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WA records second best year on record

amr_featured_ironore_10apr2013Western Australia’s resources industry experienced its second best financial year performance on record in 2012-13.

Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion said the latest statistics showed that the value of WA’s mineral and petroleum industry in 2012-13 was $102billion – marking the third consecutive year above $100billion.

Mr Marmion said the newly released Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) 2012-13 records demonstrated that WA’s resources industry remained robust on the back of strong Government support to reduce red and green tape and improve efficiencies.

“What this means is jobs, jobs, jobs for West Australians,” he said.

Iron ore remained the State’s highest value commodity, accounting for $56.4billion (73 per cent) of total mineral sales.

The petroleum sector increased by 2.9 per cent to $24.5billion with LNG the most valuable product, increasing output by almost 29 per cent to a record 19.8 million tonnes.

The Minister said the Government would continue to work to ensure WA remained competitive.

“I am working with DMP to drive down costs and attract ongoing resources investment into WA, for the benefit of West Australians,” he said.

This includes the recent introduction of WA’s first fund exclusively dedicated to the rehabilitation of abandoned mine sites, the Mining Rehabilitation Fund, which has the potential to return more than $1billion in financial institution-held bonds to companies.

“Upholding environmental standards and improving efficiency, WA has also recently extended Program of Works validity from two to four years and we continue to offer two rounds of government co-funding a year to projects – supporting more than 320,000m of exploration drilling in the past five years,” Mr Marmion said.

The Minister said this proactive approach was already paying dividends as WA remained an attractive resources investment destination, despite global economic uncertainty and price pressure in some commodities.

“Our State maintained its ranking in the Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies during 2012 13, achieving the highest ranking in Australia and the 15th best exploration destination in the world – which is impressive,” he said.

The full statistics can be found at: http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/lateststatisticsrelease

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