The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released Mineral & Petroleum Exploration data for the December quarter, which revealed sharp falls in both mineral and petroleum exploration expenditure.
Nationally, expenditure on minerals exploration fell by a seasonally-adjusted $75.8 million (-12.5%) over the December quarter. Falls were particularly sharp in Western Australia, where exploration expenditure fell by $73.4 million (-19.3%):
The various components, presented below in non-seasonally adjusted raw terms, fell by a larger amount, down by $91 million or 14.3%. In particular, iron ore exploration expenditure fell by $38 million (-17%), selected base metals exploration expenditure fell by $30.5 million (-29%), and gold exploration expenditure fell by $16 million (-12%).
Petroleum exploration expenditure also fell by a seasonally-adjusted 112.3 million (-10.0%) to $1,014.7 million in the December quarter, with Western Australia accounting for 63% of total expenditure (see next chart).
