Australia mine production

World mine production of copper is currently in the range of 13-14 Mt, about a third of which is from Chile. Other large producers are the United States, followed closely by Indonesia and Australia. The most important ore mineral is chalcopyrite [CuFeS2], and also significant are bornite [CusFeSJ and chalcocite [CU2S]. The first two are primary minerals, whereas chalcocite forms principally by their weathering and subsequent reprecipitation of the solubilized copper as enriched blankets of chalcocite ore beneath the oxidation zone. 

World mine production of zinc is 9 Mt, with almost all of it derived from sphalerite [(Zn,Fe)S], which is also the principal primary source of cadmium and several other metals, such as germanium and indium. China and Australia are the largest producers, but several other countries mine significant amounts. About half of the annual consumption is for the manufacture of galvanized products to resist corrosion, primarily in the automotive and construction industries. 

The United States, the former USSR, Canada, and Australia have the largest known reserves of zinc ore which should permit mining at current levels into the next century (see Tables 2 and 3). Wodd mine production of recoverable zinc between 1970 and 1996 is given in Table 9 (64—66). Mine production in the United States in the 1970s was lower than in the 1960s, reached a minimum in the mid-1980s and has risen since then. The U.S. share of wodd production has historically been 8—9%. 

Primary and secondary sources of lead exist in the United States and throughout the world [29], U.S. mine production of lead in concentrate is approximately 450,000-500,000 metric tons per year, which represents approximately 15% of the world production. Other countries with significant mine production of lead include Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, and Peru. Refining of secondary lead is dominated by the U.S. production, although other major sources include Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Peru, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, approximately 79% of the current lead refinery production is derived from secondary sources. Worldwide, secondary sources... 

Production of refined cadmium in the western world (except of Central and Eastern European countries) in 1993 was approximately 15 000 tons. Japan is the largest producer (2808 tons in 1993), treating concentrates from South Africa, Asia and Australia as well as from its own mines. Production in countries with economies in transition was estimated to be around 4500 tons in 1990, but fell to 3000 tons more recently with more than half produced in the former Soviet Union (OECD, 1994). 

World lead mine production currently averages 3 million metric tons per year (361-363). Major lead producing countries in 2000 included Australia (630,000 metric tons), China (560,000 metric tons), the United States (480,000 metric tons), Peru (270,000 metric tons), Canada (140,000 metric tons), and Mexico (140,000 metric tons) (362). Perhaps even more impressive is that in the United States in 2000, an additional 1.1 million metric tons of lead, or... 

Although workable deposits of lead are found in over 40 countries worldwide, the major mining production is concentrated in just four countries The USSR, the USA, Australia and Canada ca. 60% of the total) (Table 1.1). It is important to note that lead ores are frequently found in combination with other recoverable metals such as copper, zinc, silver and cadmium [3]. 

The chart below shows the estimated world s reserves of rare earth metals. Although large resources are available, world mine production has been almost entirely in China. However, for a number of reasons, mining of reserves in the US, Australia and other countries is now (2011) becoming economically viable, and competitive markets for the rare earth metals are expected to replace the China-dominated market. 

Between 35-40 per cent of mined lead concentrates in the Western World enters international trade. On average in recent years about 900 000 tons or more have been traded, compared with total mine production of some 2.4 million tons, see Table 14.1. The major exporting countries at present are Canada and Peru, which together account for about one-half of total trade. These are followed by South Africa, Australia and the USA, each with some 10 per cent of Western World exports. This trading pattern has... 

In 1965, the world mine production of lead was 2.6 million Mg, with production increasing to 3.6 million Mg in 1975. The most important lead mining countries in 1975 were the United States (16.0% total world output), the Soviet Union (14.5%), Australia (10.0%), Canada (9.6%), Peru (5.5%), Mexico (4.5%), China (3.8%), Yugoslavia (3.5%), and Bulgaria (3.0%). In addition, Ireland, Japan, the Democratic People s Republic of Korea, Morocco, Poland, Spain, and Sweden each had over 2% of the total world production of lead. The estimated proven lead reserves of the world are 93 million Mg by metal content. 

