Mining accounted for $A83.7 billion, or 23%, of operating profit before tax (OPBT) among selected industries in 2011-12 compared to $85.1 billion, or 25.1%, of total OPBT among the same industries in the previous year.

This represents a 1.8% decrease in OPBT over the year, while the mining’s industry value added figure improved 5% to $6.3 billion.

Mining had the highest profit margin, with 38.3% for full-year 2012, compared to a 42.5% margin in 2010-11 and 32.9% in 2009-10.

The survey of 928 mining businesses found that mining industries in New South Wales and Queensland experienced growth over the 2009-10 to 2011-12 period, with sales and service income increasing by 39.4%, or $8.1 billion, and 24.7% ($9.5 billion), respectively.

In 2011-12 Western Australia accounted for 55.6% (or $112.1 billion) of sales and service income within coal mining, oil and gas extraction, metal ore mining and non-metallic mineral mining and quarrying.

This was followed by Queensland with 22.4% (or $45.2 billion) and NSW with 13.3% (or $26.8 billion).

Between 2010-11 and 2011-12, increases in expenditure on wages and salaries were led by the Northern Territory (up 18.8%, or $771 million), WA (up 14.4%, or $8.6 billion) and Queensland (up 10.1% ,or $8.5 billion).

Mining industry expenditure on wages and salaries in these jurisdictions increased by 15.5% ($60 million), 30.4% ($2.6 billion) and 25.5% ($1.2 billion), respectively.

During 2011-12, of the total number of people employed in mining, 41.1% (or about 60,000 people) was recorded in WA, followed by Queensland with 27.4% (40,000) and NSW with 18.5% (27,000).

In 2011-12, WA accounted for 44.2% ($8.2 billion) of wages and salaries for the mining industry, followed by Queensland at 27.2% ($5.1 billion) and NSW at 18.0% ($3.3 billion).

During 2011-12, total labour costs to the nationwide mining industry was $27 billion, of which wages and salaries accounted for 87.3% ($23.6 billion) of the total.

The largest contributors to wages and salaries were coal mining with 26.3% ($6.2 billion), exploration and other mining support services with 21% ($5 billion) and iron ore mining with 15.3% ($3.6 billion).

For the same period, the estimate of wages and salaries per employee was $122,000.