The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released Mineral & Petroleum Exploration data for the June quarter, which revealed a sharp fall mineral exploration expenditure, but a lift in petroleum exploration expenditure.
Nationally, expenditure on minerals exploration fell by a seasonally-adjusted $163 million (-21%) over June March quarter. The fall was driven by Western Australia, where exploration expenditure fell by $128 million (-26%) over the quarter and by Queensland, where expenditure fell by $30 million (-18.5%):
While the ABS recorded a large seasonally-adjusted fall in overall minerals exploration expenditure over the quarter, the various components, presented in non-seasonally adjusted raw terms, fell by a much smaller amount, down by just $7.6 million or -1.1%. In particular, iron ore exploration expenditure fell by $44 million (-18%) over the quarter, whereas gold exploration fell by $5 million (-3%). By contrast, coal exploration rose by $15 million (+15%), selected base metals by $14 million (+13%), and all others by $12 million (+22%):
In contrast to the overall big seasonally-adjusted fall in mineral exploration, there was better news for petroleum exploration expenditure which rose by a seasonally-adjusted 132 million (+12%) to $1,258 million in the June quarter, with Western Australia accounting for 63% of total expenditure (see next chart).
Australia is now all about energy.
