The survey found that METS businesses are highly diversified and often work across several minerals and more than one phase of the mining lifecycle.

Austmine deputy chair Elizabeth Lewis-Gray said many had also transferred their skills into other industries, helping to smooth market fluctuations and mitigate risk.

“Not only is the METS sector significant in size and scope but it is highly innovative and its close collaboration with mining companies has become a source of innovation which has been leveraged to create world-leading, highly sought-after mining solutions,” she said.

“With many capital projects now being deferred, it is a very challenging time for the sector and it is critical that METS and mining companies aggressively collaborate to deliver the productivity gains required to maintain Australia’s competitiveness in the mining sector globally.”

METS companies can be found all across Australia, with capital cities, regional and remote locations benefiting from revenue, jobs and exports.

Manufacturing and product supply firms make up 40% of the sector’s total value, rebalancing the dominant emphasis in the Australian economy on services, according to the survey.

“METS are highly internationalised and export to every corner of the globe, with 55% of METS companies surveyed and 41% of exporters having offices or operations offshore,” Lewis-Gray said.

“Of those companies that do not currently export, 18% plan to export in the next 1-2 years.”

Based on a survey of 860 METS companies, the study found that the sector generated $90 billion in revenue and 84% of the companies were Australia-owned.

The surveyed companies export a total $27 billion with an estimated $15 billion component being generated specifically from METS-related activity.

The survey, conducted in December 2012 through March 2013, is the largest undertaken to date of the sector.

It was funded by the federal government’s Buy Australian at Home and Abroad program, part of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science Research and Tertiary Education and managed by Austmine.

“This survey is extremely timely in identifying how important mining-related knowledge, skills, manufacturing and services are to the Australian economy and the mining sector itself,” Lewis-Gray said.

“The METS sector is also relatively young, with 73% of Australian owned METS being established in the last 30 years.

“Reflecting on the long innovation cycles in the mining sector, this means there is a crowd of younger METS companies that have not yet maximised their value to the mining sector and the best is perhaps yet to come.”

METS companies spent in excess of $1.6 billion in R&D in financial year 2012, with 58% of those surveyed contributing to the total.

“This is a very impressive number and is certainly well above other industry averages and signifies a high level of commitment to innovation,” Lewis-Gray said.

“Collaboration between mining companies and with other supply companies is equally as high.

“We further need to encourage the government to provide the right policy framework to support the mining industry as a whole including supporting the globally competitive and strategically positioned sector that is METS.”

Austmine is Australia’s leading association of the Australian METS sector.

It promotes the global advancement of technology, collaboration and innovation in mining while proactively working to raise the profile of the sector in Australia and abroad.