But by then the run-up in resources prices was imparting a very large stimulus to the economy and allowed for solid growth to continue at a time when most other countries were still feeling the aftermath of the financial crisis.
But now most of the capital spending that was needed to lift the output of the mining sector has been completed, at least for the production of iron ore. Some very large LNG projects are still underway, but as those projects and others draw to a close, the decline in mining investment that is already underway will continue (and perhaps accelerate).