Mining in Australia

Mining was an important early source of export income in Australian colonies and helped to pay for the imports needed for the growing colonial economies. Silver and later copper were discovered in South Australia in the 1840s, leading to the export of ore and the immigration of skilled miners and smelters. Coal was first exported to India in 1799.{{cite web |url=https://www.mining.com/the-history-and-the-future-of-mining-in-australia/ |title=The history and the future of mining in Australia |last=Taylor |first=Jon |date=7 February 2023 |website=mining.com |access-date=10 September 2023 }} By 1901 Australia was exporting several million tonnes of coal each year.{{cite news |last1=Groves |first1=Melanie |last2=Pritchard |first2=Mike |date=6 December 2020 |title=The changing climate of Australian coal and where it is headed |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-12-06/changing-climate-of-coal-mining-australia-environment/12918334 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=13 September 2023}} After World War II the Bowen Basin was opened up fueling exports to Japan for its growing steel industry.

An iron ore export ban was in place from 1938 to 24 November 1960.{{cite web |url=https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/iron-ore-exports |title=Iron ore exports |website= |publisher=National Museum of Australia |access-date=13 September 2023 }} In 1965, the first iron ore mine was operated at Goldsworthy in Western Australia.{{cite web |url=https://www.mining-technology.com/features/timeline-australian-iron-ore-at-a100bn/?cf-view |title=Timeline: Australian Iron ore at A$100bn |date=21 October 2020 |publisher=Mining Technology |access-date=13 September 2023 }} Exports of iron ore began in the 1960s. Iron ore production reached 100 million tonnes by the mid-1970s. This figure doubled to 200 million tonnes in 2003, and tripled by 2013. Western Australia became the largest iron ore producer in the world in 2014. Iron ore reached $100 billion in annual export value in 2020, the first commodity to do so.

The first economic minerals in Australia were silver and lead in February 1841 at Glen Osmond, now a suburb of Adelaide in South Australia. Mines including Wheal Gawler and Wheal Watkins opened soon after.{{cite web |url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/glenosm.htm |title=The Glen Osmond Mines |work=South Australian History |publisher=Flinders Ranges Research |access-date=5 June 2006 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330215624/https://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/glenosm.htm |url-status=dead }} The value of these mines was soon overshadowed by the discovery of copper at Kapunda (1842),{{cite web |url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/kapunda.htm |work=South Australian History |publisher=Flinders Ranges Research |access-date=6 June 2006 |title=Kapunda |archive-date=6 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111042/https://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/kapunda.htm |url-status=dead }} Burra (1845){{cite web |url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/burra.htm |work=South Australian History |publisher=Flinders Ranges Research |access-date=6 June 2006 |title=Burra |archive-date=3 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003213444/http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/burra.htm |url-status=dead }} and in the Copper Triangle (Moonta, Kadina and Wallaroo) area at the top of Yorke Peninsula (1861).{{cite web |url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/moonta.htm |work=South Australian History |publisher=Flinders Ranges Research |access-date=6 June 2006 |title=The Moonta Mine |archive-date=6 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111536/https://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/moonta.htm |url-status=dead }}

A small amount of uranium ore was mined in 1906 from Radium Hill.{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Keri |date=14 July 2015 |title=The long and controversial history of uranium mining in Australia |url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/rearvision/history-of-uranium-mining-in-australia/6607212 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=13 September 2023}} Uranium deposits at Rum Jungle were developed in the 1950s. The Ranger Uranium Mine was opened in June 1979 and the Olympic Dam mine opened in 1988. The Ranger Uranium Mine was controversial, leading to the Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry. Indigenous people of the region were opposed to the mine. Indigenous opposition to the Ranger Uranium Mine influenced environmental assessments and policies.{{Cite web |date=1977 |title=Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry Final Report |url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/science-research/supervising-scientist/publications/ranger-uranium-environmental-inquiry-report-final |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water}}

{{wide image|Broken Hill Town & Line of Lode Pano, NSW, 08.07.2007.jpg|1400px|Broken Hill, one of Australia's iconic mining towns, backed by the man-made mullock heaps from the Line of Lode}}

File:Australian Gold Production.png

{{main|Australian gold rushes}}

In 1851, gold was found near Ophir, New South Wales. Weeks later, gold was found in the newly established colony of Victoria. Australian gold rushes, in particular the Victorian gold rush, had a major lasting impact on Victoria, and on Australia as a whole. The influx of wealth that gold brought soon made Victoria Australia's richest colony by far, and Melbourne the continent's largest city. By the middle of the 1850s, 40% of the world's gold was produced in Australia.{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of World Geography: Volume 23, Australia and its Geography |last=Sharieff |first=Afzal |author2=Masood Ali Khan |author3=A Balakishan |year=2007 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-7625-773-2 |pages=13–14 }}

