Ninety-seven per cent of all applications were finalised by DMP within target timelines.
| Date: | Friday, 05 May 2017 |
|---|
The Department of Mines and Petroleum received the highest number of exploration Programme of Work applications for a March quarter since 2012 and the second-highest since 2009 - when it first started releasing Approval Performance reports.
The department received 639 mineral exploration Programme of Work applications in the March quarter 2017, more than 50 per cent higher than during the same period last year.
Programme of Work applications must be approved before exploration can start, which means it’s a good indicator of planned exploration activity on the ground.
The latest Approvals Performance Report was released today by Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston.
“Increased exploration is a positive sign of private sector confidence,” Mr Johnston said.
“Resource exploration in Western Australia supports thousands of jobs and is fundamental in the discovery of the State’s next resource projects.”
Across the March quarter, the department received a total of 1679 approval applications from the minerals sector and 183 from the petroleum and geothermal sector, and finalised 97 per cent of all applications within target timelines for the quarter.
Approval Performance reports are available from the department’s website.
