DMP executives recently attended Mining Investment Asia in Singapore and Mines and Money in Hong Kong to update potential investors on the opportunities in WA.
| Date: | Wednesday, 26 April 2017 |
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Senior Western Australian Government officials have recently returned from a trip to Singapore where they presented at Mining Investment Asia 2017, a key exhibition for the leaders of the mining, quarrying and construction industries.
The conference, which covered matters relating to investment in mineral commodities, was attended by Department of Mines and Petroleum’s (DMP) Acting Deputy Director General, Dr Phil Gorey and Senior Manager of Mineral Promotion, Dr Gaomai Trench.
Dr Gorey said going to Mining Investment Asia 2017 was part of DMP’s strategy for effective and long term engagement with Asia.
“We have had a continual presence at the conference over the years and 2017 was no exception, delivering a presentation on mining investment opportunities in Western Australia and Dr Trench represented DMP on the Women in Mining panel discussion.”
Dr Gorey explained that the forum also provided an excellent opportunity to hear from investment advisors and portfolio managers on commodity and jurisdictional analysis.
“WA continues to be seen as a destination of choice for resource investment and this was highlighted in several of the presentations throughout the conference,” he said.
“According to many of the presenters, the annual survey run by the Fraser Institute is seen as a particularly relevant and important benchmarking tool. This level of reinforcement bodes extremely well for WA particularly given our current ranking as the third most attractive jurisdiction for mining investment in the world.”
Dr Trench, who provided a WA perspective on gender diversity in the mining environment at the Women in Mining forum, also added that the WA Government stand and the materials provided were very well received by visitors to the booth.
“A general consensus at the conference this year was that the demand for gold will continue to grow so the department’s information was timely and topical,” Dr Trench said.
“The main drivers for the demand include the reduced confidence in financial markets, the expected fall in the American dollar later this year, the value of gold rising in every
major currency and the increasing demands for gold in India due to currency policy changes.
“Another big focus was around battery metals; lithium, zinc, cobalt and graphite. This is being driven by global policies for low carbon emissions, new information and communication technologies, and other new technologies such as electric cars.”
In keeping with the strategy around long term engagement with Asia, the department’s Acting Director General, Dr Tim Griffin, attended Mines and Money Asia with Dr Trench the following week in Hong Kong.
Dr Trench said discussions at the two conferences were very similar and provided an excellent platform to help stakeholders understand more about working in Western Australia.
“Attending Mining Investment Asia and Mines and Money gave us the opportunity to meet with potential investors to provide information and updates about investing in WA,” she said.
Preparation and attendance at these conferences is coordinated together with the Department of State Development (DSD) and is supported by the WA Trade Office.
