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WA Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston has enabled an exemption from exploration
expenditure to be considered if tenement holders are unable to meet the tenement’s expenditure
requirements as a direct result of COVID-19 or because of restrictions imposed by the State and
Federal governments. This decision will be valid until March 31, 2021, unless rescinded earlier
and gold diggers in particular, would be
among the biggest beneficiaries.
“Recovery is always quicker than an-
ticipated,” Twigger said, striking a hopeful
tone. “In Shanghai and Hong Kong, peo-
ple are back on the streets and industrial Warren Pearce
activity is reported to be returning.
“I think the West’s economy will bounce
back quickly but countries such as Bra-
zil, India and Indonesia could be in for an
awful time. The anxiety is the unknown,
but markets are always looking six
months ahead so when there are signs of
change.”
For Twigger, the mix of economic stim-
ulus and monetary policy will produce fa-
vourable conditions for the mining sector.
“The gold producers will be in a very
strong position, particularly where gov-
ernments are devaluing their currency
and printing money,” he said. “And, in
such circumstances any hard asset will
do well, so expect all commodities to per-
form. This is particularly the case for iron
ore as governments prime their economy
by building infrastructure.”
Wilson sees the established compa-
nies as the primary winners as investors
remain risk-off.
“Single asset companies have risk as
more of an issue because any disruption
can cause severe problems. That is why
there is safety in the multi-asset produc-
ers.
“For explorers, there is still a lot of ap-
peal, but hurdle rates will be bigger so
less greenfields and more advanced stuff.
It is up to explorers to incentivise people
to take the risk.
All of that still seems a long way off.
In the meantime, miners – like everyone
else in Australia and the global commu-
nity – must offer everything they can to
pull the world out of the crisis.
“It’s important at times like this to focus
on keeping people safe and calm,” Ever-
ingham said. “It is not about ‘can we look
good?’ Everyone is anxious about this
and we have to put things in perspective.
There are plenty of people doing it much
tougher than the resources sector. As a
member of the community, you say ‘what
is it we can do to ease the strain?’ The
industry can do that by being as safe as
possible so not to act as a drain on com-
munities or the health system so that the
vulnerable can get the best healthcare
possible.”
– Dominic Piper

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