Category: Mining

Mining

Mining Industry in New Zealand

How much do you know about the mining industry in New Zealand? As with other industries it’s important to know the facts so you can distinguish it from fiction. Here are some of the key facts to keep in mind:

Mining is a $2 billion industry in NZ

Here’s a key fact to keep in mind because it’s an important stat to know regardless of where you stand on the issues. For example, 2008 put up record production numbers for NZ mining. In fact, the industry has been proliferating recent years based on the increased international demand for the country’s resources.

This fact can be interpreted in different ways. What’s important is to note that mining is one of the biggest industries in New Zealand. There are other big industries like sheep/dairy farming. However, $2 billion is certainly a big figure and shows the big value of the industry in New Zealand.

It provides thousands of NZ jobs

These jobs are also high-paying and highly productive ones. For example, the mining sector employees around 6,000 New Zealanders. Thousands of more workers are employed indirectly through the industry. Another issue is the jobs in the sector are very productive. The mining sector returned $36,000 of GDP for each full-time worker on average. That’s almost 6x the national average. This shows that the mining workers are very productive.

Another issue to keep in mind is the average income of mining workers is $60,000 per worker. That’s more than 2x the national average. So not only are mining workers very productive, but they’re also paid for their high productivity. This is a key fact related to NZ mining industry.

It includes mining on conservation land

Over 80 mines were operating on NZ’s conservation land as of September 2009. Several of the permits were provided by the last government led by the Labor Party. Another fact to keep in mind is that the country’s global tourists rose 37% between the years 2000 and 2008. This is another factor related to conservation land but shows that in the case of issues like mining and tourism the country seems to be taking a very pro-business stance.

There’s some debate about whether mining should be conducted on conservation land. By definition, the lands are protected by the government so it could be considered a conflict of interest when there’s mining conducted on those lands. However, it’s a debatable issue that will likely continue for quite a while.

It’s an important NZ export industry

In 2009 alone the mining industry earned $1.1 billion of export revenue in New Zealand. This is a big figure and shows it’s not only a big industry but also one that earns money for the country on the Internet market. This makes the situation more complex because the receipts aren’t just domestic but also international. In the case, there are debates about the industry it makes the entire situation more complex since international countries are also contributing to the industry’s revenue.

 

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