quarterly level recorded in the ABS series.
“The strength is not confined to the rebound in new-deposit drilling,” Miller said.
“Existing-deposit drilling is running at historically high levels, providing a substantial base of work around known resources, while the strong increase in new-deposit metres points to renewed activity at the front end of the discovery pipeline.”
However, new-deposit drilling accounted for just 23.7 per cent of total metres drilled during the quarter.
“A 69 per cent quarterly increase in new-deposit metres is a very positive signal, particularly after the decline we saw last quarter, but one strong result does not remove Australia’s longer-term discovery challenge,” Miller said.
“Less than one quarter of the metres drilled during the June quarter were on new deposits. Sustained investment in discovery drilling remains essential if Australia is to replenish the resources being mined today and maintain a healthy pipeline of future projects.”