Resources overview: benefits
The NSW Government strongly supports the environmentally and socially responsible development of the state’s mineral resources for the benefit of our communities. NSW has significant expertise in mining, abundant geological resources and effective regulations.
In February 2019, the NSW Government released the NSW Minerals Strategy. It focusses on NSW metal and rare earth minerals and the strategy’s goal is “to significantly grow investment in mineral exploration and mining in NSW to position the state as a major global supplier of metals for the economies of today and the future”.
In June 2020, the NSW Government released the Strategic Statement on Coal Exploration and Mining in NSW. It aims to provide greater certainty to explorers, investors, industry stakeholders and communities about the future of coal mining in the state. It focusses on taking a responsible approach to the global transition to a low carbon future, consistent with Australia’s ambition under the Paris Agreement, while managing the impact of this transition on coal-reliant communities.
In the 2018/19 financial year, mining royalties contributed $2.1 billion to the NSW economy, money that supports the delivery of essential services and crucial community infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and roads.
Mining also makes a significant contribution to the NSW economy and provides a wide variety of benefits, including employment, to communities across regional NSW, where it supports almost 29,600 direct and 118,000 indirect jobs.
The minerals industry has an especially important part to play in regional NSW as a major employer and is the backbone of many regional communities. A nearby mine can help increase the vibrancy of regional towns and boost the job security and lifestyles of those living in them.
Building the infrastructure to underpin the renewable energy revolution and the transition to a sustainable and green future depends on a reliable supply of metals. Traditional metal commodities such as gold, copper, lead and zinc will need to be complemented with high-tech metals such as lithium, cobalt, scandium and rare earth elements. NSW is well placed to help meet this demand.
The NSW Government supports a number of initiatives to help foster the discovery of metals for tomorrow’s mines. Initiated in 2006, the New Frontiers Initiative supports the acquisition and delivery of new precompetitive geoscientific data to support the environmentally and socially responsible development of the state’s resources. A part of the NSW Minerals Strategy, the MinEx Cooperative Research Centre (MinEx CRC), commenced in 2019 and is the world’s largest mineral exploration geoscience collaboration, bringing together industry, government and research organisations. NSW has committed $16 million over the next 10 years to this project. The ‘Sunset Clause’ project will also make significant amounts of historic exploration data available to the public in 2021, in a validated, organised and digital form.
The Online Prospectus provides explorers and project developers with an overview of the geological potential, existing and planned infrastructure investment for regional NSW and the robust regulatory frameworks that make NSW a world-class minerals producer.