Exploration in the minerals sector should get a much needed boost from the collation of government funded geological data, just as was done for the oil and gas sector, Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges says.
The minister attended day two of the annual conference of the New Zealand branch of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in Dunedin yesterday.
If the attending mining companies - many on the knife edge of viability because of plunging global commodity prices - were expecting Mr Bridges to announce some concessions or reviews, they would have been disappointed.
He commiserated with the companies facing the near 40% plunge in gold prices since late 2011, but believed they had the resilience to adapt to the new opportunities.
''The Government is committed to support the sector for the long haul,'' Mr Bridges said, adding he was confident that over time commodity prices would again rise.
However, during question time, Mr Bridges took note of concerns raised about Resource Management Act issues, the year long laxity in getting land back on to the permit register and whether the Government was looking at offering incentives to attract miners to New Zealand.
Almost 33% of New Zealand has to date been covered by airborne aeromagnetic surveying, with more surveys over Otago and Southland next on the list, part of an overall $6 million programme.
The oil and gas sector has similarly had government funds sunk into shipborne seismic testing at sea. The data is then freely available to would be oil and gas explorers.
He said that model was being targeted as a geological ''data pack'' for the mining sector, which would be free for would be explorers to examine, in theory giving them a head start is appraising an area.
''That's been successful in driving investment [for oil and gas].
''They [mining explorers] could begin work at a more advanced level, accelerating their work [rate] and the benefits it brings to communities.''
Mr Bridges was asked if the Government was considering incentives, such as in Australia, where South Australia's incentive programme boosted exploration spending.
He said the attraction for offshore companies was New Zealand's competitive royalties policy, which meant while there was no incentive or assistance at the outset, they were ''attractive on the other side''.
He noted about $20 million in royalties went into the Government's purse in 2014, quipping that the amount was not enough to pay for one of the the proposed North Island road link projects.
The supplying of data could be enough to ''tip the balance in our favour'' to get an exploration company to take up a permit, he said.
He was asked if there would be ''more flexibility'' in the resource consenting process, given two offshore applications were rejected by the Environmental Protection Authority last year.
The RMA could be ''streamlined'' and there were a number of issues Mr Bridges wanted to see improved, but RMA reform had been ''more difficult'' than expected.
He hinted to ''watch this space'', having alluded to the Department of Conservation and New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals working together and ''how to do a better job in different regions''.
On the question of the ''slow release'' of land back into the permit registry, Mr Bridges accepted there was an issue, but he, too, was ''impatient'' to have land released quicker.
The ''complicating factor'' was to ensure there were ''no land grabs'' made by companies, locking up an area but with little exploration being done.
