PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) on Friday expressed its hope that recent government incentives would counter the decline of exploration expenditure in the state.

In its quarterly economic brief, the CME noted that during the December quarter, the total resource exploration spend fell by 14.5% compared with the previous quarter, and by 30% on the previous corresponding quarter.

The federal government this week announced a A$100-million investment in the Exploration Development Incentive, which would fund exploration for new mineral deposits.

The Western Australian government has also announced a A$30-million investment in its own exploration incentive scheme.

“Industry hopes these initiatives, along with positive price signals and a continued focus on reducing costs, will assist Western Australia to attract a new wave of investment in the resources sector,” said CME CEO Reg Howard-Smith.

Meanwhile, Smith noted that the quarterly economic brief outlined that, for the most part, commodity production and export figures in Western Australia continued on a positive trend.

Iron-ore production has again surpassed all previous records, rising 6% in the December quarter to 162-million tonnes, as investment in major capacity expansion and construction projects come on line.

Gold production also increased by 7.2% during the quarter, as new mines came into production.

Export earnings, meanwhile, have experienced solid growth, increasing nearly 6% in the March quarter, to over A$35-billion. This was a 24% increase over the previous corresponding period.

Despite the increased production and exports, the CME noted that the prices of Western Australia’s major commodities were weaker in 2014, with iron-ore prices falling 10.6%.

On the flip-side, however, nickel prices surged by 23.2% over the three months to April on the back of an Indonesian ban on nickel ore exports.