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Katie Woolf spoke with Minerals Council NT Executive Director Drew Wagner · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf thanks to Joyce Main dowin
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  Speaker 1: homes Own Stuart Highway, Beerrimer.
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  Speaker 2: We know yesterday the Northern Territory government announced funding for
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  Speaker 2: more mineral exploration in an effort to drive more mining
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  Speaker 2: development and hopefully create more jobs across the territory. Now
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  Speaker 2: joining us on the line to talk further about this
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  Speaker 2: announcement yesterday is Drew Wagner from the Minerals Council of
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory, the executive director. Good morning to you, Drew,
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katy, and I believe you're coming to us
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  Speaker 2: life this morning from beautiful Alice Springs.
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  Speaker 1: An absolutely glorious morning. And he's doing here as well, Cody.
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  Speaker 2: Oh nice and cool. I'll bet probably a lot cooler
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  Speaker 2: than what it is here.
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  Speaker 1: Slightly different to like alvahony now, Drew.
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  Speaker 2: Yesterday, the Northern Territory Government made this announcement funding for
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  Speaker 2: more mineral exploration to drive more mining development and hopefully
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  Speaker 2: create more jobs across the territory. So the government's going
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  Speaker 2: to increase its annual funding to resourcing the territory from
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  Speaker 2: six tint five million dollars to nine point five million.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't kick in until July next year with that
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  Speaker 2: funding to be ongoing, Drew, what's this money going to
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  Speaker 2: go towards? And is it enough?
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  Speaker 1: Okay, this is a great announcement that we've seen that
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  Speaker 1: we've had a number of iterations of this funding over many,
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  Speaker 1: many years. And so your listeners remember the old core
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  Speaker 1: program which was creating opportunities through resource exploration explorations, the
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  Speaker 1: strike program, and of course now the resource in the territory,
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  Speaker 1: the funding that's there at this point in time is
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  Speaker 1: still there. That increase doesn't, as you say, kick in
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  Speaker 1: until mid next year, which is when the current funding
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  Speaker 1: actually ended. So we've seen two signals who are being
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  Speaker 1: sent yesterday. One is the importance of this exploration to
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  Speaker 1: go into that pre competitive geoscience data or geological work
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  Speaker 1: that gets done. The second one is the importance being
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  Speaker 1: that it's going to be ongoing funding now, not just
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  Speaker 1: a four year program that we've seen multiple iterations over
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  Speaker 1: the path.
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  Speaker 2: And Drew, I know that you are in Allie Springs.
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  Speaker 2: There's a conference going on there at the moment, isn't
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  Speaker 2: there in terms of we're talking about the geological sort
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  Speaker 2: of will you tell me exactly what it's about before
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  Speaker 2: I say the wrong thing, maybe that's a better option.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we've got the NT Government's annual Geologic Rexpiration Seminar
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  Speaker 1: at this point in time. It is held obviously annually,
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  Speaker 1: has been in our springs for many many years now
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  Speaker 1: to coming together of many of the operators, the ancillary
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  Speaker 1: service companies and service providers to look at what we've
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  Speaker 1: got going on the territory right now, and what we've
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  Speaker 1: got coming over their eyes and the exciting geological finds
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  Speaker 1: that they're constantly coming across, and what are.
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  Speaker 2: Some of those exciting finds that are happening in the
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  Speaker 2: territory at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: Well more and more, we're seeing these companies that you
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  Speaker 1: and I've spoken about for a very long time moving
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  Speaker 1: closer and closer to operation. We're seeing more decisions being
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  Speaker 1: made in regards to approvals, We're seeing more minerals leases
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  Speaker 1: being provided to these companies, and we're seeing more of
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  Speaker 1: them shoring up their financial investment details to be able
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  Speaker 1: to look at moving towards construction in the very near future.
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  Speaker 1: And then over the horizon, we're looking at some of
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  Speaker 1: that new exploration work, particularly stuff across the Berkleys. Some
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  Speaker 1: more more opportunities in Central Australia, and we're starting to
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  Speaker 1: understand more and more just what that diversity is and
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  Speaker 1: what that opportunity is on behalf of Lord's territorium.
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  Speaker 2: Andrew, I understand that there are currently nineteen mining projects
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  Speaker 2: working towards that final investment decision. If these go ahead,
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  Speaker 2: what will it mean for the Northern.
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  Speaker 1: Territory Okatie If we can get even a small number
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  Speaker 1: of these operational in the next twelve hour eighty months,
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  Speaker 1: We're talking thousands of construction jobs. We're talking thousands of
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  Speaker 1: ongoing permanent operations jobs. We're talking large scale rural and
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  Speaker 1: regional investment at greater economic returns with the broader community
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  Speaker 1: in regards to economic recovery. And we're talking the generational
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  Speaker 1: shift and change of those education and training positions for
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  Speaker 1: ongoing jobs in those regions.
