Son of BREE released its biannual major projects update late yesterday and it does not make for happy reading. Even the pathological optimists at Department of Industry couldn’t hide the bottomless pit that is yawning before Australian mining in the next five years. Here’s the wrap:
This release of the Resources and Energy Major Projects Report provides an update on resource and energy project developments over the period November 2014 to April 2015. It comes at a time when the investment boom has clearly ended and Australia is transitioning to the production phase of the mining boom.
The downturn in commodity prices has pushed many companies to implement cost cutting programs to remain profitable. Reducing exploration expenditure has clearly been one of the principal ways savings have been delivered. In 2014 Australia’s total exploration expenditure, including both minerals and petroleum exploration, decreased 6.7 per cent, compared to 2013, to $6.6 billion.
