Uranium extraction plant using ion exchange technology at Beverley mine, South <strong>Australia</strong> (Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd). PRODUCTION AND RESOURCE LIFE
AUSTRALIA’S IDENTIFIED MINERAL RESOURCES <strong>2005</strong> Production and Resource Life <strong>Australia</strong>’s production of selected <strong>mineral</strong> <strong>resources</strong>, concentrates and metals for 2004 are presented in Table 4. <strong>Australia</strong>n Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) reported that <strong>mineral</strong> commodities for which mine production rose significantly in 2004 compared with 2003 were manganese ores and concentrates (up 33%), uranium (18%), iron ore and pellets (11%), lead ores and concentrates (10%), copper ores and concentrates (6%), and black coal (5%). <strong>Australia</strong>’s major <strong>mineral</strong> commodities that recorded production decreases in 2004 include diamonds (down 34%), refined lead and bullion (15%), refined zinc (14%), iron and steel (12%) and gold (9%). ABARE reported that <strong>Australia</strong>’s export earnings from <strong>mineral</strong> <strong>resources</strong> rose to $58.3 billion in 2004, an increase of $5.7 billion or 11% compared with 2003. This stronger performance mainly reflected higher prices for many of the major <strong>mineral</strong>s exported (eg coal, iron ore, nickel, copper), largely as a result of increased demand from China. To sustain these export earnings and maintain <strong>Australia</strong>’s position as one of the world’s leading <strong>mineral</strong>s producers, <strong>resources</strong> need to be discovered and developed for production at rates sufficient to meet demand. To facilitate assessment of the future supply capability of <strong>identified</strong> <strong>resources</strong>, ratios of AEDR to current mine production have been provided in the commodity reviews above, as an indicator of the resource life. This indicator can change quite rapidly, for example with significant changes in production rates and metal prices. Iron ore provides an example of how resource life can vary markedly over a short period, with increasing production in response to growing demand from Asia being a major factor contributing to the life of iron ore <strong>resources</strong> halving from 125 years in 1995 to around 60 years in 2004. AEDR of other bulk <strong>mineral</strong> commodities can sustain current rates of mine production on average for the following approximate periods: black coal 100 years, bauxite 80 years, manganese ore 20 years and brown coal 450 years. Ratios of AEDR to current mine production for other <strong>mineral</strong>s give approximate resource lives (years) of 70 for sulphide nickel, 380 for laterite nickel. 50 for copper, 95 for ilmenite, 90 for rutile and 50 for zircon. Resource life duration for gold (about 22 years at current rates of production), lead (less than 30 years) and zinc (less than 25 years) are amongst the lowest. Gold price increases over many years have contributed to increasing expenditure on gold exploration since 1980. Despite the fact that there has been a progressive increase in <strong>Australia</strong>’s EDR of gold since the mid-1980s, there is still a need for ongoing successful gold exploration in the short and medium terms to discover sufficient <strong>resources</strong> to maintain this commodity as one of <strong>Australia</strong>’s main exports. Similarly, there is a need for significant new discoveries of lead and zinc in the not too distant future to sustain production at current levels beyond the next 25 years, when almost all existing base metal mines will have closed. Further, there is usually a period of about 10 years between the initial discovery of a deposit and the commencement of production for large lead-zinc projects. The success of fine grinding technology has allowed the economic extraction of base metals from the McArthur River and Mt Isa deposits and resulted in increases in EDR. There is, however, a need to discover and develop new high quality, metallurgically attractive lead-zinc deposits. 75
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