Released by Queensland resources minister Scott Stewart, the atlas follows the release of the northwest atlas over a year ago.

Stewart said the two atlases provided detailed free data for areas between Mount Isa and Cairns.

"The government's investment is about fostering new discoveries, new projects and most importantly, new jobs," he said.

The free resources are part of the government's five-year, $23 million new economy minerals initiative, which aims to develop, promote and understand the state's new economy mineral wealth and potential through a broad corridor from Mount Isa to Townsville.

The aim is to encourage exploration, reinvestigate old mines and probe the existing geological information already held, to foster new discoveries and projects.

Stewart said the latest atlas brought together information from multiple sources collected over decades, into one easy-to-use data compilation.

"Data is key to exploration and exploration is key to making new discoveries which creates new opportunities in the resources industry," he said.

"Importantly, the data has also been used to generate three-dimensional earth models, using free software."

Stewart said the models made it easier for explorers to understand the geological nature of the deposits so they can identify the most prospective areas to target for new projects.

"The resources sector continues to support about 80,000 jobs across Queensland and represents $48 billion in exports and generates millions in dollars in royalties for all Queenslanders," he said.

"The latest figures show exploration expenditure reached $706 million in Queensland during the 12 months to June 2021, up by 10.3% compared to the 12 months before."