Australia Minerals Council: New Mine Tax A Positive Outcome

2nd Jul 2010 01:19

CANBERRA (Dow Jones)--Australia's peak mining lobby, the Minerals Council of Australia, on Friday welcomed sweeping changes to a government plan to tax mining sector profits but noted there is more work to be done. The council, which counts larger and small miners among its members, had been a vocal critic of the original tax proposal. "It is a fundamental improvement on the original super mining tax proposal, which would have seriously undermined the industry's international competitiveness, increased sovereign risk and cost jobs and investment to the detriment of the economy," Mitch Hooke, chief executive of the Minerals Council, said in a statement. By treating existing mining projects at market value for tax purposes, with depreciation provisions over 25 years, sovereign risk concerns in the original proposal should be mitigated, Hooke said. The exclusion of all commodities except iron ore and coal will "ensure international competitiveness", he added. -By Rachel Pannett, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-6208-0901; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 20:19 ET (00:19 GMT)