beyond pt 0 23/1

Section Thirteen
Mining
13.1 Description of the sector
The Australian mining sector contributed $23.7 billion to GDP in
1997–98, about 4.3 per cent of total GDP. The sector employed over
80 000 people in 1997–98, or less than one per cent of the workforce. 32
However, minerals and metals are a major source of export revenue to
Australia. It is projected that the production and trade of coal and
uranium will dominate the mining industry over the next ten to fifteen
years (Table 13.1).
Table 13.1
Projected increase in Australian energy production and trade from 1997–98 to
2014–15—selected Items 33 Production Trade
PetaJoules % change PetaJoules % change
in 2014–15 on 1997–98 in 2014–15 on 1997–98
Black coal and by-products 8066.1 1.9 6700.8 2.2
Uranium 5640.0 4.4 5640.0 3.8
Crude oil 1180.3 -0.4 963.0 3.4
Natural gas 3038.2 5.3 1278.4 6.9
Petroleum products NA NA 256.3 -0.1
13.2 Use of e-commerce
Evidence about the use of e-commerce in this sector is somewhat mixed.
ABS data reported in Chapter Two of Part 1 shows that the mining sector
is a leader in terms of use of IT. Nearly half of businesses in the sector
have Internet access, a key prerequisite for e-commerce.
Industry sources estimate that over 80 per cent of purchases in the mining
industry are already made using electronic ordering, invoicing and
payment to purchase mining inputs. Furthermore, electronic technology is
used to monitor relationships with subcontractors, such as monitoring
truck movements and mining output say of iron ore.
On the other hand, a 1998 survey of Australian e-commerce sites
indicated that mining was under-represented in ‘.com.au’ website
numbers, with only 0.6 per cent of surveyed websites being for mining
related activities.
Searches undertaken by the authors of this report found that there were
relatively few websites that were equipped to undertake e-commerce.
Nevertheless, there is clear evidence that some mining companies are
using the Internet for commercial purposes. One mining site is showcased
in the Box following.
32 ABS, Australian Economic Indicators, ABS 1350.0, June 1999.
33 Bush, S., Dickson, A., Harman, J., and Anderson J., Australian Energy: Market Developments and
Projections to 2014–15, ABARE Research Report 99.4, Canberra, 1999, p. 61–62.
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