South Australia (SA): minimum expenditure for exploration licences
A South Australian exploration licence's minimum expenditure is set per km² and rises with the licence term: $50/km² a year in years 1–2 (at least $20,000), $100/km² in years 3–6 (at least $30,000) and $150/km² in years 7–18 (at least $40,000). Compliance is assessed over two-year commitment periods.
Checked against the regulator's guidance and the legislation on 25 September 2026. General information, not legal advice. Rules and fees change, and your licence conditions take priority, so confirm with the regulator before relying on a figure.
- Titles
- Exploration licence (EL)
- Regulator
- Department for Energy and Mining (DEM), Mineral Resources Division
- Legislation
- Mining Act 1971 and Mining Regulations 2020
How the minimum is calculated
- The commitment is set by the department's expenditure policy (in force since 1 January 2021), rounded to the nearest $5,000. It's fixed at grant for the first period and reset at the start of each later period.
- From year 3, at least 60% must be spent on on-ground work or generating new data. Office work on existing data is capped at 40%.
- For a licence won through a competitive release-area application, the first two years' commitment is whatever the applicant bid.
- An Amalgamated Expenditure Arrangement (AEA) lets you pool commitments across a group of licences.
| Licence year | Rate | Minimum per year |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | $50 per km² per year | $20,000 |
| 3–6 | $100 per km² per year | $30,000 |
| 7–18 | $150 per km² per year | $40,000 |
Reporting and deadlines
| Report | Due | Lodged via |
|---|---|---|
| Expenditure return (Form 29EXR, or 29EXR-AEA for an AEA group) | Every two years, within 60 days after each commitment period ends, plus a final return within 60 days of the licence ending | MERS Portal |
| Annual technical report and activity summary | Within 2 months of each licence anniversary | MERS Portal |
| Partial surrender or final report | Within 2 months of a surrender or expiry (3 months after a cancellation) | MERS Portal |
What counts as expenditure
- Geoscience work and drilling
- Management and logistics, environmental work and rehabilitation
- Land access and stakeholder engagement, including native title and heritage
- Resource and feasibility studies, and EL annual fees
- Administration and overheads, capped at 10% of the minimum commitment
Doesn't count
- Buying or transferring the tenement, and preparing a mining lease application
- Fines, bonds, insurance and marketing
- Corporate and ASX reporting costs
- Research unrelated to the licence, and salaries of staff who don't work on it
Exemptions and variations
- You can ask to defer a shortfall (carry it forward), or to vary, reset or waive the commitment. Apply with the expenditure return, with evidence the cause was outside your control, such as legal action, blocked land access or regulatory delay. Your compliance history is taken into account.
- Other routes: a pro-rata variation after a partial surrender, pooling licences in an AEA, or retention status when access approvals are stuck or a resource isn't yet economic.
What happens if you fall short
- Missing the commitment generally costs 25% of the licence area the first time and 50% the second. A third time generally leads to a recommendation to cancel the licence.
- A licence won through a competitive release-area application always loses 50% of its area if its first two-year commitment is missed.
- False reporting carries a penalty of up to $150,000. Reporting breaches carry a $5,000 administrative penalty per instance.
Term, renewal and relinquishment
- Licence terms are up to 6 years, renewable to a maximum of 18 years in total.
- Apply to renew no earlier than 3 months before expiry, and before the licence expires. An expired licence can't be reinstated.
- A 50% area reduction is compulsory at the renewal falling at the 12th anniversary. Area given up earlier counts toward it.
Recent changes
- July 2025: the MERS Portal replaced the old Tenement Management System for lodgements. Older guidance may still describe email lodgement.
- From 1 July 2025: annual fees paid in advance are no longer refunded pro rata when a licence is surrendered or its area changes, except in exceptional circumstances.
- Search results can still show an old pre-2021 formula ("$30,000 plus $97/km²"). It no longer applies.
Sources
Tracking this across several tenements
Tenement Track keeps each tenement's commitment, spend to date and anniversary date in one register, so a shortfall shows up while there's still time to act on it.