Business
Queensland close second to WA
SPENDING on minerals exploration in Queensland rose 13.4%, or $31.7 million, in the March quarter, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday.
The quarterly update on the state by state exploration spend on minerals reinforced Queensland's place as a close second to mining powerhouse Western Australia.
The total mineral exploration spend rose 7.1% to $1057 million in the March quarter, up 35.1% than the March quarter 2011 estimate.
But in original terms, the minerals exploration spend fell 15.1% in the March quarter to $876.1 million.
This was primarily driven by a 22.4% fall in Queensland, on the back of an 18.5% fall in real exploration for coal reserves nationally.
