NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
March 2015	1 June 2015
June 2015	31 August 2015
September 2015	30 November 2015
December 2015	29 February 2016

CHANGES TO THIS ISSUE

• The release dates for June 2015 and September 2015 have been revised.
• In some tables, the financial year totals for 2013-14 have been revised to properly reflect the revisions applied in the September 2014 quarter for both mineral exploration and petroleum exploration. This revision affects the totals only. The quarterly figures for 2013-14 were and are correct.
• Corrections were made to the trend timeseries calculations for the Total value of onshore petroleum exploration, with the result that the sum of Drilling and Other components now match the Total (Table 6).

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SUMMARY COMMENTARY


MINERAL EXPLORATION (OTHER THAN FOR PETROLEUM)


TOTAL EXPENDITURE

The trend estimate for total mineral exploration expenditure fell 1.7% (or -$7.7m) to $442.4m in the December quarter 2014. The largest contributor to the fall in the trend estimate this quarter was Queensland (down 3.9% or -$3.6m). The current quarter estimate is 16.7% lower than the December quarter 2013 estimate.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for mineral exploration expenditure rose 1.5% (or +$6.4m) to $444.4m in the December quarter 2014. The largest contributor to the rise this quarter was Queensland (up 10.6% or +$9.1m).

In original terms, mineral exploration expenditure rose 0.9% (or +$4.0m) to $459.0m in the December quarter 2014. Exploration on areas of new deposits rose 17.1% (or +$22.0m) and expenditure on areas of existing deposits fell 5.5% (or -$18.0m).

In original terms, the largest rise by minerals sought came from expenditure on gold exploration (up 13.0% or +$11.7m). The next largest rise came from expenditure on silver, lead and zinc exploration (up 29.0% or +$3.8m).

METRES DRILLED

The trend estimate for metres drilled rose 2.0% in the December quarter 2014. The current quarter estimate is 4.2% lower than the December quarter 2013 estimate.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for metres drilled rose 3.0% in the December quarter 2014.

In original terms, metres drilled fell 3.4%. Drilling in areas of new deposits rose 23.9% and drilling in areas of existing deposits fell 11.9%.

PETROLEUM EXPLORATION


TOTAL EXPENDITURE

The trend estimate for total petroleum exploration expenditure fell 3.2% (or -$33.2m) to $1,006.0m in the December quarter 2014. Exploration expenditure on production leases fell 18.6% (or -$50.1m), while exploration expenditure on all other areas rose 2.4% (or +$18.2m).

The seasonally adjusted estimate for total petroleum exploration expenditure rose 4.0% (or +$40.0m) to $1,043.7m in the December quarter 2014. Exploration expenditure on production leases fell 6.9% (or -$17.9m) and exploration expenditure on all other areas rose 7.7% (or +$57.8m).

The largest contributor to the fall in the trend estimate was Western Australia (down 8.1% or -$49.2m) and the largest contributor to the rise in the seasonally adjusted estimate was Queensland (up 55.1% or +$81.0m).

ONSHORE

The trend estimate for onshore petroleum exploration expenditure rose 6.7% (or +$20.8m) to $329.8m in the December quarter 2014. Expenditure on drilling rose 4.9% (or +$9.2m), while other onshore petroleum exploration expenditure rose 9.1% (or +$11.1m).

The seasonally adjusted estimate for onshore petroleum exploration expenditure rose 20.7% (or +$61.4m) to $358.2m in the December quarter 2014. Expenditure on drilling rose 35.5% (or +$57.4m), and other onshore petroleum exploration rose 2.9% (or +$3.9m).

OFFSHORE

The trend estimate for offshore petroleum exploration expenditure fell 6.8% (or -$49.9m) to $680.2m in the December quarter 2014. Expenditure on drilling fell 2.6% (or -$14.5m), while other offshore petroleum exploration expenditure fell 21.8% (or -$35.3m).

The seasonally adjusted estimate for offshore petroleum exploration expenditure fell 3.0% (or -$21.4m) to $685.5m in the December quarter 2014. Expenditure on drilling fell 4.0% (or -$23.0m), and other offshore petroleum exploration expenditure rose 1.3% (or +$1.6m).