The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released Mineral & Petroleum Exploration data for the March quarter, which revealed a slight recovery in mineral exploration expenditure following three consecutive quarters of decline. By contrast, petroleum exploration expenditure fell from the all-time high level registered in the December quarter of 2012.
Nationally, expenditure on minerals exploration rose by a seasonally-adjusted $7.9 million (1%) over the March quarter. The increase was driven by Western Australia, where exploration expenditure rose by $31.9 million (7.0%) over the quarter. This was partly offset by big falls in South Australia (-$18.4 million or -28.9%) and Queensland (-$11.7 million or -6.6%):
While the ABS recorded a small seasonally-adjusted rise in overall minerals exploration expenditure over the quarter, the various components, presented in non-seasonally adjusted raw terms, registered falls. In particular, coal exploration expenditure fell by -$44.7 million (-30.0%) over the quarter, iron ore exploration by -$30.2 million (-10.8%), Gold exploration by -$8.0 million (-4.9%), selected base metals by -$6.5 million (-31.4%), and all others by -$18.3 million (-25.2%):
In contrast to the overall modest increase in mineral exploration, petroleum exploration expenditure fell by a seasonally-adjusted -176.9 million (-13.6%) to $1,121.7 million in the March quarter, with Western Australia accounting for 68% of total expenditure (see next chart).
