Australian Government To Invest $50 Million In Mining Research
(Kitco News) - The Australian government said it will invest $50 million to fund mining research, with a focus on tackling any potential future challenges the industry might face.
The announcement was made by the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan and Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation Zed Seselja.
The funding will be available through the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program and distributed via grants.
“The MinEx CRC aims to deliver more productive, safer and environmentally friendly drilling methods, introduce new technologies for collecting data while drilling, and new exploration data on never-before-sampled rocks across the continent,” said Canavan.
Another aspect of the funding is job creation. “This CRC will help sustain our resources industry, securing Australian jobs for the future,” Canavan added.
The government investment is part of a larger $4.4 billion program that encourages innovation and research for Australian industries.
“The CRC program continues to be central to the Coalition Government’s commitment to improving the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian industries,” said Seseja.
Canavan spoke to Kitco News last month about the state of the Australian mining industry, admitting that falling commodities prices weighed on the mining sector over the last three years, but adding that this trend was about to reverse.
“It has been a tough few years, we’ve had reductions in process for iron and coal, two big commodities, but things are starting to turn around,” Canavan said on the sidelines of the PDAC 2018 conference in Toronto. “There are new minerals as well … lithium production has tripled in Australia an now we are world’s largest lithium producer.”
#MINING in Australia: 'If you want to be at the right place at the right time, come to Australia' - Minister for Resources and Northern Australia @mattjcan | VIDEO w/ @DanielaCambone | #PDAC2018 | https://t.co/ImXwPnbUy8 pic.twitter.com/6rKBvnjUY5
— Kitco NEWS (@KitcoNewsNOW) March 7, 2018BIS Oxford Economics seemed to support that view as well, stating in their report titled ‘Mining in Australia 2017 to 2032’ that Australia will have a great year in 2018, with production more than doubling in comparison to 2017.
“The enormous investment boom is now translating into production, particularly within oil and gas, where Australia is expected to become the leading LNG (liquefied natural gas) exporter by 2022,” BIS Oxford Economics Economist Rubhen Jeya said. “Growth in mining production will be roughly double the pace of the national economy over the next five years.”
By Anna GolubovaFor Kitco News
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