Mineral search expenditure

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32629, 10 June 1971, Page 16

Mineral search expenditure

f.V.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent)

SYDNEY, June 9.

A handful of companies dominate spending on non-petroleum exploration in Australia, Government statistics revealed last week.

Companies spending over slm in exploration accounted for only 4.3 per cent of the 660 explorers active in Australia in the year to June 30,

1970. But they spent 47.7 per cent of the sllBm poured into exploration, in the period. On the other hand a shoal! of 345 tiddlers, most of them spawned in the mineral boom ;of recent years, spent only 1.9 per cent of the total. Domination by the “big league" firms is even more marked if explorers spending between $500,000 and slm. are added to the list of those outlaying more than slm. Together the two categories provide only 8.7 per cent of the total number of companies in the field but 65 per cent of the funds. About 220 new enterprises

vere launched during the year but few were major spenders. In fact, 120 of the newcomers accounted for only $740,000 extra. On the other hand 12 new big explorers were added to the group spending more than slm each, and spending by firms in this category financed exploration worth ss6m, s24m more than in the previous year. The expenditure of $UBm in 1969-70 in the search for minerals was up 62 per cent on the previous year’s figures.

Government spending on exploration levelled off at about $6.5m, with less emphasis on drilling, and more on general surveys.