An exploration licence (EL) is the principal title issued for exploration in the state of South Australia.
An exploration licence authorises the licensee, subject to the Mining Act 1971, regulations and conditions of the licence, to explore for all minerals and/or opal other than extractive minerals.
Minerals Regulatory Guideline MG33: Mineral exploration licences describes the exploration licensing framework.
Information about mineral exploration licence applications, licences, licence holders and exploration release areas is published in the following information sheets:
- M01 Mineral exploration licence applications Updated daily
- M02 Mineral exploration licences Updated daily
- M03 Mineral exploration licences - alphabetical index Updated daily
- M04 Mineral exploration licence holders in South Australia Updated daily
- M60 Mineral exploration licence monthly activity Quarterly updates
- M53 Mineral exploration release areas (ERAs) – status report Updated daily
Update - Annual fees for exploration licences
Aside from exceptional or extenuating circumstances, surrender applications or regulatory processes that result in a change in area for exploration licences received from 1 July 2025 will not be considered for pro-rata refunds of annual fees paid in advance.
Further information about annual fees can be found on the Fees and calculators web page
Update - Fee for registration or removal of an agent or operator
From 1 July 2025, the fee for the registration and /or removal of an agent or operator no longer applies.
Further information can be found on the Fees and calculators web page
Tenement information/SARIG
Information about current mineral tenements is available via the South Australian Resources Information Gateway (SARIG).
SARIG can be used to:
- Identify ground open for exploration licence application
- Download exploration data and reports
- Apply online for new exploration licences and renewals
- Track the processing status of an EL application
- Download mineral exploration application/licence reports M01, M02, M03, M04 (see above)
- Download and print state maps (updated daily) including:
- Mineral exploration tenement applications
- Mineral exploration licences
- Mineral exploration release areas
- Mineral production tenements
- Land access considerations, for example Parks, Aboriginal Land, Defence Lands etc.
Useful documents
- Advisory information for new EL holders (PDF, 133.9 KB)
- EL stakeholder engagement plan information (PDF, 100.9 KB)
- Environmental information for mineral explorers (PDF, 231.5 KB)
For more information
Mineral Tenements
Phone: +61 8 8463 3103
Email: DEM.Tenements@sa.gov.au
Postal address (for forms, report submissions):
Mineral Tenements
GPO Box 618
Adelaide SA 5001
Maps and historical information are available from:
Customer Services
Phone: +61 8 8463 3000
Email: DEM.CustomerServices@sa.gov.au
