While New South Wales lacks the vast mining operations of states such as Queensland, the state’s mines contribute A$1.8bn in annual royalties and employ over 24,000 people. Yet as mining operations grow, so too does controversy, with a proposed coal mine threatening 3.3 billion litres of water. We profile the state’s mining operations, and consider the future of the sector.
Also in this issue, we take a look at the future of uranium mining in Australia in light of rising demand and falling inventory, and learn about the partnership between Australia and the US encouraging rare earth minerals production.
We also examine Newcrest’s A$685m expansion to its Cadia gold mine, map the ports critical to Australia’s mining economy, and explore the Australian Resources and Energy Group’s report on Australia’s mining workforce want list.
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In this issue
Mining New South Wales: climate change, coal and opportunity
New South Wales is one of Australia’s top three mining states, contributing around A$1.8bn in annual royalties and employing over 40,000 people. Yet, amid growing concerns around the environment and climate change, the hugely coal-focused sector faces huge environmental and regulatory challenges going forward. Heidi Vella finds out more.
Australian uranium: a new chapter?
Despite possessing some of the largest uranium resources in the world, globally unstable prices and state-wide regulatory impediments have stopped the Australian industry from reaching its full potential. Now, as demand picks up and inventory falls, what does the future hold for Australia’s uranium sector? Scarlett Evans takes a look.
Australia and the US: a rare, rare-earth partnership
Australia and the US have partnered together to find news sources of critical minerals, including rare earth minerals, and reduce their reliance on China, which currently dominates supply and demand. How will the partnership help kickstart development of new projects and what are the challenges? Heidi Vella reports.
Has mining affected water supply in fire stricken New South Wales?
With rapidly declining dam levels and bushfires raging through the state of New South Wales, the issue of water scarcity has never been more topical. Now, an independent report has warned of the damage posed to Sydney’s drinking water by local mining operations. Scarlett Evans looks at exactly what the impact of mining projects on water supplies is.
Mapping Australia’s mining ports
Australia’s vast mining industry is heavily dependent on more than 70 ports providing easy transportation of goods to their ultimate destination. In 2018, Australia’s resources export industry generated A$248bn in revenue with coal alone bringing in A$66bn. Yoana Cholteeva maps the biggest and most important ports for the island’s mining economy.
Australia’s mining workforce want list
The Australian Resources and Energy Group has published a report predicting that the sector will need 21,000 new workers by 2024, putting pressure on new and approved mining projects to deliver long-term jobs. Umar Ali profiles the jobs highest on the mining industry’s want list.
Electricity infrastructure for mines of the future
In the Pilbara region, Western Australia, Rio Tinto is constructing what will be the most technologically advanced iron ore mine in its portfolio, and a new industry benchmark. Barry Menzies, managing director at M&I Materials, explains what this means for the mines of the future.
Preview – MINE Australia March 2020
Just north of Australia, the island split into Papua and Papua New Guinea is famously underexplored but, over the years, inroads have been made and tantalising glimmers of hidden mineral wealth were quickly followed by some of the world’s biggest miners. We look at the relationship between Australian miners and their northern neighbour.
We also map significant lithium find in north Queensland and a copper-gold discovery by Stavely Mining in Victoria several interesting new discoveries made, along with other new finds across Australia. Elsewhere, we find out how a new 3D laser scanner could help improve safety and efficiency at mines in Australia and elsewhere.
Finally, we investigate the rehabilitation of the Ranger uranium mine, learn about the management of law and order on mining sites, and speak to Mining Legends about their work with mining communities.
