At the end of 2003 almost a quarter of South Australia - 24 percent to be precise - was held under exploration licence. According to data recently released by the Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, 152 licensees held 406 exploration licences with 236,382 square kilometres of the State under licence by the end of December last year. During 2003 95 ELs covering 58,346 sq km were granted while expenditure by companies on mineral ELs was between 35 million dollars-40 million compared to 35.8 million dollars in 2002. Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for the 2002 calendar year, South Australia accounted for 5.4 percent of total Australian exploration expenditure, with year 2003 figures up to the September quarter indicating that the State currently commanded 4.9 percent.
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