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32 Business View Australia - July 2015
and Infrastructure Plan (RMIP). As
outlined in this plan, the government
estimates that mining sector
production is likely to rise from an
average of 15 million tonnes from
2013-2017 to an average of 95
million tonnes between 2023-2032.
It is an acknowledged fact that the
existing infrastructure is insufficient
to meet the requirements that this
increase in capacity will create.
This is especially true for high
volume commodities like iron ore.
In an effort to address this issue,
the RMIP set up a Resources
Infrastructure Taskforce. SACOME
is closely monitoring developments
and is lobbying the government
to ensure real progress is made.
The Chamber has consulted with its
members and has prioritized several
projects for close attention. Amongst
these are a cape-size port for bulk
commodity export in the Spencer
Gulf to serve the region’s emerging
iron ore industry and the upgradation
to a 275kV transmission line
along the Eastern flank of the Eyre
Peninsula. The third project which it
considers to be of great importance
is the sealing of the Strzelecki
track to access the Cooper Basin.
Speaking about the potential of
South Australia in the mining and
mineral sectors, Jason Kuchel says,
“The South Australian policy index
always scores very well compared to
other jurisdictions around the globe.
That is one of the reasons companies
are interested in investing here.
“We have lots of undiscovered
potential because of the cover that
much of our minerals is under. Unlike
a resource rich state like Western
Australia, where people stumble
across large ore deposits, we have
them here in abundance but they are
a little deeper. That’s actually a good
thingbecause itmeansmuchsuccess
is yet to be had in South Australia.
“South Australia historically was
the largest supplier of copper to the
globe and considering the copper
deposits that we still have, we
are under performing. Our copper
export potential in South Australia
is two to three times the current
levels within the next 15 years.
“We have a great range of
commodities in South Australia
which is very good for our economy
and I think it is good for investors
too. You might be looking for one
particular commodity and maybe
you are not successful in finding
that, but so often people are
successful in finding something
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