Exploration climbs

MINERAL exploration in WA has continued its slow recovery, climbing by $3 million during the December quarter to $107 million seasonally adjusted according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

This marks the third consecutive quarter increase but falls short of the $166 million spent during the March 1998 quarter.

Despite WA’s gradual turn around, and its dominance of mineral exploration expenditure in Australia, nationwide results continue to show no signs of recovery.

Gold accounted for 55 per cent of WA mineral exploration expenditure, with copper, nickel, cobalt, mineral sands and diamonds also featuring.