Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan and Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation Zed Seselja have announced $50 million in government funding for mining and resources sector research in order to create new opportunities and manage future industry challenges.
The funding will be allocated to the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program, one of the government’s longest running grant programs. Canavan said he welcomed the CRC to “create new mining opportunities”.
“The MinEx CRC aims to deliver more productive, safer and environmentally friendly drilling methods, introduce new technologies for collecting data while drilling, and new exploration data on never-before-sampled rocks across the continent,” said Canavan.
“This CRC will help sustain our resources industry, securing Australian jobs for the future.”
Seselja added that the Australian Government had invested over $4.4 billion into innovation and collaborative research for Australian industries. In addition to the $50 million in government funding, the program is set to benefit from $165 million in cash and in-kind funding from CRC participants as well.
“The CRC program continues to be central to the Coalition Government’s commitment to improving the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian industries,” said Seseja, “delivering significant economic and social benefits to Australians, and securing jobs for the future.”