BHP Minerals International Inc. is a subsidiary of Australia-based BHP Billiton Limited, which in turn is the result of a merger between two complementary companies BHP and Billiton. BHP is a global natural resources company, with a wide spread of products including minerals, oil, gas and steel and is one of Australia s oldest and largest companies. Billiton, on the other hand is one of the world s leading mining companies. 

World molybdenum production has increased from about 90 metric tons in 1900 — half from Australia and Norway, half from the United States — to 136 tons in 1906, 1364 in 1932 (an order of magnitude increase in 26 years), 10,909 in 1946, and 91,000 tons in 1973. Through the years, molybdenum has been produced in about 30 countries. In 1973, about 60% of the worldwide production was from the United States, 15% from Canada, 15% from the U.S.S.R. and China combined, and 10% from other nations — Chile, Japan, Korea, Norway, and Mexico (King et al. 1973). By 1979, the United States produced about 62% of the world production of 103,000 metric tons, and exported about half, chiefly to western Europe and Japan other major producers in 1979 were Canada, Chile, and the U.S.S.R. (Kummer 1980). In the United States, only three mines in Colorado account for almost 70% of domestic production. Other active molybdenum mining sites in North America are in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and California molybdenum reserves have also been proven in Idaho, Alaska, Pennsylvania, and British Columbia (Kummer 1980). About 65% of domestic molybdenum is recovered from ores rich in molybdenum the rest is a byproduct from ores of copper, tungsten, and uranium (Chappell et al. 1979). 

Sulfate, halide, and carbonate minerals form in mine waste as a result of chemical weathering reactions and as a by-product of mineral processing. The formation of carbonate minerals is of particular interest for its potential in offsetting greenhouse gas emissions associated with mining. We have documented secondary carbonate mineral precipitation at the Mount Keith Nickel Mine (Western Australia) and the... 

Large-scale winning of copper by acidic leaching of copper ores sometimes results in waste solutions containing appreciable amounts of uranium. The uranium bearing aqueous raffinate from copper extraction is usually a dilute sulfuric acid solution. Uranium can be recovered using the same technique as described in section 12.3.1. A typical example is uranium production at the Olympic Dam mine in Australia, where the copper ore bodies are estimated to contain a total of over a million metric tons of uranium. 

Two to 3 percent of the world s total asbestos production has been of the crocidolite variety, most of which has come from South Africa. Western Australia was a minor producer of crocidolite between 1944 and 1966. All amosite has been mined in the Transvaal Province of South Africa (2 to 3 percent of the world total). The only significant anthophyllite production came from Finland, where about 350,000 tons were mined between 1918 and 1966. Table 2.6 lists the composition, optical, and diffraction characteristics of the six asbestos minerals. More information on individual mineral species can be found in the references accompanying the sections on serpentine and amphibole types. Discussion of the geology, terminology, and exploitation of the several types of asbestos can be found in Ross (1981). 

Iron ore production for the iron and steel industry accounts for more than 99% of the total iron mined. At present, the largest iron ore mine in the world is Mount Whaleback in the Pilbara district of Western Australia. Most of the ore there is in the form of banded iron formations (BIF) and consists of hematite and goethite. 

These materials are available through production of bastnasite at the Mountain Pass Mine in California, of monazite from Australia, India and Brazil, and of monazite as a by-product from the production of tin ores, rutile and various heavy mineral sands. 

Major Rare Earths Ore Producers. Australia, Brazil, India and Malaysia are the major monazite producing countries. Together they supplied almost 98% of the total world production of monazite in 1976. Australia and Malaysia have little or no domestic processing facilities beyond concentrating the monazite at the mine. 

Bismuth is mined primarily as a by-product of the processing of ores of other metals, mosdy copper and lead. The countries that mine significant quantities of bismuth are Australia, Bolivia, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Pern, and the United States. Production is summarized in Table 3. 

In Australia, bismuth is mined as a by-product of copper ores by Peko-Wallsend Ltd. and exported for refining. Bolivia is the only country in the world where concentrations of bismuth are high enough that it is mined for its own value. The Tasna mine in Bolivia is thus unique. This mine was shut down for most of the 1980s, however, because the free-market price for bismuth dropped to a low value in the late 1970s and remained low through the early 1980s. 

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