Mining is Australia’s biggest export industry, and concerns are growing that it could suffer greatly as a result of a slump in exploration.
In the past 10 years, annual exploration expenditures Down Under have shrunk to A$600 million from A$1.2 billion, and the country has been replaced by Canada as the favourite destination for mineral exploration.
The Australian government is working with industry to revive exploration through the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources and the concurrent Parliamentary Inquiry into Impediments to Exploration.
A submission to the inquiry by junior explorer Lantana Exploration sums up the industry’s mood: “The exploration industry could be considered to have suffered a six-year drought, but it has not received any drought relief.”
Globalization had been a factor in multinationals overlooking exploration opportunities in Australia and heading overseas.
“The case has been put forward that as most local mineral and petroleum exploration companies are owned by multinationals, the decisions about global explorative ventures are made in London boardrooms,” says Geoff Prosser, a member of parliament for Western Australia and chairman of the parliamentary inquiry. “With an integrated effort from state and federal governments, as well as the expertise provided by the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation [CSIRO], universities, and various co-operative research centres, Australia can continue to be compared favourably with other countries.”
A draft report of the Action Agenda, an initiative of the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, has recommended a range of improvements. These include financial incentives for greenfields exploration, flow-through-share schemes to assist small and medium explorers, and agreements for native title and heritage protection approvals across the country. The recommendations were compiled by 11 industry representatives selected by Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane.
The report also calls for greater investment in research and development, specifically $20 million over five years plus annual expenditures of $25 million for data acquisition.
The CSIRO wants the government to establish a national task force to develop new scientific tools and exploration methods to ensure the discovery of deposits never before found in commercial quantities. The potential for platinum and chromium is deemed especially high.
— The preceding is from Earthmatters, a quarterly publication of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
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