Article by Stuart McKinnon courtesy of the West Australian.
WA’s powerhouse resources sector has delivered another record of $231 billion in the past financial year, the fourth record annual revenue figure in a row.
The sector also provided job for a record 157,700 workers in the 2021-22 financial year, representing a 6 per cent increase on the previous year’s figure.
The all-time high sales of $231b was up from $211b the previous year, $172b in 2019-20 and $151b in 2018-19.
The WA figure represents 55 per cent of the national export earnings figure for resources and energy for financial year 2021-22, highlighting the importance of the WA sector to the national economy.
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.
Lithium emerged as WA’s third biggest mineral by sales value after spodumene concentrate sales surged to a record $6.8b on soaring prices.
The energy sector continued to recover following a downturn during the pandemic with LNG production valued at an all-time high of $38b and condensate production at a record $8.6b.
Mineral exploration expenditure reached a new high of $2.5b with strong spending on the search for gold, nickel, copper, rare earths and lithium.
More than $24b was invested in WA’s mining and petroleum sector, the highest 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.
The figures come after the Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources’ quarterly resources and energy’s quarterly update released this week predicted export earnings from Australia’s resources sector would hit a record $450b this financial year, up $31b on estimates from just three months ago.
WA mines and petroleum minister Bill Johnston said the exceptional results continued to deliver jobs and outstanding economic benefits to WA and its regional communities.
“It’s especially pleasing to see the growth in battery and critical minerals such as nickel, lithium and rare earths given the global transition to green energy,” he said.
“WA has a proven track record as a reliable investment partner and these results are a testament to our economic stability, legal clarity and regulatory certainty.”
Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan said the results again highlighted the success of the State Government’s Jobs Plan and its commitment to creating long-term employment for Western Australians.
“Our unrivalled economic management and growing resources sector shows time and time again that our State is the backbone of our nation’s economy,” he said.
APPEA WA director Claire Wilkinson said the results showed how critical gas was to the WA economy, both in terms of exports but also in providing reliable, secure and affordable domestic gas that drives the mining and minerals sector.
“WA is Australia’s largest consumer of gas, driven by mining and minerals processing, from iron ore, to minerals such as lithium and nickel, which are vital to a cleaner energy future,” she said.
“The development of WA’s gas industry has underpinned these sectors through providing secure, affordable and reliable energy to the domestic market.
“In many instances, these gas reserves powering WA’s resources sector would not have been developed but for export opportunities, as WA’s domestic demand is alone often insufficient to warrant these multi-billion dollar investments.
“Through providing secure and reliable energy, the natural gas industry has also underpinned WA’s resources sector’s highest-ever employment figures.”