Western Australia’s resources sector continues to deliver record levels of employment with 134,871 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in the 2023-24 financial year.
This marks the seventh consecutive calendar year of jobs growth, with the past five years setting record highs.
FTE positions in mining operations were up year-on-year for most minerals with the major movers being lithium, gold and iron ore.
Western Australia remained the leading destination for exploration investment in Australia with the $2.58 billion spent in 2023-24 accounting for 62 per cent of the national spend. Key exploration targets included critical minerals such as lithium, rare earths (which achieved record spending levels), nickel/cobalt and copper.
Iron ore continues to be the bedrock of Western Australia’s resource output, with sales of $142 billion supported by higher prices and record production of 866 million tonnes.
Gold continued to shine with all-time high sales of $21 billion driven by the highest prices ever recorded.
Despite the market headwinds for battery minerals, lithium ($8.4 billion), nickel ($3.8 billion) and copper ($1.1 billion) achieved strong sales, as did alumina ($6.6 billion), mineral sands ($1.2 billion) and salt ($814 million – the highest on record).
The petroleum sector continued to be an important contributor to the state economy with sales of $51 billion. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) was the main driver with sales of $36 billion, followed by condensate at $8.4 billion, domestic gas at $2.9 billion and crude oil at $2.5 billion.
Western Australia’s reputation as a well-regulated and reliable business partner saw more than $32 billion invested in the resources sector in 2023-24. This result continues the upwards trend in investment since mid-2019.
The investment pipeline also had projects valued at about $50 billion committed or under construction.
Western Australian Premier, Roger Cook, said that these remarkable results support jobs across the state and deliver tremendous economic benefits to Western Australia and its regional communities.
“Our economic management of the resources sector is second to none, and that is why Western Australia will drive the national economy for decades to come,” Mr Cook said.
“We are a global investment destination of choice as we remain a reliable business partner, we maintain a robust regulatory framework and we have a long history of major mining and mineral processing successes.
“I am very pleased to see the interest in critical minerals extend from exploration to production as we are working hard to ensure Western Australia plays a key role in decarbonising the global economy.”
Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum, David Michael, said that Western Australia’s resources sector has delivered yet another exceptional performance and it’s great to see there are more employment opportunities than ever before.
“It’s especially pleasing to see exploration spending continue its impressive run with the global demand for commodities – especially critical minerals – showing no signs of slowing down,” Mr Michael said.
“The future looks particularly positive with billions of dollars’ worth of projects under construction or committed as we seek more downstream and midstream production activity.”
