8412.0 - Mineral and Petroleum Exploration, Australia, Sep 2004

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 15/12/2004

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Explanatory Notes Glossary Abbreviations Appendix Data Source	NEW DISAGGREGATION OF MINERAL EXPLORATION INTRODUCTION This appendix introduces a revised disaggregation by type of area for mineral exploration expenditure and metres drilled. BACKGROUND The ABS has collected mineral exploration data by type of area for some time. This had been split by exploration on production leases and on all other areas. User feedback identified that a more valuable split would be between exploration in new and existing deposits. The ABS commenced collecting the new split in September quarter 2003 and collected the old and revised splits in parallel until June quarter 2004. From this issue onwards, the former split has been discontinued and Tables 2 and 3 of this release contain the new split. DEFINITIONS Below is a broad definition of both production and all other areas, and new and existing deposits. Production leases - are areas where production or mine development is actually taking place. All other areas - are areas outside of the production lease. These include areas under exploration licence or retention licence; as well as non-licensed areas being assessed for exploration e.g. airborne surveys. Existing deposits - exploration that is delineating or proving up an existing deposit, including extensions and infill, which has been classified as an Inferred Mineral Resource or higher. New Deposits - are previously unknown mineralisations or known mineralisations yet to be classified as an Inferred Mineral Resource or higher. They include: - Exploration resulting in finding mineralisation that was previously unknown. - Exploration on previously known mineralisation that has not been subjected to modern exploration. - Exploration within an existing mining tenement for the purpose of finding new sources of mineralisation that have not already been classified as at least an Inferred Mineral Resource. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FORMER AND REVISED SPLITS - EXPLORATION EXPENDITURE The graphs below show estimates of exploration expenditure for the former and revised splits. In the former split, expenditure on areas other than production leases dominated the series. The revised split shows that exploration expenditure on new and existing deposits are closer in level, although expenditure on new deposits has been higher than on existing deposits for the length of the time series. Mineral Exploration Expenditure, By type of lease Mineral Exploration Expenditure, By type of deposit COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FORMER AND REVISED SPLITS - METRES DRILLED The graphs below show estimates of metres drilled for the former and revised splits. The relative importance of the series by area between the former and revised splits are similar to those in the expenditure series. Mineral Exploration Metres Drilled, By type of lease Mineral Exploration Metres Drilled, By type of deposit Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.