A mining mission to India

South Australia's Special Envoy to India, Brian Hayes, will lead a mining mission to Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata from April 20 to 27. Minister for Industry and Trade, Tom Koutsantonis, says there is broad scope for Indian companies to initiate or expand investment in South Australia, and also to source mining technology and services.

"SA has experienced a boom in mineral exploration and a number of mining projects have come to fruition or are in the pipeline. "We have also seen huge strides in wind generation and hot rocks exploration investment. "Indian companies have invested millions of dollars in the SA mining sector. This mission provides us with an ideal opportunity to build on that. " Six local companies will accompany Brian Hayes. They are: miners/explorers Syngas (coal to diesel), Tasman Resources (uranium), Lincoln Minerals (iron ore, nickel/cobalt uranium) and mining services and technology companies Maptek, Codan and Scantech.

The mission will seek investment from large Indian corporations in South Australia's mining and exploration projects, as represented by Syngas, Tasman Resources and Lincoln Minerals. Maptek, Codan and Scantech will be looking to sell their services and technologies to the same Indian enterprises.

The Indian mission will involve two SA agencies, the Department of Trade and Economic Development and Primary Industries and Resources South Australia.

Mr Koutsantonis says South Australia has gone from five operating mines in 2004 to an anticipated 16 by the end of this year.

"The Indian government and private sector understand the State Government's support of our mining industry through the Plan for Accelerating Exploration (PACE) initiative, something that has been recognised by Resource Stocks journal, in its 2008 and 2009 World Risk Mining Surveys. "It ranked South Australia as one of the nation's least risky resource investment destinations and fifth least risky in the world. "This mission seeks to showcase the South Australian mining industry and potential to key participants in the Indian mining industry."