Guy Barnett,Minister for Resources
Tasmania's mining and minerals processing industry is a key pillar of our economy and I am pleased to advise plans to upgrade the Mornington Core Library site are now finalised.
The Core Library stores more than 700 kilometres of drill core and rock samples from across the State, contains important laboratories and is a vital resource for our mining and broader industrial sector.
The upgrade, worth more than $2 million, will consolidate back-end functions linked to the library, onshore testing capabilities currently unavailable in Tasmania and provide an up-to-date front end for MRT's engagement with industry and other stakeholders.
The Council approved the development application in July 2020 and I am pleased to advise that the development project went to tender on 10 October 2020.
The sector supports more than 5,100 jobs and contributes over 51 per cent of the State's mercantile export value, or over $2 billion annually, and this confirms once again we will continue to back the sector so it can continue to thrive.
These upgrades will complement our support for the sector in the 2020-21 State Budget, which includes:
- More than $1.6 million to continue our successful Exploration Drilling Grants Initiative which is helping the exploration sector find and plan viable greenfield developments;
- Over $450,000 as part of our Mining Sector Innovation Initiative helping keep Tasmanian mining at the cutting edge of technology and practice; and
- $150,000 in new funding for our Geoscience Initiative to gather up-to-date geoscientific data which will help increase investment and assist mineral exploration.
