Good morning
ladies and gentlemen, and may I extend a particularly warm welcome to our shores
to those of you who have travelled from overseas to attend this conference. I
trust that you will find your visit to
New Zealand
both rewarding and enjoyable.

This is now my fourth appearance
at a
New Zealand
minerals conference, the second of
which has been jointly co-hosted by AusIMM and Crown Minerals. Since taking on
the role of Associate Minister of Energy, I have had the opportunity to meet
most of the industry players, and to visit a good number of the major mining
operations. Through all of this I have become increasingly aware of not only how
dynamic the minerals and coal industry is but also the array of factors that
affect investment decisions in this business. Many of these factors, such as
commodity prices and availability of investment funds, are determined primarily
on the international stage. Others however, such as the allocation, regulatory
and the fiscal regimes for minerals, are closer to home and are directly
influenced by government policy decisions. I will talk more on what the
government proposes in this area shortly.

But first, I would like to
commend you all on your industry's continuing contribution to
New Zealand
's economy. 2004 has seen
New Zealand
's mineral and coal output top $1
billion for the second consecutive year. To put this achievement in perspective,
it represents a staggering 47 per centincrease over the national output
value recorded just five years ago. Notable contributions over the year came
from gold which increased production to 10.2 tonnes (upnine per cent),
ironsand production at 2.3 Mt (a 20 per centincrease), and industrial
rocks and building stones (up six per cent) with rock for building, cement and
roading showing significant rises on the back of strong regional growth and
infrastructure development. Many regions, in particular
Auckland,
Bay of
Plenty,
Wellington
and Southland, recorded significant
increased regional activity with supply often struggling to meet demand. By
contrast the coal sector had a relatively steady year with production remaining
stable at just overfive million tonnes for the second year running. Coal
exports however are now consistently exceedingtwo million tonnes annually,
generating export earnings of over $200 million, and could well be higher with
rail capacity improvements. Many countries throughout the world are now
importing our high quality bituminous coal for steel manufacturing and other
industrial uses.