The organiser of the first-ever Resources Victoria Conference – opening in Melbourne on Monday – say registration figures point to a surging interest in the potential to revitalise the State’s mineral and energy exploration sectors. More than 200 delegates have registered for the inaugural 2008 Paydirt Resources Victoria Conference, being staged amid an environment of strong demand for mineral and energy commodities and despite recent dips globally in some metals prices.
The State has been particularly prominent in leading the new charge for participation in emerging wind, geothermal and carbon sequestration opportunities. “Over the past decade, most minerals investment has been focused on Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia,” Conference convenor, Bill Repard, said. “However, with significant new exploration technologies available and most ground elsewhere in Australia’s recognised mineral provinces now well pegged, there is some swing in the resources investment pendulum back towards Victoria.
“This should not surprise as Victoria historically has been home to worldclass discoveries of gold and other metals and more recently, new commodity opportunities such as in mineral sands. Not only does the State have modern day mineral potential but it has key energy feedstocks and relevant and expanding infrastructure able to service new projects. These are now pressing considerations for resources investors looking to prevent stagnation in Australia of their investment dollars in projects facing being stranded for years by political ineptitude or bickering over construction and financing issues.”
Repard said lack of relevant infrastructure had particularly slowed the development momentum of mineral projects in Western Australia and to a lesser extent, South Australia and the Northern Territory. “Victoria has an opportunity to use its substantial statewide rail, road and deep water port facilities to revitalise its ‘open for business’ message. The State also has one other attraction – major new resources projects are not likely to face the same lifestyle, housing and cost pressures as plaguing such mineral hot spots as the Pilbara. This almost guarantees the necessary pool of talent for start-up resources projects.”
The Paydirt Resources Victoria Conference takes place August 25-27, at the Hilton on the Park Hotel in Melbourne. The event will be opened at 9am on Monday by Victoria’s Minister for Energy and Resources, the Honourable Peter Batchelor, with a presentation entitled Victoria: Rediscover the Potential.
Victoria is renowned for its historic gold production – with more than 2,500 tonnes mined to date – and Victorian gold production still represents a third of all gold mined in Australia. Since the gold rush of the 19th century transformed the colony into Australia’s financial centre, Victoria has continued to experience waves of mineral-driven development – first, with the discovery of vast brown coal reserves in the Latrobe Valley, then with the major oil and gas fields of the Bass Strait, which continue to provide a significant part of Australia’s oil requirements. The past year has seen a surge of interest in several world-class heavy mineral sands deposits in northwest Victoria, which suggest that the State could also become a major future supplier of rutile, zircon and ilmenite. Interest is also booming in Victoria’s geothermal “hot rocks” resources and other renewable technologies, with a recent State Government commitment to a $72 million fund to help finance proposals for large-scale renewable energy demonstration projects across the State.