Australia's population changed dramatically as a result of the gold rushes: in 1851 the population was 437,655 and a decade later it was 1,151,957; the rapid growth was predominantly a result of the "new chums" (recent immigrants from the United Kingdom and other colonies of the Empire) who contributed the 'rush'.{{cite book | last = Caldwell | first = J. C. | editor = Wray Vamplew| title = Australians: Historical Statistics | year = 1987 | publisher = Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates | location = Broadway, New South Wales, Australia | isbn = 0-949288-29-2| pages = 23 and 26 | chapter = Chapter 2: Population}} Although most Victorian goldfields were exhausted by the end of the 19th century, and although much of the profit was sent back to the UK, sufficient wealth remained to fund substantial development of industry and infrastructure.

{{further|:Category:Mines in Australia}}

File:Map of Queensland's major mineral, coal and petroleum operations and resources, 2019.pdf's major mineral, coal and petroleum operations and resources, 2019]]

Australia has mining activity in all of its states and territories. The Minerals Council of Australia estimates that 0.02% of Australia's land surface is directly impacted by mining.{{cite book |title=New Models for Ecosystem Dynamics and Restoration |editor1-first=Katharine N. |editor1-last=Suding |editor2-first=Richard J. |editor2-last=Hobbs |last=Grant |first=Carl |chapter=State-and-Transition Models for Mining Restoration in Australia |year=2013 |publisher= Peter Society for Ecological Restoration International |isbn=9781610911382 |page=280 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=TxwKQG_7HlgC |access-date=19 September 2017}}

Particularly significant areas today include the Goldfields, Peel and Pilbara regions of Western Australia, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, the Bowen Basin in Queensland and Latrobe Valley in Victoria and various parts of the outback. Places such as Kalgoorlie, Mount Isa, Mount Morgan, Broken Hill and Coober Pedy are known as mining towns.

Major active mines in Australia include:

• Olympic Dam in South Australia, a copper, silver and uranium mine believed to have the world's largest uranium reserve, and in 2018 representing 6% of world production.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}
• Super Pit gold mine, which has replaced a number of underground mines at Boulder, Western Australia.
• Mount Whaleback mine in Western Australia is the largest open-pit iron ore mine in the world.

File:ABS-5302.0-BalancePaymentsInternationalInvestmentPositionAustralia-GoodsCredits-Original Quarter-MetalOresMinerals-A3534882W.svg

Large quantities of minerals and resources :File:RC drill rig.jpg at the Area C iron ore mine, {{convert|95|km|0|abbr=on}} WNW of Newman, Western Australia.]]

