Explore critical minerals opportunities in Victoria
Investors exploring opportunities in Victoria can access geological information, understand the state’s critical minerals potential and connect with government to explore project requirements and investment pathways.
Victoria’s critical minerals sector is developing across the value chain – from exploration and extraction through to processing, advanced manufacturing, technology and services.
Release of Victorian Critical Minerals Road Map Update 2026
The Victorian Government has released the Victorian Critical Minerals Roadmap Update 2026, setting out the next stage of work to develop a responsible and globally competitive critical minerals sector.
The update focuses on identifying new development opportunities, supporting a safe and predictable investment environment, strengthening Victoria’s role in global supply chains and embedding social and environmental best practice.
For investors, the focus is increasingly shifting from identifying Victoria’s resource potential to developing projects and capturing more value within the state.
A growing pipeline of critical minerals opportunities
Victoria has significant deposits of antimony, rare earth elements (REE), zircon and titanium, alongside resources and exploration potential for a broader range of minerals including lithium, nickel, tungsten, tin and zinc. These are complemented by a substantial gold endowment that continues to play a strategic role in Victoria’s mineral sector.
Northwest Victoria has globally significant mineral sands deposits containing rare earth elements, titanium and zirconium, while central Victoria has Australia’s largest antimony deposits and one of only two of the country’s operating antimony mines.
New geological mapping and exploration data planned over the next 12 months will provide investors with further information about Victoria’s mineral potential and help identify the next generation of projects.
Victoria also offers access to free pre-competitive geological information through the Geological Survey of Victoria, including the GeoVic online portal, supporting exploration and investment decisions.
From resources to value-added opportunities
The opportunity extends beyond extraction. Victoria’s critical minerals strategy includes developing downstream processing and manufacturing opportunities, supported by the state’s manufacturing base, research and innovation capabilities and established supply chains.
The Victorian Government’s Advancing Antimony Grants program is one example, supporting early-stage technical and commercial work to investigate downstream antimony processing in Victoria.
The $1 million competitive funding pool is designed to help proponents develop robust, investment-ready business cases rather than fund commercial-scale construction.
This creates potential opportunities for investors across exploration, mining, processing, technology, equipment, services and associated supply chains.
A major critical minerals project milestone in central Victoria.
The potential scale of individual projects is illustrated by Southern Cross Gold’s Sunday Creek exploration project.
The project’s new exploration decline is the first major step towards establishing a potential antimony and gold mine, enabling underground drilling to test the feasibility of mining the resource.
The project currently employs around 100 people and, if progressed, is expected to support around 500 ongoing local jobs and contribute more than $5.5 billion to Victoria’s economy over its first decade.
Supporting project development
Victoria is also working to improve the environment for critical minerals project development.
Since the 2024 Critical Minerals Roadmap was released, investment in the Resources Victoria Approvals Coordination unit has contributed to a reported 40 per cent reduction in project approval times, alongside approvals for two major mineral sands projects.
The 2026 Roadmap Update builds on this work.
Looking to explore critical minerals opportunities in Victoria? Invest Victoria can connect investors with the information, networks and support needed to progress an investment.
