Presentation to the Melbourne Mining Club’s Cutting edge series, Melbourne, September 2013
The presentation briefly covers the trends in exploration activity in Victoria and identified two areas where world class discoveries could be made.
In detail:
- In terms of global exploration expenditures, Australia currently accounts for 13% of total spend. Within Australia, at A$38 million Victoria only accounts for 1.3% of domestic spend. In other words, at <0.2% of global spend, Victoria is not on the industry’s radar.
- Victoria has a long and rich history of discovery – with over 100 Moz of gold found since 1850, plus a major mineral sands province in the Murray Basin and, arguably ,the World’s best brown coal deposits in the LaTrobe Valley.
- However, in the last decade only 10 modest-sized discoveries have been made in Victoria.
- Part of the reason for the decline were challenges in exploring for and developing underground nuggetty-gold deposits. The level of business risk was also high.
- In the last year, there has been a change in Government in Victoria and the level of support for the industry has risen. This is reflected in significant rise in the policy potential Index (as measured in the Fraser Institute’s annual surveys). Victoria is now in the top quartile of jurisdictions to operate in.
- On the geological front, it has been long known that the rich goldfield of Bendigo and Ballarat extent to the north under cover.
- recent work by the Geological Survey of Victoria has identified an exciting new Andean-style copper porphyry belt under cover in western Victoria.
- The good chance of a significant copper and/or gold discovery, coupled with the improved business climate in Victoria, indicates that the State is on the edge of new era of discovery.