❓ The Minister outlines the Liberal-National government's efforts to maintain WA's global mining share through the Minerals Exploration Incentive Scheme, highlighting co-funded drilling and geophysical survey programs, and online tracking system improvements.
AnsweredQoN 128Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
RESOURCES INDUSTRY — GLOBAL SHARE
MAINTENANCE
128. Ms W.M. DUNCAN to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
Can the minister please update the
house on how the Liberal–National government is working to maintain
Western Australia's share of the global mining sector?
MAINTENANCE
128. Ms W.M. DUNCAN to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
Can the minister please update the
house on how the Liberal–National government is working to maintain
Western Australia's share of the global mining sector?
AnswerView source ↗
The member for Kalgoorlie knows the importance of exploration
because without exploration there is no mining sector. We need a continuous
stream of projects in the pipeline to ensure that Western Australia remains the
economic and mineral hub of Australia. This is only possible by having a
successful minerals exploration sector. Since 2009, this Government has
introduced the minerals exploration incentives scheme. This scheme reinforces
Western Australia as a place to invest. It is now a very difficult climate in
which to invest: as the Premier said, with the some of the mineral prices
coming off, there are other places to invest globally. Therefore, it is
important that Western Australia ensures there is an incentives scheme for
explorers to explore. The minerals exploration incentive scheme has six
programs. The two most important programs are the co-funded exploration
drilling program and the geophysical–geochemical survey program.
Through the co-funded exploration drilling program we have offered support to
more than 300 drilling programs since the program started in 2009. The program
refunds exploration companies up to 50 per cent of their direct drilling costs
and the next round of successful applicants will be announced in June this
year. Already there have been some exciting discoveries coming out of the
scheme. I will mention just four: the Nova Nickel copper deposit by Sirius
Resources; the Yeneena base metal deposit by Encounter Resources; the Lake
Mackay uranium deposit by Toro Energy; and the Tropicana East Handpump gold
deposits by Beadell Resources.
The other program under the exploration incentive scheme—EIS—the
geophysical survey program, has captured more than two million line kilometres
of airborne magnetic and radiometric data in the largest geophysical data
acquisition program ever conducted in Australia. The survey data collected is
freely available to all explorers to download off the Department of Mines and
Petroleum's website. This program now means that WA is completely
covered in a network spacing of 400-metre segments of airborne geophysical data
that is now available, as I mentioned, to all mineral explorers. The data, of
course, is very useful for exploration. It means that people can do a desktop
study before they commence the expensive task of undertaking work on the actual
site.
I will mention one other aspect of
the incentive scheme. A small percentage of the scheme was put aside to improve
our online tracking system—I will be winding up soon, Mr Speaker—which
means that explorers and the mineral sector can lodge online through the
department their reports and tenement applications.
I will close with one point. As I mentioned earlier this
morning, the $2 billion worth of minerals exploration conducted in Western
Australia in 2012 was the greatest amount of mineral exploration expenditure
undertaken in Western Australia in a year. Through the exploration incentive
scheme we intend to make sure that WA maintains its space as the best place in
Australia to explore and, hopefully, we will continue to be the leader for
many, many years to come.
because without exploration there is no mining sector. We need a continuous
stream of projects in the pipeline to ensure that Western Australia remains the
economic and mineral hub of Australia. This is only possible by having a
successful minerals exploration sector. Since 2009, this Government has
introduced the minerals exploration incentives scheme. This scheme reinforces
Western Australia as a place to invest. It is now a very difficult climate in
which to invest: as the Premier said, with the some of the mineral prices
coming off, there are other places to invest globally. Therefore, it is
important that Western Australia ensures there is an incentives scheme for
explorers to explore. The minerals exploration incentive scheme has six
programs. The two most important programs are the co-funded exploration
drilling program and the geophysical–geochemical survey program.
Through the co-funded exploration drilling program we have offered support to
more than 300 drilling programs since the program started in 2009. The program
refunds exploration companies up to 50 per cent of their direct drilling costs
and the next round of successful applicants will be announced in June this
year. Already there have been some exciting discoveries coming out of the
scheme. I will mention just four: the Nova Nickel copper deposit by Sirius
Resources; the Yeneena base metal deposit by Encounter Resources; the Lake
Mackay uranium deposit by Toro Energy; and the Tropicana East Handpump gold
deposits by Beadell Resources.
The other program under the exploration incentive scheme—EIS—the
geophysical survey program, has captured more than two million line kilometres
of airborne magnetic and radiometric data in the largest geophysical data
acquisition program ever conducted in Australia. The survey data collected is
freely available to all explorers to download off the Department of Mines and
Petroleum's website. This program now means that WA is completely
covered in a network spacing of 400-metre segments of airborne geophysical data
that is now available, as I mentioned, to all mineral explorers. The data, of
course, is very useful for exploration. It means that people can do a desktop
study before they commence the expensive task of undertaking work on the actual
site.
I will mention one other aspect of
the incentive scheme. A small percentage of the scheme was put aside to improve
our online tracking system—I will be winding up soon, Mr Speaker—which
means that explorers and the mineral sector can lodge online through the
department their reports and tenement applications.
I will close with one point. As I mentioned earlier this
morning, the $2 billion worth of minerals exploration conducted in Western
Australia in 2012 was the greatest amount of mineral exploration expenditure
undertaken in Western Australia in a year. Through the exploration incentive
scheme we intend to make sure that WA maintains its space as the best place in
Australia to explore and, hopefully, we will continue to be the leader for
many, many years to come.
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