FIVE years ago, Western Australia’s mining industry employed half the number of people as the manufacturing sector; this year, mining has overtaken manufacturing to become the second-largest employer in the state.

This turnaround illustrates the growing prominence of WA’s mining sector, which directly employs 85,700 people, led by international conglomerates like BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Chevron, as well as the locally based Woodside Petroleum and Fortescue Metals Group.