WA leads nation in exploration spend

Minerals exploration spending in Western Australia continues to rise with the Australian Bureau of Statistics recording an increase of 12.4 per cent, or $13.5 million, in WA in the December quarter – the largest increase in Australia.

While spending fell in states except WA, NSW and Queensland, overall national expenditure was up in the December quarter by 11 per cent, or $19.8 million, on the $199.5 million spent in the previous quarter.

Seasonally adjusted, this equated to a rise of 4.6 per cent in spending.

The ABS said the trend estimate was almost 32 per cent higher than the December quarter estimate for last year, however, drilling in areas of new deposits had recently dropped almost 33 per cent.

Nickel exploration was up $12.4m or 23 per cent, with most of the increase coming from WA, while gold exploration experienced the biggest decline, falling by $13 million, or 11.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, WA has been ranked 12th by the Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies, an increase of one place from the previous year.

The study surveys 259 international mining companies on the mineral policies and potential of 64 jurisdictions around the world.