NSW Minerals Industry takes on the world

The NSW minerals industry has gone global this week with a State delegation attending the world’s premier exploration investment meeting.

“NSW has a high profile presence at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association Convention (PDAC) in Toronto, Canada” said Deputy Director-General Primary Industries, Mineral Resources, Alan Coutts.

“We have to actively pursue overseas investors to successfully market our industry on the world stage,“ said Mr Coutts.

“This is an increasingly volatile and competitive world market and we can’t afford to sit back and wait for investors to come to us.

“Actively promoting exploration opportunities now will sustain our minerals industry for decades to come,” he added.

NSW has joined the Commonwealth and other state governments at this convention since the mid-1990s as part of its strategy to raise global awareness of exploration investment opportunities.

PDAC 2005 is expected to attract well over 10,000 delegates from 30 different countries and regions around the world with key representatives of the mineral exploration business, including:

• Senior and junior mining companies;
• Financiers from leading banks and investment houses;
• Contractors; and
• Government mineral resource agencies.

Canada remains the single largest source of investment capital for minerals exploration and development worldwide, and the international activities of North American companies continue to grow.

Mr Coutts said it was clear that the first step in international marketing is to get overseas companies to include Australia in their ‘investment patch’.

“Our presence at this convention – the world’s largest and most prestigious - has undoubtedly contributed to the growing recognition of NSW as an attractive and globally competitive site for exploration investment,” he said.

Recent figures show that gold exploration now accounts for approximately 50 percent of total mineral exploration expenditure in NSW with major producing deposits at Orange, Parkes, and Cobar.

“NSW is the growth State for gold exploration, investment and production,” he said.