Billions of dollars’ worth of minerals in Victoria are vital to emerging technologies in advanced manufacturing and renewables. Photo: Anton Petrus.
The Victorian Government has announced a plan to attract investment in mining and unlock the state’s critical minerals.
Minister for Energy and Resources Jaclyn Symes released the Victorian Critical Minerals Roadmap Update 2026, outlining plans for the industry’s growth.
The announcement came as Southern Cross Gold marked a milestone at its Sunday Creek exploration project by taking major steps towards establishing a new antimony and gold mine.
The project already employs around 100 people and if it progresses as expected, it is expected to support 500 ongoing jobs and could contribute more than $5.5 billion to the state economy in its first decade.
Victoria is building momentum across the minerals sector, supporting new projects and boosting investment to exploit the state’s significant deposits of rare earths, antimony, zircon and titanium.
These materials are vital to renewable infrastructure, batteries and advanced manufacturing.
“Victoria has the critical minerals the world needs – and that means a huge opportunity for new investment, new industries and thousands of jobs,” Minister for Energy and Resources Jaclyn Symes said.
“We’re backing exploration to find the next generation of critical mineral projects and make sure Victoria gets the jobs and economic benefits that come with them.
“Sunday Creek shows what’s possible – a project that could support hundreds of local jobs and deliver billions of dollars for Victoria.”
A fully developed critical minerals sector could create more than 7000 jobs across the state over the next 10 years, creating important opportunities for regional communities.
Since the original 2024 roadmap was released, the government’s investment in the Resources Victoria Approvals Coordination unit has cut project approval times by roughly 40 per cent, approved two large mineral sands projects and investigated various new minerals opportunities.
The recently released update sets out the next stage for the sector. This updated plan includes finding new critical minerals opportunities, getting more projects up and running and utilising more of their value in-state.
Over the next year, the next generation of projects will be identified thanks to new geological mapping and exploration data, giving investors and operators better data.
