Basin Energy Ltd. has secured AU$349,065 in funding from the Queensland government’s Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI) to advance its Sybella-Barkly project located near Mt Isa in Queensland.
The lion’s share of the funding, a AU$272,652 grant, will cover roughly 90 per cent of the costs for a major airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey.
Spanning 1,518 square kilometres, the survey aims to identify shallow, high-priority targets for clay-hosted rare earth elements (REE) and palaeochannel-hosted uranium.
By tightening flight line spacing from the existing 20 kilometres down to just one kilometre, Basin intends to map conductive features that were hinted at during scout drilling in late 2025.
Basin’s Managing Director, Pete Moorhouse, welcomed the government support, noting that the AEM data would significantly enhance the company’s understanding of the southern project area.
“This funding is particularly important in accelerating progress at the Sybella-Barkly project without diluting existing shareholders,” he said.
“The airborne electromagnetic survey will significantly enhance our understanding of the southern project area and refine our next stage targeting, while the co-funded drilling program provides an exciting opportunity to test a compelling exploration concept for heavy rare earth enrichment in the Georgina Basin.
“Together, these initiatives position us to unlock value from this highly prospective and strategically important project.” A second grant of AU$76,413 will co-fund a reverse circulation (RC) drilling program.
This campaign is designed to test a compelling exploration concept: the enrichment of heavy and magnet rare earths within phosphorite units. Recent academic research suggests the southern Georgina Basin could host significant accumulations of neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium, minerals vital for electric vehicles and defence technologies.
Basin plans to drill up to 10 holes to verify historical data indicating phosphate-rich units at depths of 80 to 150 metres. The CEI program is a key pillar of the Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan, designed to unearth the critical minerals required for the global energy transition.
With fieldwork slated to commence once the regional wet season subsides, Basin is well-positioned to unlock the value of this genuine frontier project.
