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PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australia’s state and territory leaders have recently endorsed the new 2017 to 2022 National Mineral Exploration Strategy at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting, a move which has been welcomed by Geoscience Australia.
Geoscience Australia points out that the mineral resources sector plays a vital role in Australia's ongoing economic prosperity, and that the new strategy will ensure the continuity and longevity of this essential industry for the benefit of all Australians.
In 2015/16, mining directly contributed about 6% of Australia's gross domestic product, employed more than 228 000 people and generated 50% of the nation's export earnings.
While Australia is an established and stable destination for mineral exploration, its share of global exploration investment has been declining over the past two decades, Geoscience Australia noted this week.
In 2002, the country attracted 21% of global exploration investment for commodities such as gold, copper and other metals. However, this had fallen to 12% by 2013, owing in large part to a lack of recent discoveries of large high-quality mineral deposits, such as Mt Isa, Broken Hill and Olympic Dam.
“Action is needed now to ensure the ongoing competitiveness and sustainability of the Australian resources sector,” says Dr Andrew Heap, acting chief of Geoscience Australia's resources division.
“The mining sector contributes significantly to the nation's export earnings, provides substantial direct and indirect employment and investment in regional and indigenous communities, supports downstream and service industries, and delivers essential revenue to all levels of government.
“An ongoing pipeline of mineral resource projects is needed to meet the future economic needs of our nation, as it currently takes over 12 years on average between the discovery of an economic deposit and the commencement of mine production.”
The National Mineral Exploration Strategy will address the technical risk and the science and technology of mineral discovery required to unlock the potential of under-explored regions of Australia. The strategy will be delivered in partnership with the resources industry, the research community, and the services sector, and will include programmes to attract increased investment into the Australian exploration sector.