Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 17—Mining 675
Over 60% of the world’s mines use software
created by Australian companies, and
AUSTMINE figures show exports of $1.2b of
mining-related intellectual property in
1998–99. This is well ahead of much publicised
industries such as the wine industry, which has
just pushed through the $900m level.
Innovative value adding in the Australian
minerals industry extends from exploration
and mining, through metal production and
fabrication, to elaborately transformed
manufactures. Although value adding is often
equated with downstream processing (smelting
and refining) of minerals, exploration and
mining are in themselves value adding activities.
E-commerce
The mining industry has a very high level of
business PCs and Internet use. This is placing
the minerals industry in a good position to take
up E-commerce, as evidenced by the initiative
by the Australian company WMC to market
nickel and cobalt on the Internet.
In August 1999 WMC moved its cobalt and
nickel marketing on-line in what is a world first
for trading in these commodities. The
$100,000 Internet initiative paid for itself in the
first month. The web site is changing the way
cobalt and nickel are being traded
internationally. The move has benefited WMC,
which notes that it has doubled its international
customer base and improved its premiums, and
brought transparency particularly to the cobalt
market. WMC also notes that Internet-sourced
sales have cut transaction times down to about
one minute because availability, pricing and
shipping details that were formerly negotiated
over the phone are now posted on-line.
Of WMC’s customers, North American
companies were particularly receptive to the
on-line metal trading model, and it is believed
that some North American companies will not
trade any other way in the future.
Regional development
Apart from the mineral industries’ importance
to Australia’s balance of trade, they are also
particularly important in providing jobs and
infrastructure development in regional Australia.
Since 1967 these industries have built at least
25 new towns, 12 new ports, 20 airfields and
1,900 kilometres of rail line within Australia.
Mining and directly associated manufacturing
in metal and non-metallic mineral products, and
coal and chemical products, employ over
400,000 Australians.
Mining operations are not typically labour
intensive once in production, but during
construction they provide employment for a
great many skilled workers. Downstream
processing projects can provide hundreds of
jobs to local communities, not only in areas
associated directly with construction and
operation, but also indirectly through local
service industries such as catering, cleaning,
maintenance and entertainment.
These projects often result in improved local
infrastructure including roads, schools and
community leisure and health facilities.
Environmental protection
In the 1980s the mining industry became
increasingly influenced by public concern for
the quality of the environment. With the rising
awareness that preservation of natural features
such as scenery, and plant and animal habitats,
had a value to society, governments increased
the controls on discharge of potentially
polluting emissions such as water containing
sediments or chemicals, and noxious gases.
The industry was increasingly being required
to justify its activities in competition with other
potential uses of the land. Government
environmental impact assessment processes
took account of the likely effect of proposed
projects on the surroundings before deciding
whether they should go ahead. Many mined-out
areas were now required to be rehabilitated by
reshaping and revegetating the surface so that
the site could be used for other purposes.
Land rights
The effect of land ownership by Indigenous
people extended across Australia in the 1990s
through a legislative process that commenced
in the High Court in 1992. In a historic decision
(Mabo (No. 2)), the Court decided that the
common law of Australia recognises a form of
native land title which exists in accordance with
the laws and customs of Indigenous people
where:
those people have maintained their
traditional connection with the land; and
their title has not been extinguished by a law
or other action of government (such as a
grant of freehold title).