Throughout its European settlement history, Western Australia (WA) has greatly benefited from its mining boom periods, notably during the gold rushes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.These benefits have only grown over time, establishing WA as an economic powerhouse. The state has become a major exporter of iron ore, alumina, nickel, mineral sands, diamonds and natural gas to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other Asian economies alongside its longstanding production and export of gold to global markets.owever, in 2014, the state saw the value of iron ore drop by 50% resulting in multiple site closures and redundancies. A few short years later, iron ore regained its value and the market stabilised.Recently, Western Australia has seen a similar trend occur, this time with the nickel ore prices dropping by 15% over a 2-year period. As a familiar feeling creeps back with nickel production suspension or site closures, West Australians need only know that this isn’t the case with all mining areas considering the vast resources in the state.Projects that are operating business as usual Here we outline three projects that are keeping the mini