The figure was up 4% year-on-year.
On a trend basis, exploration expenditure fell 0.4% quarter-on-quarter and rose 3.7% YoY to $1.02 billion.
Exploration for new deposits dropped 22.2% to $274.5 million, while exploration on existing deposits fell by 11.2% to $617.2 million, in original terms.
Exploration across all commodity groups fell, with gold the biggest proportion of overall exploration but also the biggest decliner, with exploration dropping 20.5% to $285.7 million.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, metres drilled rose 1.9% to 2909.8km, but fell 11.9% in original terms to 2513km.
The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies noted that exploration was still at record highs.
"Australian mineral exploration had a record March quarter in 2023, $36.5m higher than the previous record of March 2012," AMEC CEO Warren Pearce said.
"The fall in statistics original terms is seasonal, as drilling programs in Northern Australia are delayed due to the wet season."
Pearce noted exploration in South Australia jumped 23.5%, led by the hunt for copper.
BHP launched what could be the state's largest-ever exploration program at the end of the quarter at its Oak Dam discovery.
Western Australia's quarterly exploration declined but was up YoY.
Exploration in Victoria was up 10%, while New South Wales exploration dropped 10%.
Exploration in the Northern Territory was down 33% due to the wet season, and was down 25% in Queensland.
"While the statistics report the general strength in mineral exploration, they mask the significant slowdown taking place in investment environment, with industry now facing stronger headwinds," Pearce said.
"Despite this, mineral explorers are continuing to push ahead with exploration programs."
On Friday, statistics from BDO showed that financing cash inflows in the March 2023 quarter dropped by 55% to $1.35 billion from a strong December 2022 quarter.
The proportion of companies raising over $1 million decreased sharply, and smaller-scale fund raises became more prominent.
