PUBLICATION

Engineering & Mining Journal

AUTHORS

Ramona Tarta, Joseph Hincks, Patricia Matey Garcia, Thomas Willatt, Camille Veillon

Australia Mining 2011 E&MJ Release

September 19, 2011

Australia, the sixth largest country in the world, stands out for vastness and the abundance of its natural resources. Its territory contains 28 billion metric tons of demonstrated iron ore resources. Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter, the world’s second largest producer of gold and nickel and the third largest supplier of uranium. Copper, silver, bauxite and zinc are also found in great quantities in Australia’s rich geology. This profusion of mineral resources has shaped the history and the economy of the country.

Yet it now seems that Australian mining is reaching a turning point in its history. While the country is benefiting from a mining boom that is tangible in most aspects of the economy, the industry has to fight new struggles in order to remain internationally competitive. As skilled labor has become scarce, the remunerations in the mining sector have soared, leading to a steep increase in project costs. At the same time, the upheaval created by the attempt to introduce a Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT) showed certain fragility in the relationship between the mining sector and the Australian federal government.

RELATED INTERVIEWS MORE INTERVIEWS

Tembo Power is developing hydropower projects across Africa with a focus on DRC.
Chesser Resources is upbeat about its Diamba Sud gold resource in Eastern Senegal.
Robocon speaks with GBR about the outlook for its services in Peru.
"Our product innovation process involves gathering client feedback and submitting it to the factory, which determines which ideas to pursue based on economic considerations."

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Québec and Atlantic Canada Mining 2025

Québec and Atlantic Canada have traversed 2025 in an enviable position. Strong gold prices have buoyed balance sheets and investor sentiment, while global demand for critical minerals keeps the region firmly on the radar of international markets. At the same time, the provinces’ depth of mining expertise – from AI-driven exploration to advanced drilling, blasting, and geophysics – ensures that technological advantage is firmly on their side.

MORE PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED

MACIG

"Our jurisdictional diversification is certainly a defining characteristic of Thor, but so is the fact that our projects are also diversified by stage of development."

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER