Priority 1: Delivering projects

Key areas of action

Create a faster, more coordinated approvals system
Provide more geological data
De-risk projects and fast track early-stage timelines

Successful growth of our critical minerals sector relies on our ability to move projects from discovery to production faster and with greater certainty.

That’s why the Queensland Government is using every lever to deliver certainty, speed and confidence.

Globally, projects can take more than a decade to progress from exploration to production, with further time required to establish downstream processing, refining and manufacturing capability.

In a highly competitive global market, Queensland will work to shorten these timeframes.

Investment is mobile, supply chains are being reshaped, and nations around the world are competing to secure the critical minerals necessary for the new applications and products needed for advanced manufacturing, national security and future energy needs.

Exploration is the first step in every critical minerals project and remains one of the most important drivers of future investment. We will continue to strengthen our understanding of the state's geological potential through the delivery of high-quality pre-competitive geoscience data, coupled with pre-regulatory data on social, environmental, and other baseline data. Together, these inputs will improve resource knowledge and help project proponents make better-informed investment decisions quicker.

By reducing the cost, risk and time of exploration and early-stage compliance through this combined information, junior mining companies will have fewer entry barriers, directly helping them to improve investment readiness and attract capital.

Industry, investors and our international partners have consistently identified regulatory certainty and timely approvals as critical factors influencing investment decisions. We can maintain rigorous regulatory standards and safeguard the integrity of decision making, through a modern regulatory and approvals system that is also efficient, transparent and pro-investment.

A strong case management approach is also helping companies navigate the approvals system, improve coordination across government and increase certainty around approval requirements and timeframes. Targeted investment facilitation and a dedicated investment readiness program will also help these projects attract and access capital.

For priority projects, coordinated whole-of-government assessment teams led by the Office of the Coordinator-General will further streamline complex approvals, align regulatory inputs and remove any barriers quicker.

Queensland's future success will be defined by more than what lies beneath the ground–it will be driven by creating the conditions for investment and growth.

Read our Spotlight on how we are unlocking investment through coordinated approvals.

Priority 1 actions

Actions	Priority areas
Critical Minerals Queensland to provide a dedicated gateway to coordinate industry development and government action	1, 2, 3, 4
Deliver a dedicated Mineral Acceleration Program to expand pre-competitive geoscience data	1
Deliver social, ecological and groundwater baseline studies for areas with multiple emerging projects	1
Introduce the Junior Miners Investor Readiness Program	1, 3
Provide a whole of government assessment team to streamline complex approvals for priority resource projects	1, 2
Streamline regulatory pathways through a case management service, and the introduction of new powers and reforming functions tailored to the critical minerals sector	1, 2
Make the $0 rent program available to 2028	1
Invest in enabling common user infrastructure that supports mining projects, industry capability and value-adding of raw products	1, 2, 4
Recommercialise former mines to unlock resource potential	1, 4
Operate and expand the capability of the Queensland Resources Common User Facility in Townsville	1, 2, 4

Last updated: 15 September 2026
Last reviewed: 28 July 2026