Western Australia has hit record gold sales of $17 Billion

By Rajan Dhall - Kitco News

Western Australia has achieved record sales and employment in its mineral and petroleum industry in 2020 despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry.

Gold sales reached an all-time high of $17 billion for the same period due to a record average gold price of $2500 per ounce. All together resource sector delivered $174 billion in sales during 2020, compared with the previous record of $173 billion in 2019-20. Nickel sales also reached their highest value in six years, increasing to $3.3 billion.

Copper sales fell by 15 percent to $1.4 billion due to lower sales volumes across major Western Australia copper mines and the suspension of the Nifty copper mine, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) stated.

This boom also resulted in average employment of 113,056 full-time jobs for the year and 141,000 total people employed. This smashed past the previous record of just under 110,000 full-time equivalents set in 2013.

Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce said:

"We are operating under a much better environment than our other competitors.”. He added, “We’ve been able to demonstrate our reliability as a global partner in the resources sector that attracted customers for our businesses and created employment for Western Australians, but it is also showing global investors that we’re a safe destination,”.

There were also some comments from the Chamber of Minerals and Energy chief executive Paul Everingham. He said “CME and its member companies are proud our sector has not only been able to continue operating safely and effectively throughout COVID-19 but provide such strong employment outcomes,” and lastly added, “We have a strong focus on providing positive impacts in the communities in which we operate and across WA as a whole, and record jobs figures are a good indication that we are achieving this.”

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Article by Rajan Dhall - Published on Kitco News