south aus mineral production hits 3 billion

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/south-australia-mineral-production-hits-a3bn-2010-05-03

PERTH (miningweekly.com) The value of mineral production in South Australia jumped to A$3,1-billion in 2009, despite the global financial crisis slowing output, the state announced on Monday.

Premier Mike Rann said that it was the first time that South Australias mineral production had exceeded A$3-billion in a calendar year, and that it meant that the state had achieved its minerals production goal five years ahead of schedule.

Department of Primary Industries and Resources of South Australia (Pirsa) deputy CEO Paul Heithersay commented that the department was confident that the state could reach a target of A$10-billion in mineral production by 2020.

Further, Rann said that the number of operating mines in South Australia would increase from 11 to 16 by the end of the year.

The five new mines included: one uranium mine, three iron-ore mines and one copper mine.

These five operations all intend to be in production or construction by the end of this year, Heithersay commented at a mining conference in Adelaide, where Rann was also speaking.

Rann said that one of the key drivers in the industrys growth over the past six years has been the states Plan for Accelerating Exploration (Pace) programme.

It remains one of the best bang for buck investments that the state has made, he noted, pointing out that the A$30,9-million initiative had showed a net benefit of more than A$300-million.

As I mentioned last year, the success of this programme is highlighted by the fact that Victoria, Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia have now established Pace-like mineral exploration initiatives.

Rann said that part of the states recent election commitments saw it extending and expanding its Pace programme to help ensure that South Australia retains its competitive advantages.

The State government would invest an additional A$10,2-million into Pace to help drive further resources exploration and discoveries here.

This expansion is not just about opening up more areas of the State to drilling, Rann said.

We want to expand Pace to assist mining companies get from exploration to mine development in record time. As Ive previously outlined, we will help companies to have their applications processed within six months.

But, he added that the States expanded Pace scheme - known as Pace 2020 - would go further.

Its three key components would help unlock new areas for exploration, further streamline the process from exploration to mine development, and provide even better data delivery services to the resources industry.

The Pace exploration component was designed to maintain and increase mineral exploration activity. It would continue the drilling collaborations between Pirsa and industry, with a focus on frontier areas where little geological information currently exists.

It would also assist resources companies to investigate crucial water availability through drilling grant funding, and research.

Rann said that this would help to enhance the understanding of South Australias groundwater resources, and assist mining companies to identify supplies required for their projects.

The Pace mining component will help the State to further streamline its approval processes by providing improved on-line application systems and tracking capabilities.

Finally, the global component of Pace 2020 was designed to further improve access to the vast amount of geological knowledge collected by the States geological survey, which is held in its data bases and core library.

This will be made available to resources explorers and developers across the globe 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Rann added.

It would assist to ensure that South Australia retained its ranking as the worlds equal number one, along with Sweden, for the quality of our geoscientific database, as rated by Canadas Fraser Institute, Rann said.

Of course, our States advantages as an exploration and mining destination have been recognised by a number of global organisations. That includes the annual World Risk Survey, which - for the past two years - has ranked our state among the top five jurisdictions in the world for mining.

Rann added that the most recent survey released by the Fraser Institute rated South Australia as the leading Australian state for mining potential.

Importantly, it also restored our state to the top ten in the world for policy potential, making us the top-ranked Australian jurisdiction in terms of mining policy for the fourth consecutive year.

Rann noted that the South Australian government also remained strongly committed to ensuring that its resources and energy industries have access to increasing numbers of skilled workers.

Our Geoscientist Assistance Programme, funded through a Pace grant, places new graduates and unemployed geo-scientists into industry positions. With record numbers of geology-focused students set to graduate from Adelaide University in 2010, the programme would continue to provide funding into next year.
Edited by: Mariaan Webb