Article by Ray Chan courtesy of Australian mining.
Western Australia’s resources sector has registered record sales of $231 billion and its highest-ever employment figures in 2021-22.
This is the fourth financial year in a row the sector has delivered record revenue, following $151b in 2018-19, $172b in 2019-20 and $211b in 2020-21.
Employment in the sector rose to an all-time high of more than 157,700 workers, an increase of around six per cent on the previous financial year.
Iron ore maintained its historically high status with sales of $137b, gold hit another record with sales of $17b, while nickel recorded sales of $4.9b.
Surging lithium prices drove the value of spodumene concentrate sales to a record $6.8b – more than two-and-a-half times its previous record. Lithium was WA’s third highest mineral by sales value.
Mineral exploration expenditure reached a new high of $2.5b with strong levels of spending on gold, nickel, copper, rare earths and lithium.
More than $24b was invested in WA’s mining and petroleum sector – the highest level since 2016, and the state has around $57b of resources projects under development and a further $87b in medium and longer-term projects in the pipeline.
Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan said the results proved the state was the backbone of the nation’s economy.