Not all State Government initiatives or programs are a success. Some would say not many are.  But every now and then a government gets it right and develops a good idea into a well-executed initiative that becomes a runaway success.

That is what happened in 2015 when Tom Koutsantonis, the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy at the time, created South Australia’s Plan for Accelerating Exploration (PACE) program.

This program offered grants that must be matched by private investment for greenfield exploration – effectively unexplored areas where there is a chance to make new and big mineral discoveries.

It helped attract new investment into South Australia and supported an increased wave of exploration efforts to discover the mines of the future.

The program was so successful that it has since been copied and rolled out in every state and territory in Australia, albeit under slightly different names.

An independent analysis of these initiatives found that for every $1 million invested the exploration activity stimulated generated $10.3 million in direct benefits for the state and local communities.

That’s a $10 return for South Australia for every $1 spent. Those returns on investment are undeniable and unseen in any other government grant program.

Despite the overwhelming success of the program in South Australia, it’s had a tortured history.

The newly elected Marshall Government dropped it in a cost cutting exercise in their first budget. Only to realise their mistake and later reinstate the program under a new name – the Accelerated Discovery Initiative (ADI).

Three years later, Labor returned to power and Tom Koutsantonis returned to the Mines and Energy portfolio and immediately re-invested in the innovative program he created, with a $10 million and four-year extension – securing $3.3 million in the 2022-23 Budget.

It was one of the first points of discussion raised by the industry with the government, to ensure the grants process delivered the best outcomes for South Australia. The commitment was announced and the industry waited on the launch of the competitive process.

Now, 11 months later and with less than two weeks to the next Budget, we’re still waiting.

Exactly why we are still waiting we don’t know. Countless meetings, emails, briefings and phone calls have been had to follow up. And still no explanation.

The management of a relatively straightforward grants program can’t be this hard.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the mining and exploration industry, South Australia is making a lot of things look hard these days.

On the back of the rejection of the Bird in the Hand Gold project, a risk-averse pattern of regulation, and continual resourcing constraints, the state is doing a pretty decent job of convincing investors that South Australia doesn’t want to grow its mining industry.

Co-funding grants like the PACE/ADI program are a strong indicator of government support, enabling companies to leverage private investment and capital raisings, and bring new money into South Australia.

Other states are realising these opportunities and using their versions of South Australian-created program to draw investment away from a state with untapped potential.

If the funding that has already been allocated in the previous year’s budget is lost because it hasn’t been expended in the 2022/23 budget year the industry will be seriously disappointed.

What are we waiting for?

Let’s get this program going and start reaping the 10 to 1 return on investment in mineral exploration that South Australia deserves.

We’re all trying to work together to achieve the same beneficial outcomes. Programs like PACE/ADI will enable South Australian critical and base metal explorers to unlock untapped opportunities.

But to do so, we need the government to get on with their job.