❓ The Minister for Mines and Petroleum provides an update on the WA resource sector, highlighting strong sales, royalties, and ongoing investment despite a drop in exploration expenditure. The Minister expresses optimism about the sector's future.
AnsweredQoN 556Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
RESOURCE
SECTOR
556. Dr G.G. JACOBS to the
Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
Can the minister please update the house on the current state
of the resource sector in Western Australia?
SECTOR
556. Dr G.G. JACOBS to the
Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
Can the minister please update the house on the current state
of the resource sector in Western Australia?
AnswerView source ↗
That is a very good question and I
thank the member for Eyre for it. I know that Boulder is in his electorate and
also a lot of the Yilgarn, so it is an important mining area for Western
Australia. Despite the pessimism sometimes portrayed in the media and a bit of
a fall-off in exploration expenditure, which I will get to later, the mining
and petroleum sector in Western Australia continues to be very strong. Last
year the total sales of minerals and petroleum exploration amounted to $114 billion
and over the past three years it has been over $100 billion. Next year we
expect that to be exceeded. It continues to break records. Last year it
generated royalties of nearly $6 billion, and we expect it to go higher. During
the winter break, I managed to go to a number of sites to see firsthand that a
fair bit of capital expenditure is being invested by the industry. Atlas Iron
has opened up its fifth mine site, at Mt Webber. With five mines now in
operation in the Pilbara, it will be generating up to 12 million to 15 million
tonnes from those mines, and there are plans to expand even further if it gets
access to rail.
Another company that I visited that
is based in the member for Eyre's electorate was Mineral Resources,
which has just invested $70 million in five locomotives and 382 wagons to
deliver its iron ore to port, which shows its faith in the industry in Western
Australia. Also in the member's electorate is La Mancha Resources,
which has invested $110 million in the new Mungari mill. Unfortunately, I do
not think the member for Eyre managed to make it to the opening but I know the
member for Kalgoorlie was there. That will generate another 40 jobs. It has
already invested $250 million in the whole operation, including in its Frog's
Leg mine, and it has opened up the White Foil open pit mine, which is a lower
grade deposit. It should be gearing up to mine between 150 000 and 160 000
ounces of gold. We should not forget Hanking Gold in Marvel Loch, just south of
Southern Cross, which has been in care and maintenance. It is looking at
investing $50 million to start up that mine.
There has been a drop-off in mining
exploration but it still exceeds $200 million. It is down on the highs of about
$400 million of a few years ago. Petroleum expenditure and exploration
expenditure is keeping steady at about $700 million, so that continues to be
good for Western Australia, and we expect LNG exports to grow considerably.
Before I conclude, I point out that
when I was at the Diggers and Dealers conference last week, I received lots of
good feedback from all the mining companies for our very important exploration
incentive scheme, which we support, that encourages exploration expenditure,
which has dropped off. Indeed, a lot of the companies reported that they have received
some good results. I am expecting further capital expenditure in future years,
with more mines being operational.
I wanted to highlight to the house
that whilst some doom and gloom is sometimes portrayed out there, things are
looking good in the mining and petroleum sector.
thank the member for Eyre for it. I know that Boulder is in his electorate and
also a lot of the Yilgarn, so it is an important mining area for Western
Australia. Despite the pessimism sometimes portrayed in the media and a bit of
a fall-off in exploration expenditure, which I will get to later, the mining
and petroleum sector in Western Australia continues to be very strong. Last
year the total sales of minerals and petroleum exploration amounted to $114 billion
and over the past three years it has been over $100 billion. Next year we
expect that to be exceeded. It continues to break records. Last year it
generated royalties of nearly $6 billion, and we expect it to go higher. During
the winter break, I managed to go to a number of sites to see firsthand that a
fair bit of capital expenditure is being invested by the industry. Atlas Iron
has opened up its fifth mine site, at Mt Webber. With five mines now in
operation in the Pilbara, it will be generating up to 12 million to 15 million
tonnes from those mines, and there are plans to expand even further if it gets
access to rail.
Another company that I visited that
is based in the member for Eyre's electorate was Mineral Resources,
which has just invested $70 million in five locomotives and 382 wagons to
deliver its iron ore to port, which shows its faith in the industry in Western
Australia. Also in the member's electorate is La Mancha Resources,
which has invested $110 million in the new Mungari mill. Unfortunately, I do
not think the member for Eyre managed to make it to the opening but I know the
member for Kalgoorlie was there. That will generate another 40 jobs. It has
already invested $250 million in the whole operation, including in its Frog's
Leg mine, and it has opened up the White Foil open pit mine, which is a lower
grade deposit. It should be gearing up to mine between 150 000 and 160 000
ounces of gold. We should not forget Hanking Gold in Marvel Loch, just south of
Southern Cross, which has been in care and maintenance. It is looking at
investing $50 million to start up that mine.
There has been a drop-off in mining
exploration but it still exceeds $200 million. It is down on the highs of about
$400 million of a few years ago. Petroleum expenditure and exploration
expenditure is keeping steady at about $700 million, so that continues to be
good for Western Australia, and we expect LNG exports to grow considerably.
Before I conclude, I point out that
when I was at the Diggers and Dealers conference last week, I received lots of
good feedback from all the mining companies for our very important exploration
incentive scheme, which we support, that encourages exploration expenditure,
which has dropped off. Indeed, a lot of the companies reported that they have received
some good results. I am expecting further capital expenditure in future years,
with more mines being operational.
I wanted to highlight to the house
that whilst some doom and gloom is sometimes portrayed out there, things are
looking good in the mining and petroleum sector.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.