Gray officially opened the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) convention this morning, at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“Mining and exploration are part of our history, culture, and a large portion of our economy,” Gray said. “It builds our nation, it built this city, and it produces wealth and supports communities across our vast continent.

“Australia is an energy and resources superpower, we dominate global trade in several commodities.”

While Gray admitted Australia had challenges ahead and always would, it had always been this way.

“In this room, I look around and feel confident we have the capability, knowledge and experience to build great enterprises, bring minerals to the market, satisfy global demand and lift families out of poverty,” Gray said to AMEC visitors.

The Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics revealed long-term demand for commodities would stay strong, with Australia continuing to be a major global supplier.

“China, Japan, Korea and India will be long-term customers,” Gray said.

“There are good projects in the pipeline. We need exploration to support future production and we need stable territories to support direct exploration incentives and to encourage exploration.”

Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Bill Marmion provided a welcoming address at AMEC.

Marmion reiterated the importance of safety in the mining industry, following the first death of a WA miner in two years.

“We must learn from these tragedies to continually improve safety right across the industry,” he said. “We should never assume risk equals harm – this is merely a challenge that can be overcome.”

The value of WA’s mining sector in 2012 was $72 billion, while it was slightly down from the previous year it’s more than four times the value recorded from a decade ago.

“There’s a continual focal demand for Australia’s resources and a number of projects are gearing up to meet it,” Marmion added. “This includes $55 billion worth of mining projects under construction or committed, and a further $59 billion worth of projects planned or possible.”

Marmion said the state government will do what it can to support further investment in mining, promising to continue offering exploration incentives, further streamlined approvals and encourage investment.

By 2017 the state government will have allocated $130 million to the exploration incentive scheme.