“It took Australians a long time to wake up to the opportunities that were available in China and I would hate to see the same thing happen in South America,” he told the Australia-Latin America Business Council annual dinner.

“Latin America will not only host the 2016 Olympic Games but also the 2014 World Soccer Cup.

“The eyes of the world will be on South America and Australian companies should make sure they consider the opportunities there before they are taken up by other countries.”

Beattie is the inaugural resources sector supplier envoy and has been charged with taking a leading role in the Australian government’s Buy Australian at Home and Abroad initiatives by strengthening Australian industry initiatives in major resource projects.

He told the dinner guests that the Resources Sector Supplier Advisory Forum comprised 27 leaders from resource companies, manufacturers and suppliers, unions, academics, engineering, procurement and contract management companies and key industry associations throughout Australia.

The forum first met in Perth, Western Australia, in November 2011 and the second meeting was held in Melbourne last week.

“Latin America will be the key area of opportunity outside Australia for suppliers to the resources industry,” he said.

“There has been more than $A236 billion of investment announced for the region over the next five to 10 years.

“Australian investment in Chile, Peru and Colombia totalled $2.6 billion in 2010 driven mainly by BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Rio Tinto but smaller WA miners like Latin Resources and Mundo Minerals have been active in Peru and Brazil.

“The Australia-Chile free trade agreement signed in 2009 is starting to pay dividends with $1.1 billion in trade between the two countries last financial year.”

Beattie will lead a mining suppliers’ delegation to Chile, Peru and Colombia next month.

“I will be taking 11 suppliers of everything from communication systems to environmental management services to fabricated steel to introduce them to strategic partners and customers.

They will be able to experience first-hand the level of investment in new resources projects,” he added.

“The remote location of mines with difficult operating environments results in the need to improve water and energy efficiency to deal with lower grade ores.”

He said shared challenges were important with the CSIRO partnering with the University of Chile in the Chile International Centre of Excellence in Mining and Mineral Processing in Santiago; Curtin University’s close relationship with the University of Chile with students attending Curtin to complete their master of science in mineral and energy economics: Curtin’s collaboration with several major international mining companies including Vale, Petrobras and Barrick; and JKTech, the technology transfer company of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute, which has developed approaches for managing hazards and improving sustainability.