Shows operating mineral mines, deposits where development has commenced or where a decision to mine has occurred. Closed mines or mines not currently operating are generally not shown

Australia has the world's largest uranium resources, the great bulk of which is recoverable at low cost. It is the second largest producer of uranium, which it exports to global markets. Evidence is presented that this considerable uranium endowment reflects the widespread emplacement of uranium-enriched felsic rocks in three main periods of igneous activity. While some uranium deposits appear to have formed during these igneous events, including the giant Olympic Dam deposit, most are considered to have formed by subsequent low temperature processes from uranium-enriched source rocks. There has been limited exploration since 1980 and considerable potential exists for further discoveries of various types of uranium deposits.

The presence of bauxite on one of the Wessel Islands was established in 1949 when specimens of laterite collected from various parts of the Arnhem Land coast were analysed. In October, 1951, the writer spent two days on Marchinbar Island and examined several small laterite residuals and part of one large deposit. The characteristics and distribution of the laterite are discussed in this report.

Presentation made to the Second Symposium on Resource Assessment Methodologies organised by the Potential Gas Committee and the US Geological Survey. Discussed methodology used at Geoscience Australia and presented some recent results from the Bonaparte and Browse basins.

Australia's Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR) for the following 18 mineral commodities increased during 2008 - black coal, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, lithium, manganese ore, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, rare earth oxides, silver, tantalum, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, zinc and zircon. In the same period, EDR of nine commodities decreased - brown coal, cobalt, diamonds (gem and industrial), mineral sands (ilmenite and rutile), platinum group elements, shale oil and tin. EDR for antimony, bauxite, cadmium, magnesite, and phosphate rock remained at levels similar to those reported in 2007. World ranking: Australia's EDR of brown coal, mineral sands (rutile and zircon), nickel, silver, uranium, zinc and lead remain the world's largest, while antimony, bauxite, black coal, copper, gold, industrial diamond, iron ore, ilmenite, lithium, manganese ore, niobium, tantalum and vanadium all rank in the top six worldwide. Resource life: Ratios of accessible Economic Demonstrated Resources (AEDR) to current mine production provide indicative estimates of the resource life. AEDR of most of Australia's major commodities can sustain current rates of mine production for many decades. Resource life based on ore reserves is lower, reflecting a shorter term commercial outlook. Over the decade 1997 to 2008 there has been a significant trend towards lower AEDR/production ratio for coal and iron ore, which was the nett result of major increases in production and reassessment of resources. Commodities with resource life of less than 50 years are diamonds (about 10 years at current rates of production), manganese ore (20 years), gold (30 years), zinc (35 years) and lead (40 years). The severe world financial crisis in late 2008 highlighted the fact that a long resource life for a particular commodity is not a guarantee that such resources will continue to be exploited in Australia. In an increasingly globalised and competitive commodity market, multinational mining companies are continually in search of mineral deposits that will offer attractive returns on their investment. Such returns are influenced by the quality of the resources (grade and tonnage) as well as environmental, social and political factors, land access and even the location and scale of the competitor projects - individual mine projects in Australia will be ranked by multinational corporations against the investment returns from other deposits worldwide. Australia's continuing position as a premier mineral producer is dependent on continuing investment in exploration to locate high quality resources and/or to upgrade known deposits in order to make them competitive on the world market, and investment in beneficiation processes to improve metallurgical recoveries. Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2009 provides information on and analysis of mineral exploration expenditures in Australia for the calendar year 2008. Trends in expenditure are presented and discussed.

The generation of economic growth through mineral development activities can play an important role in supporting developing countries to achieve positive economic objectives. This report assesses the geoscience capability of 138 developing countries in four continent regions as identified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These countries are assessed using eleven sub-categories which can be grouped into four broad categories including: geological, geoscience survey capacity, socio-political risk, and geological aid. The comprehensive data compiled are largely presented graphically to facilitate ready comparisons between countries and continents. Recommendations for targeting and future structuring programs for maximum program impact are provided. The report utilises and synthesises both international information available to the public and commercial information obtained by Geoscience Australia. It has been prepared for the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/Pages/home.aspx). The report will be published online by AusAID and as a GA Record.

The following report is based on an examination of the mine made by the writer in February, 1947, and on information gained from the Western Australian Geological Survey. The production history, geology, ore reserves, and prospects of the mine are discussed. Four accompanying plans are included.

The area was geologically investigated at the request of the Director of Mines, Alice Springs, by A.D.M. Bell and J. Firman. Mapping was by chain and compass traverse during periods 29th to 31st October, 1952; 4th to 6th November, 1952 and 19th December, 1952. Previous geological reconnaissance was made by B. Thompson of the Enterprise Exploration Company in 1948.

An examination of the New Cobar-Chesney-New Occidental area in 1947 concluded that the discordant contact between slaty and sandy beds in the area was a feature of major importance in ore localisation. Accordingly, an investigation was conducted in the vicinity of Cobar to determine whether a relationship existed between discordant contact and ore formation in that area, and to commence a detailed geological map on a regional scale of the Cobar-Nymagee mineral belt. The general geology, character of the discordant contact, stratigraphy, and economic geology of the area are discussed in this report.

Australia's nickel sulfide industry has had a fluctuating history since the discovery in 1966 of massive sulfides at Kambalda in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Periods of buoyant nickel prices and high demand, speculative exploration, and frenetic investment (the 'nickel boom' years) have been interspersed by protracted periods of relatively depressed metal prices, exploration inactivity, and low discovery rates. Despite this unpredictable evolution, the industry has had a significant impact on the world nickel scene with Australia having a global resource of nickel metal from sulfide ores of ~12.9 Mt, five world-class deposits (>1 Mt contained Ni), and a production status of number three after Russia and Canada. More than 90% of the nation's known global resources of nickel metal from sulfide sources were discovered during the relative short period of 1966 to 1973. Australia's nickel sulfide deposits are associated with ultramafic and/or mafic igneous rocks in three major geotectonic settings: (1) Archean komatiites emplaced in rift zones of granite-greenstone belts; (2) Precambrian tholeiitic mafic-ultramafic intrusions emplaced in rift zones of Archean cratons and Proterozoic orogens; and (3) hydrothermal-remobilized deposits of various ages and settings. The komatiitic association is economically by far the most important, accounting for more than 95% of the nation's identified nickel sulfide resources. The ages of Australian komatiitic- and tholeiitic-hosted deposits generally correlate with three major global-scale nickel metallogenic events at ~3,000 Ma, ~2,700 Ma, and ~1,900 Ma. These events are interpreted to correspond to periods of juvenile crustal growth and the development of large volumes of primitive komatiitic and tholeiitic magmas caused by large-scale mantle overturn and mantle plume activities. There is considerable potential for the further discovery of komatiite-hosted deposits in Archean granite-greenstone terranes including both large, and smaller high-grade (5 to 9% Ni) deposits, that may be enriched in PGEs (2 to 5 g/t), especially where the host ultramafic sequences are poorly exposed. Analysis of the major komatiite provinces of the world reveals that fertile komatiitic sequences are generally of late Archean (~2,700 Ma) or Palaeoproterozoic (~1,900 Ma) age, have dominantly Al-undepleted (Al2O3/TiO2 = 15 to 25) chemical affinities, and often occur with sulfur-bearing country rocks in dynamic high magma-flux environments, such as compound sheet flows with internal pathways facies (Kambalda-type) or dunitic compound sheet flow facies (Mt Keith-type). Most Precambrian provinces in Australia, particularly the Proterozoic orogenic belts, contain an abundance of sulfur-saturated tholeiitic mafic±ultramafic intrusions that have not been fully investigated for their potential to host basal Ni-Cu sulfides (Voisey's Bay-type mineralization). The major exploration challenges for finding these deposits are to determine the pre-deformational geometries and younging directions of the intrusions, and to locate structural depressions in the basal contacts and feeder conduits under cover. Stratabound PGE-Ni-Cu±Cr deposits hosted by large Archean-Proterozoic layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions (Munni Munni, Panton) of tholeiitic affinity have comparable global nickel resources to many komatiite deposits, but low-grades (<0.2% Ni). There are also hydrothermal nickel sulfide deposits, including the unusual Avebury deposit in western Tasmania, and some potential for 'Noril'sk-type' Ni-Cu-PGE deposits associated with major flood basaltic provinces in western and northern Australia.