AUSTRALIA'S RESOURCE INDUSTRY LEADING THE WAY IN COVID RECOVERY

The mining and resources industry in Australia is booming after a year of uncertainty, with new records being broken, more funding being announced and statistics showing positive growth for the country.

On Wednesday, the Federal Government announced an additional $3 million in funding for an explorative resources program in Tasmania.

The program, dubbed Exploring for the Future, is centred on investing wealth and jobs in Tasmania via the state’s natural resources.

Federal Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Keith Pitt MP, says that the information gained from the program will assist in better understanding of Tasmanian resource systems, thereby increasing the industry’s success rates and exploration strategies.

“Critical minerals are an important part of our future and are key inputs for an increasing range of high-tech applications, including manufacturing, health technologies and defence and space industries,” Minister Pitt said.

This news comes in the wake of iron ore prices hitting global records, and as the world leader in the production and exportation of iron ore, Australian export values are expected to skyrocket by $33 billion from the same time last year.

The Australian resources industry is experiencing a huge boom after a period of uncertainty. (Image: iStock)

“Australia’s resources sector and exports have underpinned our continued economic growth throughout the Covid-19 downturn,” Minister Pitt said.

“Iron ore remains out single largest commodity export and it is forecast to earn Australia around A$700 billion from this financial year to 2025-26.”

Meanwhile, new data released on 1 March 2021 has shown a 2.5 per cent increase in the total expenditure of Australia’s private mineral exploration.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report for the December 2020 quarter indicated that this increase in total expenditure coincided with a 4.1 per cent increase in metres drilled.

It is likely that the Covid-19 pandemic has had an effect on expenditure and metres drilled, the full effects will be unknown until consistent patterns, without such significant extraneous variables, can again be established.

However, as demand for iron ore rises and Australian resource exploration continues to be supported by federal government, the nation is expected to experience booming success in the years to come.