Press Release

Veteran mining investor Owen Hegarty would like to see more Australian and state government cooperation directed towards the cash-strapped junior explorers.  

Speaking to Mining.com.au ahead of next week’s Global Resources Innovation Expo (GRX25) in Brisbane, Hegarty, who is Chairman of private equity group EMR Capital, says while the cooperation between the Australian and state governments and the mining industry is “generally speaking very good”, he would like to see further support for the industry. 

With the Labor Party retaining control of government at the May election, Hegarty, who has spent the past five decades in the mining sector – with around half of that spent working for Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), believes the industry can expect “more of the same”.

“Generally speaking, it’s been quite positive, and there are multiple examples of cooperation between individual companies and governments and the industry and governments,” he says.  

“You’ve had very good support from governments in terms of CSIRO work, Geoscience Australia, and multiple other organs that they have at state and federal level that we interact with.”

But while there is a growing recognition of the valuable contribution mining makes to the Australian economy – currently accounting for about 12.2% of Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and around 21% of GDP growth over the past decade – Hegarty says mining is going to be even more important to the country’s economic prosperity in the coming years. 

“We do have a view that we are in for a long period of strong economic growth in the commodity space for the next multiple decades, based on rising standards of living, urbanisation, rising population, and all those normal thematics,” he tells this news service. 

“That strong demand dynamic, thematic — whatever you want to call it, is augmented of course by the energy transition, and that is augmented, of course, by the whole AI revolution in robotics and digitisation and so on that’s going on. 

“It’s sort of inevitable in my view.”

With the strong focus on the critical minerals required to meet this rapidly rising demand, the world is going to need more mines.  

Incentive schemes

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously promised to implement a $7 billion Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive. The CMPTI will provide a 10% tax credit for companies committed to the downstream processing of critical minerals here in Australia.

However, the industry is calling for more support for greenfield exploration, including the continuation of incentives like the Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive, which is not being renewed at the end of the 2025 financial year.

“You’ve got to have exploration, otherwise you won’t find the orebody, and of course most of the orebodies are discovered by the smaller guys these days,” he says.  

“So it’s not just the big guys, who’ve got most of the capital, it’s the smaller guys who are always struggling and raising.” 

EMR Capital has previously approached the Australian Government about considering implementing a similar incentive program to Canada’s flow-through share scheme.  

The scheme allows investors to participate in capital raisings being undertaken by explorers who are raising money to undertake eligible exploration activities and offset their investment by claiming it as a deduction in their tax returns. 

“When the exploration company actually makes a discovery and builds the mine and makes a profit, you’ve got to pay it back at that time, more or less. But you get it up front, which is encouraging,” Hegarty explains.   

“It urges you to put the capital in. People are not looking for handouts per se, they’re really looking for encouragement.”

EMR Capital is a resources-focused private equity firm that has strong ties to Australia, Asia and the Pacific, with investments across copper, gold, metallurgical coal and potash.

In Australia the firm has investments in 29Metals’ (ASX:29M) Capricorn Copper-Silver Mine in Queensland and Golden Grove Copper-Zinc-Lead-Silver-Gold Mine in Western Australia, as well as a stake in Queensland’s largest gold mine – Ravenswood, and the Kestrel Coal Mine, also in Queensland. 

In the Americas, EMR Capital has invested in Peak Minerals’ sulphate of potash project in Utah and private company Redhill Mining, which has a landholding in Chile prospective for copper and silver. 

A large contingent of EMR Capital’s investors are offshore, and Hegarty believes the flow of capital into Australia continues to remain strong.

“With respect to China and other foreign investment, China still has foreign investment here and still has foreign investment aspirations here, as do all the other countries,” Hegarty says.  

“India is the same. Indonesia is the same. Our last two very big transactions here in Australia involved Indonesian partners, so good capital availability up in that part of the world.”

Even with respect to the US, Hegarty says the relationship between the US and Australia has been “very good” at the business level, with US companies still looking at investments and partnerships in Australia. 

“A lot of our investors are from the US,” Hegarty notes. 

Hegarty is speaking on day two (21 May) of GRX25 on the topic of mining’s pivotal role in Australia’s past, present and future success. 

GRX25 – described as an event “designed by the industry, for the industry” – is being held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre 20-22 May 2025.