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The NSW Government’s $45.4 million budget funding for the NSW Department of Mineral Resources will ensure continued investment and exploration in the State, and maintain the focus on mine safety, the Minister for Mineral Resources, Eddie Obeid said last week.
“This budget ensures the continuation of the Carr Government’s $30 million, seven-year Exploration NSW initiative, which is about to go into its third year.
“The Carr Government is providing $5 million in this budget for the Exploration NSW program, which will stimulate mining and petroleum exploration as well as investment and jobs in NSW.
“Exploration NSW will centre much of its activities on the under-explored regions of the state with Broken Hill, the Riverina and the Darling Basin all benefiting from this initiative.”
The following allocations will be spent on acquiring information to stimulate exploration for minerals and petroleum:
*$1.2m for the Broken Hill region,
*$1.3m for petroleum in the Darling Basin,
*$500,000 for the state’s far South West
*$300,000 for the Cargelligo region,
*$200,000 for the State’s Central West
*$200,000 for the New England Area,
*$200,000 in the Cobar/Bourke region,
*$100,000 at Lightning Ridge, and
*$1m for statewide digital data bases, including the recently launched Minview.
“Mine safety is a continued priority of this government with a commitment of $3m for better mine safety programs, including the popular statewide small mine safety workshops now in the second year,” said Mr Obeid.
The government has maintained the $1 million fund for prosecutions for breaches of the NSW Government’s strict occupational health and safety laws. This is part of the government’s $15m safety initiative, which is now in its fifth year.
The rehabilitation of the State’s derelict mine sites, which protects the environment and the community has received $1.6m funding. This is further supplemented by $2.8 million grant from the Environmental Trust for rehabilitation work at sites throughout regional New South Wales.
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