One of
the major changes in the resource industry in the nineties has been the re-
internationalisation of the industry. The history of the resource business has
been one of companies from the developed world utilising the cash flows from
their operations to explore and develop mines in less developed regions of the
world. This resource development has progressively generated wealth and economic
development, which in tum, has led to a new generation of exploration and mining
projects.

InSouth America, Chile had
led the way in a mining resurgence, now closely followed by Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Peru.
Although Chile has long had a significant
copper mining industry, the pre-nationalisation phase was driven by American
capital; the current phase has been spearheaded by RTZ - BHP at Escondida
with Canadian junior companies, in particular, providing major speculative
impetus. The Australian junior companies have not been significant in South America.

Although Canadian and USA exploration appears to be in decline, the
mining industry, particularly in gold, is buoyant in North America. Interestingly, a number of listed and unlisted Australian
companies are active, particularly in United States
exploration.

Australian-based companies have dominated the South-East
Asian exploration scene, especially in the Vietnam region.
To date, the combination of political and legislative uncertainties have failed
to lead to significant resource developments in this region. The area remains
one of great potential, as exemplified by the exciting developments in
Indonesia.

The Philippines has a history of mining,
and this has been dominated by both local and North American operators. Both
large and small Australian resource companies have a presence in the
Philippines, and
the development of the copper-gold potential could be impressive over the next
decade.

The tales of the undeveloped mineral potential of
China are probably rivalled only by
the supposed strings of virgin Russian orebodies! Many Australian companies
appear to have looked but few have chosen to proceed with Chinese developments.
There seems little likelihood that China will, in the foreseeable future, rival
South America as a target
for Australian and North American resource capital.

Papua New
Guinea has had an
active, albeit chequered history in mining, with Australia long
being the predominant source of exploration and development funds. The
developing nation status of PNG has generated extreme uncertainty, with the
current exploration scene all but dead. Most recently, the international
flotation of Lihir Gold has tested the international and Australian investment
community's commitment to PNG resource development.

The Australian exploration scene continues buoyant,
although dominated by gold. The base metals scene is generating, on average, one
significant base metal mine developed every couple of years. This is probably
the fastest rate of significant base metal development in Australia's history.

The gold scene has been one of incredible dynamics, and
there is no evidence that this momentum is waning. The development of new
exploration techniques, together with a number of the companies reaching a
critical size, has added to the momentum in the
industry.