• Iron ore – Australia was the world's largest producer in 2019, supplying 580 million tonnes, 37% of the world's output (39% of the world's contained metal production).{{cite book |last1= Tuck |first1= Christopher A. |title=Mineral commodity summaries 2020 |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, Virginia |isbn=978-1-4113-4362-7 |pages=88–89 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020.pdf |access-date=28 February 2020 |chapter=Iron ore}}
• Nickel – Australia was the world's fifth largest producer in 2019, producing 6.7% of world output.{{cite book |last1=McRae |first1=Michele E. |title=Mineral commodity summaries 2020 |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, Virginia |isbn=978-1-4113-4362-7 |pages=112–113 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020.pdf |access-date=28 February 2020 |chapter=Nickel}}
• Aluminium – Australia was the world's largest producer of bauxite in 2019 (27% of world production), and the second largest producer of alumina (15%), after China.{{cite book |last1=Bray |first1=E. Lee |title=Mineral commodity summaries 2020 |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, Virginia |isbn=978-1-4113-4362-7 |pages=30–31 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020.pdf |access-date=28 February 2020 |chapter=Bauxite and alumina}}
• Copper – Australia was the world's 6th largest producer in 2019 (5% of world's production).{{cite book |last1= Flanagan |first1=Daniel M. |title=Mineral commodity summaries 2020 |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, Virginia |isbn=978-1-4113-4362-7 |pages=52–53 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020.pdf |access-date=28 February 2020 |chapter=Copper}}
• Gold – Australia was the second largest producer after China in 2019, producing {{convert|330|t|ozt}}, 10% of the world's output.{{cite book |last1=Sheaffer |first1=Kristin N. |title=Mineral commodity summaries 2020 |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, Virginia |isbn=978-1-4113-4362-7 |pages=70–71 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020.pdf |access-date=28 February 2020 |chapter=Gold}}
• Silver – In 2019 Australia was the sixth largest producer, producing {{convert|1400|t|ozt}}, 5% of the world's output.{{cite book |last1=George |first1=Micheal W. |title=Mineral commodity summaries 2020 |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, Virginia |isbn=978-1-4113-4362-7 |pages=150–151 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020.pdf |access-date=28 February 2020 |chapter=Silver}}
• Uranium – Australia is responsible for 12% of the world's production and was the world's third largest producer in 2018, after Kazakhstan and Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf23.html|title=World Uranium Mining|publisher=World Nuclear Association|access-date=4 February 2020|date=August 2019|location=London|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226012424/http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/world-uranium-mining-production.aspx|url-status=dead}}
• Diamond – Australia has the third largest commercially viable deposits after Russia and Botswana.{{citation needed|date=June 2010}} Australia also boasts the richest diamantiferous pipe with production reaching peak levels of 42 metric tons (41 LT/46 ST) per year in the 1990s.{{citation needed|date=June 2010}}
• Opal – Australia is the world's largest producer of opal, being responsible for 95% of production.{{cite web |url=http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/geology/mineral_resources/commodities/opal |title=Minerals: Opal |access-date=7 September 2010 |date=20 August 2010 |publisher=Primary Industries and Resources South Australia }}
• Zinc – Australia was third to China and Peru in zinc production in 2019, producing 1.3 million tonnes, 10% of world production.{{cite book |last1=Tolcin |first1=Amy C. |title=Mineral commodity summaries 2020 |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, Virginia |isbn=978-1-4113-4362-7 |pages=190–191 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020.pdf |access-date=28 February 2020 |chapter=Zinc}}
• Coal – Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal and fourth largest producer of coal behind China, USA and India.{{Cite web|url=http://www.australiancoal.com.au/the-australian-coal-industry_coal-exports.aspx |title=The Australian Coal Industry – Coal Exports |access-date=25 September 2010 |publisher=Australian Coal Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002194553/http://www.australiancoal.com.au/the-australian-coal-industry_coal-exports.aspx |archive-date=2 October 2011 |df=dmy }}
• Oil shale – Australia has the sixth largest defined oil shale resources.{{cite web|title=Oil shale in the world|url=https://www.enefit.jo/en/oilshale/in-the-world|website=Enefit|access-date=22 February 2017|location=Amman, Jordan}}
• Petroleum – In 2019 Australia was the thirty-third largest producer of petroleum.{{citation needed|date=June 2010}}
• Natural gas – Australia is world's largest exporter of LNG with 77.5 million tonnes in 2019.{{cite news |title=Australia becomes the largest liquefied natural gas exporter in the world |url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6568957/australia-now-the-worlds-largest-natural-gas-exporter/?cs=14231 |access-date=29 March 2020 |work=Canberra Times|date=7 January 2020}}
• Rare earth elements – In 2019 Australia was the third largest producer after China and USA, with 10% of the world's output.{{cite book|last1=Gambogi |first1=Joseph |title=Mineral commodity summaries 2020 |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Reston, Virginia |isbn=978-1-4113-4362-7 |pages=132–133 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020.pdf |access-date=28 February 2020 |chapter=Rare earths}}

Much of the raw material mined in Australia is exported overseas to countries such as China for processing into refined products. Energy and minerals constitute two-thirds of Australia's total exports to China, and more than half of Australia's iron ore exports are to China.{{cite web |url=http://www.trademinister.gov.au/parlsec/speeches/060503_acbc.html |title=Speech at the Australia China Business Council, Queensland Branch Business Dinner |author=The Hon De-Anne Kelly MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade |date=3 May 2006 |access-date=18 June 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060615083435/http://www.trademinister.gov.au/parlsec/speeches/060503_acbc.html |archive-date = 15 June 2006}}

Australia ranks among the top 4 in economic resources for 21 primary industrial minerals, more than any other nation. Statistics are for December 2016.{{cite journal|last1=Britt, A., Summerfield, D., Senior, A., Kay, P., Huston, D., Hitchman, A., Hughes, A., Champion, D., Simpson, R., Sexton, M. and Schofield, A.|title=Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2017|journal=Australia's Identified Mineral Resources|date=2017|page=10|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/58874/Australias-Identified-Mineral-Resources-2017.pdf|access-date=19 March 2018|publisher=Geoscience Australia|location=Canberra|issn=1327-1466}}

Units of measurement: t = tonne; kt = kilotonne (1,000 t); Mt = million tonne (1,000,000 t); Mc = million carat (1,000,000 c)

File:ABS-5302.0-BalancePaymentsInternationalInvestmentPositionAustralia-GoodsCredits-Original Quarter-CoalCokeBriquettes-A3534883X.svg

{{main|Coal in Australia}}

Coal is mined in every state of Australia except South Australia. Australia is one of the world's major coal producers and exporters, ranking fourth in production (after China, India and the United States) and second in exports (after Indonesia). While most Australian coal is exported, coal was also used to generate 28.7% of Australia's total primary energy supply in 2021.

