Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) stated that Australia’s mineral exploration expenditure increased by 11.91pc to A$72.7mn ($52.7mn) in the second quarter, ended June 30,2020 compared to same period in 2019 as per reports from Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The country’s Brownfield exploration surged by 17.45pc to A$454.3mn while its Greenfield exploration rose by 2.37pc to A$229mn in the second quarter of the year from Q2 2019.
The expenditure for iron ore alone was up by 30.73pc to A$98.7mn specially in the Western Australian region, AMEC reported. This can be attributed to the increased demand from China for its infrastructure and construction projects. Queensland also noted significant growth in exploration expenditure of copper and other base metals.
Warren Pearce, chief executive officer of AMEC noted that despite the lockdown measures due to COVID-19 the figures are showing exponential growth, depicting that companies growing at a steady pace in the industry and finding ways to fund the exploration projects.
($1= A$1.38)