NSW bucks trend, Increases Exploration Expenditure

ABS report on mineral and petroleum exploration for the March 2017 quarter – increase in NSW expenditure on mineral exploration bucks Australian trend

  Mineral (includes coal and metals) exploration expenditure fell 16.2% ($65.5m) across Australia to $337.6m in the March quarter. This is not unexpected, as expenditure in the March quarter is typically lower than other quarters and is likely due to exploration activities winding down over Summer; on the upside, Australian mineral expenditure in the March 2017 quarter was higher than for the equivalent period last year ($290.4m).    NSW bucked the trend, with exploration expenditure increasing in the March 2017 quarter to $36.7m (from $30.7m in December quarter). This was mostly due to expenditure on greenfields exploration (up from $7.2m in December quarter to $11.5m). NSW expenditure on existing deposits also rose, from $23.5m in the December 2016 quarter to $25.2m in the March quarter.    In other states, only Victoria experienced an increase in exploration expenditure during the March quarter. Notably, for the first time in almost 29 years of state by state ABS data, NSW mineral exploration expenditure for the quarter surpassed Queensland, which recorded a decrease in total exploration expenditure to $34.5m.