Guy Barnett,Minister for Resources
The Tasmanian Government is the strongest supporter of the mining and minerals processing sector and welcomes the upgrading and expansion of Mineral Resources Tasmania’s Mornington Drill Core Library.
This $2.7 million project will help continue to provide high quality analytical and testing facilities right here in Tasmania.
With construction undertaken by Tasmanian company Fairbrother, the core library now boasts much improved technical, testing and analytical capacity and enhanced front-end facilities to welcome visitors.
The core library already holds some 770 kilometres of drill core and 70,000 rock samples from across the State dating back to the late 19th Century.
The samples not only provide a historical geological record of our State but assist industry in deciding where to invest significant sums into mining and mineral operations.
This vast collection of very important geological information also provides a wonderful resource for the University of Tasmania for teaching practical skills, including core logging, our next generation of geologists and engineers.
Importantly, for a sector that needs to be cutting edge and have access to the latest technology, the enhanced analytical and testing facilities are a major boost to the sector in Tasmania.
With our continued focus on uncovering new mineral deposits or breathing new life into existing mining sites through our Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative, having testing and analytical services right here in Tasmania is a significant step for industry.
With some 60 exploration projects already being supported by our Drilling Grant and this exploration realising $3.40 of investment for every $1 of public investment, we are ensuring that MRT has the resources and facilities to meet the needs of the modern mining and mineral exploration sector.
Our investment has encouraged more than $1.6 million worth of mineral exploration to date and that exploration has the capacity to lead to hundreds of millions more in actual mining and mineral extraction.
The mining and minerals processing sector contributes more than $2.8 billion to our economy annually, making it our largest mercantile export industry. It employs about 5,200 Tasmanians, returned $62.5 million in the last financial year to our State’s bottom line through royalties, fees and rent, and future-proofing MRT’s core library operations is a sensible investment.
