NSW bucks trend, increases exploration expenditure

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 (AUS$290.4million). 

NSW bucked the trend, with exploration expenditure increasing in the March 2017 quarter to AUS$36.7 million (from AUS$30.7 million in December quarter). This was mostly due to expenditure on greenfields exploration (up from AUS$7.2 million in December quarter to AUS$11.5 million). NSW expenditure on existing deposits also rose, from AUS$23.5 million in the December 2016 quarter to AUS$25.2 million 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 US$34.5 million.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/29062017/nsw-bucks-trend-increases-exploration-expenditure/