PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian resources sector has experienced its second-best financial year performance on record, with the value of the state’s mineral and petroleum industry reaching about A$102-billion in 2012/13.

Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion said on Monday that this was the third consecutive year that the industry remained above the A$100-billion threshold.

The Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) report showed that iron-ore remained the state’s highest value commodity, accounting for A$56.4-billion, or 73% of total mineral sales.

The value of the petroleum sector increased by 2.9% to A$24.5-billion with liquefied natural gas the most valuable product, increasing output by almost 29% to a record 19.8-million tonnes.

The Minister said the government would continue to work to ensure Western Australia remained competitive.

“I am working with DMP to drive down costs and attract ongoing resources investment into Western Australia, for the benefit of West Australians,” he said.

This includes the recent introduction of the state’s first fund exclusively dedicated to the rehabilitation of abandoned mine sites, the Mining Rehabilitation Fund, which has the potential to return more than A$1-billion in financial institution-held bonds to companies.

“Upholding environmental standards and improving efficiency, Western Australia has also recently extended programme of works validity from two- to four-years and we continue to offer two rounds of government co-funding a year to projects - supporting more than 320 000 m of exploration drilling in the past five years,” Marmion said.

The Minister said this proactive approach was already paying dividends as Western Australia remained an attractive resources investment destination, despite global economic uncertainty and price pressure in some commodities.

“Our state maintained its ranking in the Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies during 2012/13, achieving the highest ranking in Australia and the fifteenth best exploration destination in the world - which is impressive,” he said.