A NEW study has found Western Australia’s gross product could be increased by more than $2 billion per annum and up to 16,200 new jobs created if the mineral resource potential of the State’s South West can be unlocked.
The Energy for Minerals Development in the South West Coast Region of Western Australia study, conducted by Sleeman Consulting, identified development opportunities worth up to $660 billion.
These include a $1.7 billion pig iron plant in the State’s Mid West as well as an ambitious $5.5 billion aluminum smelter proposal.
Yet it also found a wide range of issues holding back the development of the region, including a key component of project viability; the availability and cost of energy.
Other factors to be taken into consideration included capital costs, market factors, raw material availability and technology development, the study says.
The report makes 30 recommendations to Federal and State government departments as well as industry to better coordinate potential development of the region.
Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane said it was vital for the issues identified in the report to be addressed so mining and mineral processing development opportun-ities are maximised.
“It gives present and future State governments a blueprint to optimal development of the South West,” Mr Macfarlane said.
State Development Minister Clive Brown said the report vindicated the Government’s recently released coal policy, which highlighted the need to increase coal production to reduce the unit cost of coal production.
