[Sitting date: 04 December 2014. Volume:702;Page:10. Text is subject to correction.]

8. BRETT HUDSON (National) to the Minister of Energy and Resources : What update can he give on new data acquisition projects to support geological prospectivity signalled in Budget 2014?

Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Energy and Resources): Today I was delighted to announce that aeromagnetic surveys will be the main focus of the $8 million investment to provide more comprehensive data on our mineral resources in New Zealand. Following surveys of Northland and the West Coast in recent years, the focus will now shift to a $6.4 million programme of aeromagnetic surveys and geotechnical studies in Nelson-Marlborough, Southland, and parts of Otago. Once completed, survey coverage will increase to around 30 percent of New Zealand’s total land area, and $1.6 million will also be spent on petroleum data projects, including a national project to audit well outcomes and gather additional frontier basin data.

Brett Hudson : What are some of the benefits of data acquisition?

Hon SIMON BRIDGES : It has multiple benefits. It provides comprehensive information to potential investors and it helps New Zealand compete in the international market for petroleum and mineral exploration. As we continue to see in our competitive tender processes, good data can tip the balance of investment decisions in our favour. It also has, of course, many public-good applications in fields such as geological mapping, geological hazard assessment, forestry, agriculture, and horticulture, as well as mineral exploration

ENDS

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