great to see support, and access to this important area. Hopefully exploration can now procede at our Peeweena Dam Prosect. good luck to all.
UP to $2 million will be committed in the coming State Budget to support mining exploration in the Woomera Prohibited area. In the area, it is estimated $35 billion worth of resources are waiting to be mined.
The Budget commitment, announced yesterday by Treasurer Jack Snelling, is aimed at supporting an expansion of pre-competitive mineral exploration data within the highly prospective Gawler Craton.
Mr Snelling said the State Budget would also include $960,000 of funding over the next two years for initial design and scoping work to ensure the development of the state's drill-core library facilities to promote exploration for minerals, petroleum, gas and geothermal energy in SA.
Huge resources of iron ore, gold and uranium are believed to be underground in the Woomera area which already hosts a number of mines, including the Challenger gold mine, Prominent Hill copper-gold mine and Peculiar Knob high-grade iron ore mine.
"This new investment, in addition to the ongoing work of PACE 2020, aims to extend this level of investment into the underexplored areas of the WPA. It will also provide valuable geo-scientific information that the state and Australian governments can use to effectively manage a framework of co-existence of mining and defence interests in this strategically important area for Australia."
Mr Snelling said one of the Government's key priorities was realising the benefits of the mining boom for all South Australians.
"This Government is committed to seeing the expansion of a strong and robust resources industry through ongoing exploration," Mr Snelling said.
Mineral Resources Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the State Drill Core Reference Library housed drill-core and rock-cutting samples from resource exploration and mining activity across the state.
"The archives date back from the present day to the late 1800s.
"SA's core library, together with the online resources provided by the SA Resources Information Geoserver, have been consistently voted the world's number one by the annual Fraser Institute Survey of global mining jurisdictions," Mr Koutsantonis said.
"The continued expansion of our state's resources industry has seen major investment in minerals, petroleum, gas and geothermal energy securing a predicted $34 billion of resource projects in the pipeline."
Adelaide Advertiser 28/05/2012
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