32 Mining projects in planning pipeline can drive economic recovery for NSW

New research has revealed that mining has the potential to significantly boost the NSW economic recovery with 32 mining projects currently at various stages in the NSW planning system.

“These projects have the potential to deliver almost $13 billion in investment and over 15,500 jobs for NSW to help support and rebuild the economy and boost regional development across the state,” NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said today.

The research, completed by the NSW Minerals Council, has analysed the potential economic benefits of all major mining projects currently in the NSW planning system, from initial EIS submission stage to approved projects still seeking related conditional agency approvals before mining can commence.

The potential regional economic benefits to be delivered include:

• In the Hunter, over $2.7 billion in capital investment and around 3,700 jobs
• In the Illawarra, over $2.1 billion in capital investment and nearly 2,000 jobs
• In the Central West, over $3.6 billion in capital investment and nearly 2,500 jobs
• In the Far West, over $2.7 billion in capital investment and over 2,500 jobs
• In the Lithgow/Mudgee Region, over $470 million in capital investment and over 1,100 jobs
• In the Gunnedah Region, over $1.5 billion in capital investment and over 2,500 jobs

These 32 projects represent an increase of 7 from the 25 projects covered in the last report released in November 2018, with the increase coming mainly from a nearly doubling of proposed metals projects for the NSW mining sector over this period.

The November 2018 report identified 25 projects in the project pipeline, comprising 19 coal projects and 6 metals projects. Of the 32 projects identified in our latest report, 21 are coal projects and 11 are for metals projects.

“While the number of coal projects has risen slightly, the number of proposed metals projects has almost doubled from 6 to 11, representing over 30 percent of all major mining projects proposed in NSW, up from 20 percent 18 months ago.

“This is an opportunity to further build and diversify the NSW mining sector and represents a strong industry response to the release of the NSW Government’s Minerals Strategy in early 2019.”

“Overall, these 32 project proposals demonstrate how the NSW mining sector can deliver billions in investment, thousands of jobs and economic growth needed to help rebuild our state in the years ahead, and with the right policies in place to support mining we will do so.”

The report is available for download at https://bit.ly/30NfiOe

Economic benefits of mining projects in the NSW planning system by region

Region	Capital Investment in NSW (M)	Royalties (M)*	Direct Jobs
Central West	3 630	417	2,486
Far West	2 715	312	2,581
Midwest/Lithgow	470	281	1,125
Illawarra	2 169	558	1,996
Lower Hunter	1 118	207	1,120
Upper Hunter	1 591	1 443	3,876
Gunnedah	1 519	826	2,520
TOTAL	13,212	4,044	15,704