South Australia stands at crossroads SA Chamber of Mines and...

South Australia stands at crossroads

SA Chamber of Mines and Energy CEO Phillip Sutherland writes that South Australia’s resources renaissance is revitalising the state and may rescue it from regional economy status



Industry access to Commonwealth land for exploration and mining purposes is an area of concern

For a number of decades, other than Olympic Dam, the only serious mining projects in South Australia were the Beverley uranium mine and the Challenger Gold mine.



However, the Prominent Hill copper and gold discovery by Minotaur Resources in 2001 had a dramatic effect on the resources industry in South Australia: it gave the industry new hope.

The registration of an unprecedented number of exploration tenements has followed.

There are 44 companies exploring in South Australia with 26 looking for minerals, five geothermal and the balance oil and gas.

Exploration is presently dominated by uranium [see page 38 for more detail].

The state is enjoying record levels of investment in exploration, too. Since Prominent Hill there have been further discoveries the most noteworthy of which are Carrapateena by RMG Services (copper) and Jacinth and Ambrosia by Iluka Resources (heavy mineral sands).

A number of other projects are either progressing or likely to come to fruition during the next five years. These include BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam expansion, Australian Zircon’s Mindarie (heavy mineral sands), Southern Cross Resources Honeymoon (uranium), Terramin’s Angas (zinc) and Hillgrove’s Kanmantoo (copper).

This article appears in the May 2006 issue of Australian Mining

ferret.com.au 19th April