The Australian mining industry is at an interesting stage
in its development. Of the large number of mining companies in Australia, some
are still solely domestic in their focus, others have made their first tentative
forays offshore, and others are global players of significance in tile world
industry.

It is not long ago that the entire industry was almost
exclusively domestic in its focus. Very few companies before the early 1980s had
ventured offshore, and those that did so were considered quite risque. The
initial moves were made mainly by large companies who could afford to lose the
funds expended in getting started in a range of offshore locations.

Almost all offshore jurisdictions were considered to be
high risk compared to the safety of home - I recall the extreme difficulty I
encountered in the mid 1980s in endeavouring to persuade a Board to joint
venture into an attractive gold opportunity in South East Asia.

One of the problems inhibiting
the offshore development of the Australian mining industry was that some mining
companies had had unfortunate experiences offshore. Others had heard of those
who had had unfortunate experiences offshore and, as such, 'offshore' gained a
bad name and the more risk averse boards and. management of the time simply put
the whole idea into the 'too hard' basket.