The continued unrest in the Middle East and the government’s new carbon price announcement are just some of the issues affecting lawyers involved in the mining & resources industry in Australia. “In the last 12 months we have seen everything within the mining & resources sector,” said Piper Alderman partner, Gordon Grieve. “It started with a lot of litigation but as the economy improves we have had more M&A and royalty issues.”

2011 hasn’t been the easiest of starts for the industry: the floods and cyclones in Queensland limited access to mines. And while the NSW coal mining sector saw improved trading conditions, during this period, even it has reason for concern. “The big issue in NSW is the potential change of government in the coming weeks,” said Sparke Helmore mining & resources partner, Andrew White. “The NSW Liberals & Nationals Strategic Regional Land Use Policy indicates that they will be taking a different approach to exploration licences, including not issuing licences where the land is deemed “of strategic agricultural value”. It also indicates that the Liberal/National party if elected will not take payments for grants of exploration licences and intends to scrap Part 3A of the EP&A Act (which relates to coal mines), creating significant uncertainty for miners in NSW.

The unrest in the Middle East could impact on the global economy, and hence the mining sector in Australia, according to Grieve. “If oil prices continue to go up, growth in China could be affected and that would impact the Australian economy,” he said.  Approximately 35% of the world's oil is in North Africa and the Middle East, and the region's recent unrest has caused a significant jump in oil prices. If the situation settles and growth remains on a solid trajectory Grieve expects to see an increase in takeovers within the market. “We were seeing quite a number of takeover schemes last year, but we have recently seen more market takeovers,” he said. In recent months he has seen an increased emphasis on infrastructure, creating more work for lawyers in the field, as it includes issues around access to land, native title rights, environmental impacts, construction and much more.

Grieve also predicts as new area to keep them busy in the coming months. “We expect to see shale gas taking off here as it has in the US. Coal seam gas been huge in Queensland and shale follows on from coal seam (at least in the US).” Australia has big shale resources, but it is not yet known if they are easy to access, Grieve added.