{"id":2537,"date":"2019-04-29T13:46:17","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T13:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=2537"},"modified":"2019-04-29T13:46:17","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T13:46:17","slug":"labor-will-boost-australian-mines-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/04\/29\/labor-will-boost-australian-mines-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"LABOR WILL BOOST AUSTRALIAN MINES OF THE FUTURE"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Shorten Labor Government will boost Australia\u2019s potential as a resource powerhouse and battery production superpower by investing $75 million in developing the future mining of resources such as lithium.
\nWe want to ensure Australian mines are powering the commodities of the future \u2013 such as lithium \u2013 as we build the renewable energy economy.
\nAustralia has every mineral needed to make a lithium battery domestically \u2013 batteries that are used in electric cars, smart phones and to store renewable energy.
\nOur $75 million investment will reverse the Liberals\u2019 decision to axe the Exploring for the Future program \u2013 a program that uses cutting edge technology to find future deposits through building underground maps that show where mineral deposits lie.
\nLabor\u2019s plan will support local jobs, local industries, local manufacturing of future commodities and a cleaner energy future.
\nWestern Australia has proved to be home to globally significant deposits of lithium and other minerals and is perfectly positioned to benefit from this funding boost.
\nThe McGowan Labor Government and industry in Western Australia are looking at how best to turn the state\u2019s natural resources into new jobs and industries.
\nThe Association of Mining and Exploring Companies estimates that the global lithium value chain will grow from $160 billion in 2018 to $2 trillion in 2025 \u2013 Australia shouldn\u2019t miss out on this.
\nTwo-thirds of Australia\u2019s potential mineral deposits remain undiscovered because they lie below the surface and could not be explored until the advent of new technology like ground penetrating radar, big data and machine learning \u2013 all deployed by the Exploring for the Future program.
\nWhile the world is discovering \u201cTier 1\u201d deposits at a rate of three a year, Australia has not made a Tier 1 discovery since 2005.
\nThis program had delivered important successes \u2013 like showing the South Nicholson Basin north of Mt Isa is three times larger than previously though and highlighting potential new gold and copper deposits in Tennant Creek.
\nIn its last year, the program spent $40 million across 150 small to medium enterprises \u2013 most in Western Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory \u2013 to deploy cutting edge technology to help make an underground mining map of Australia.
\nDespite these successes, the Liberals still axed the Exploring for the Future program.
\nMining contributes more export income for Australia than all other industries combined, but 80 per cent of its $221 billion in earnings during 2017-18 came from mines discovered more than 40 years ago, and our global share of exploration spending has halved in the last two decades.
\nStudies show for every dollar of initial geological survey by government, mining companies spend between $5 and $15 on subsequent exploration.
\nWe need to be supporting that investment to discover future mines and deposits \u2013 which is exactly what Labor will do.
\nThis commitment is part of Labor\u2019s Future Mines and Jobs Plan, which includes:<\/p>\n