The global resource industry is renowned for its pronounced cyclicality. Yet what is unique about the current surge in metals and minerals demand is the fact that it is broadly based across commodities and is drawing upon rapid economic development in Asia that resource-rich Australia is geographically well-placed to exploit. Open, durable but remote, the local mining industry is now ratcheting up the country’s overall international economic profile to levels not previously seen—and there’s little sign of a slowdown. It is a profile that deserves some publicity. According to the International Monetary Fund, Australia’s economic growth averaged 3.1% per year between 2000 and 2005 (incorporating a Fund estimate for 2005), better than any other major industrialized country including the 2.8% seen in the United States.