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  Speaker 2: What is the likelihood of these projects really moving ahead
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  Speaker 2: and happening.
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  Speaker 1: Well, so it's all relative, depending on the project. When
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  Speaker 1: we've got some projects who are a lot closer than others,
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  Speaker 1: some of which we've spoken about for many years, and
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  Speaker 1: it's a very easy coin of phrase to say we've
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  Speaker 1: never been closer today than we have been previously, but
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  Speaker 1: for some of these that's actually starting to come true.
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  Speaker 1: So we're seeing copper projects like KGL down in the
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  Speaker 1: Plenty Highway looking at moving towards construction in the next
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  Speaker 1: of six to eight months. But the are a few
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  Speaker 1: of rare earth projects Northwld Springs here once again moving
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  Speaker 1: close to the rank and file investment decisions. We're seeing
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  Speaker 1: large scale gold plays, copper plays like adium, titanium, phosphate,
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  Speaker 1: rare earth, you name it. It's like diversity that's always
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  Speaker 1: going to be the champion of the NT mining sector.
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  Speaker 2: So Drew, when you talk about I mean with those
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  Speaker 2: nineteen projects for example, and the final investment stage, how
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  Speaker 2: long can it take to sort of go from from
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  Speaker 2: here so from this, you know, being close to that
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  Speaker 2: final investment to actually having that mind start and get operational.
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  Speaker 1: Well, toads are very much on the starting line from
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  Speaker 1: many of those projects. Unfortunately, length of time between now
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  Speaker 1: and where they actually start can be how long is
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  Speaker 1: a piece of string. The reality is as finding in
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  Speaker 1: a global market to attract that investment is becoming more
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  Speaker 1: and more difficult. We've seen over the last twelve months
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  Speaker 1: we haven't had the ability to sit in front of
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  Speaker 1: the off take agreements to sit in front of the finances.
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  Speaker 1: We're looking and competing in a global market where every
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  Speaker 1: single jurisdiction is also trying to stimulate their economic recovery.
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  Speaker 1: So what we need to do right now is everything
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  Speaker 1: that we can to make that transition to that construction
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  Speaker 1: and that movement towards operation is smooth and as easy
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  Speaker 1: as we can. And this announcement that we saw in
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  Speaker 1: it yesterday actually goes some way towards that as well.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you and I have honestly been speaking
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  Speaker 2: for years about this situation. I was sort of having
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  Speaker 2: a laugh to myself yesterday and thought, I reckon, there's
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  Speaker 2: been so many occasions where you have said to me that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we've got to be demonstrating to some of
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  Speaker 2: these companies that we are open for business and that
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  Speaker 2: we are a place that they want to do business.
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  Speaker 2: You're at this conference in Central Australia at the moment.
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  Speaker 2: Are people getting that message very much?
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  Speaker 1: So? Are we're hearing the right messages back too? I
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  Speaker 1: mean we've seen announcements in recent weeks around these two
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  Speaker 1: new commissioners and in regards to investment attraction and major
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  Speaker 1: projects we're seeing the movement of the outcomes that we're
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  Speaker 1: found in the Economic Reconstruction Commission report. We're seeing those
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  Speaker 1: messages being sent. But what we need to be sending
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  Speaker 1: them to is that global market. We need to be
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  Speaker 1: proving our competitiveness, we need to be proving our attractiveness,
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  Speaker 1: and we need to be proving that whilst we've got
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  Speaker 1: the systems that are appropriate for the approvals that any
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  Speaker 1: assistance will be given within the realms, have been able
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  Speaker 1: to do this sustainably in the right way. But we
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  Speaker 1: can still do it. We can still do it efficiently,
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  Speaker 1: and we can still get that outcome on behalf of everybody.
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  Speaker 2: I'm true. Just very late yesterday, I know that the
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  Speaker 2: federal government announced that they're going to spend an extra
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  Speaker 2: five hundred and thirty nine million dollars on new clean
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  Speaker 2: energy projects. They're talking about it creating twenty five hundred jobs.
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  Speaker 2: There is talk about hydrogen. Do you know if the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory has been included in any of this funding
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  Speaker 2: that's been announced.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know of any specific opportunities at this point
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  Speaker 1: in time, and if this is an area obviously where
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  Speaker 1: the territory can certainly play a role in yeah, anything
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  Speaker 1: in green energy that we can be involved and we
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  Speaker 1: will take advantage of. We obviously need to take advantage
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  Speaker 1: of that. We still need a vibrant mining sector as well,
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  Speaker 1: so to be able to see the fruition of that
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  Speaker 1: funding come to the territory is exactly the same principle
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  Speaker 1: as doing any other operation or any other activity that
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  Speaker 1: we're trying to achieve at this point in time.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Drew Wagner, head of the Minerals Council here in
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory. Always good to catch up with you.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for your time this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Absolute pleasure. Thanks Gudie,