The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released Mineral & Petroleum Exploration data for the March quarter, which revealed a sharp fall in mineral exploration expenditure, but a rebound in petroleum exploration expenditure.
Nationally, expenditure on minerals exploration fell by a seasonally-adjusted $48.9 million (-9.2%) over the March quarter. The fall was driven by Western Australia, where exploration expenditure fell by $58.8 million (-19.6%):
The various components, presented below in non-seasonally adjusted raw terms, fell by a larger amount, down by $139.4 million or 25%. Iron ore exploration expenditure fell by $69 million (-38%), gold exploration expenditure fell by $35 million (-30%), selected base metals exploration expenditure fell by $12 million (-16%), “All others” fell by $19 million (-29%), and coal by $5 million (-4%).
By contrast, petroleum exploration expenditure rebounded by a seasonally-adjusted 111 million (+11%) to $1,139.5 million in the March quarter, with Western Australia accounting for 66% of total expenditure (see next chart).
