West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says Australia could not have worked harder in its bid to host the world's most powerful telescope, after reports on Saturday suggested a crippling blow to its chances.

Australia is competing with South Africa for the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to be built on a remote sheep station in WA's Mid West.

But media reports suggest a scientific panel has recommended South Africa be chosen over the WA site.

Mr Barnett says even if that is the case, WA might still be in with a chance.

"This is not over yet, there's still a number of processes to go through, and I still believe very firmly Australia is the best location for this extraordinary piece of science," he said.

He says if Australia does lose the project, it should be proud of its bid anyway.

"I don't believe anything more could have been done, in terms of preparation for the Australia bid," he said.

"If we don't make it that's a disappoint, but it's not through a lack of effort or funding by the Australian and WA governments."

The Federal Government says it cannot confirm or deny the reports.

Science and Research Minister Chris Evans says the process remains confidential.

A final decision on where the telescope will be built is expected in April.

If Australia wins the SKA project, thousands of antennas will be built.

The telescope will be able to discover hundreds of times more galaxies than current radio telescopes and in just a day, it will be able to generate more information than currently exists in all of the world's radio astronomy archives.

The SKA project is made up of a consortium of nine countries spanning Europe, Africa and the Pacific.

The consortium will donate a combined total of $150 million each year to fund the building and operation of the SKA.