{{main|Uranium mining in Australia}}

Uranium mining in Australia began in the early 20th century in South Australia. At 2016 Australia contained 29% of the world's defined uranium resources. The three largest uranium mines in the country are Olympic Dam, Ranger Uranium Mine and Beverley Uranium Mine. Future production is expected from Honeymoon Uranium Mine and the planned Four Mile Uranium Mine.

Based on 2008 CSIRO report, Australia estimated to have stranded gas reserves with about 140 trillion cubic feet or enough to fulfil the needs of a city with one million people for 2,800 years.{{cite web |url=http://www.pacetoday.com.au/news/world-first-for-australia-s-lng-industry--video |title=Shell to build world's largest floating LNG facility off Western Australia coast [VIDEO] | Process & Control Engineering |access-date=2011-05-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526233441/http://www.pacetoday.com.au/news/world-first-for-australia-s-lng-industry--video |archive-date=26 May 2011 |df=dmy-all }}

File:Mining Employment by Sector in 1000's.jpg

{{main|Lithium mining in Australia}}

Australia is the biggest producer of lithium by weight and has the world's largest hard-rock lithium mine, the Greenbushes mine in Western Australia. Lithium mined at Greenbushes accounted for more than 20% of global production in 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221110-how-australia-became-the-worlds-greatest-lithium-supplier |title=How Australia became the world's greatest lithium supplier |last=Kurmelovs |first=Royce |date=11 November 2022 |website=BBC |access-date=1 October 2023 }}

{{Main|Australian mining entrepreneurs}}

At various stages in the history of the mining industry in Australia, individual mining managers, directors and investors have gained significant wealth and the subsequent publicity. In most cases the individuals are designated Mining Magnates or Australian mining entrepreneurs.

File:ABS-6291.0.55.003-LabourForceAustraliaDetailedQuarterly-EmployedPersonsByIndustrySubdivisionSex-EmployedTotal-MetalOreMining-Persons-A2546093J.svg

File:ABS-6291.0.55.003-LabourForceAustraliaDetailedQuarterly-EmployedPersonsByIndustrySubdivisionSex-EmployedTotal-CoalMining-Persons-A2546087L.svg

File:ABS-6291.0.55.003-LabourForceAustraliaDetailedQuarterly-EmployedPersonsByIndustrySubdivisionSex-EmployedTotal-OilGasExtraction-Persons-A2546090A.svg

A number of large multinational mining companies including BHP, Newcrest, Rio Tinto, Alcoa, Chalco, Shenhua, Alcan and Xstrata operate in Australia. There are also many small mining and mineral exploration companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Overall, the resources sector represents almost 20% of the ASX market by capitalisation, and almost one third of the companies listed.{{cite web |url=http://www.asx.com.au/investor/industry/mining/asx_involvement.htm |title=ASX and Australian mining |access-date=4 June 2006 |publisher=Australian Securities Exchange |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060422141538/http://www.asx.com.au/investor/industry/mining/asx_involvement.htm |archive-date = 22 April 2006}}

Mining is Australia's largest sector by share of national Gross Domestic Product, 10.4% in 2020. This is up from only 2.6% in 1950, and from 10% at the time of federation in 1901.{{cite news |last1=Casey |first1=J.P. |title=In numbers: how mining came to be Australia's most profitable sector |url=https://www.mining-technology.com/features/in-numbers-how-mining-came-to-be-australias-most-profitable-sector/ |access-date=23 August 2021 |work=Mining Technology |date=15 March 2021 |location=London}}{{cite web |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article212005?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1301.0&issue=2005&num=&view= |title=1301.0 – Year Book Australia, 2005 |access-date=18 June 2006 |date=21 January 2005}} In 2020 mineral exports contributed 62% of Australia's total export revenue, valued at $270 billion.{{cite web |last1=Constable |first1=Tania |title=Mining export revenue leads Australia's economic recovery |url=https://www.minerals.org.au/news/mining-export-revenue-leads-australia%E2%80%99s-economic-recovery |publisher=Minerals Council of Australia |access-date=23 August 2021 |location=Kingston, ACT |date=5 February 2021}} Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal (35% of international trade), iron ore, lead, diamonds, rutile, zinc and zirconium, second largest of gold and uranium, and third largest of aluminium.{{cite web|url=http://www.treasurer.gov.au/tsr/content/speeches/2002/003.asp |title=Address to the Minerals Council of Australia, 2002 Minerals Industry Dinner |author=Peter Costello, Treasurer of Australia |access-date=18 June 2006 |date=5 June 2002 |work=speech |publisher=Government of Australia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820193638/http://www.treasurer.gov.au/tsr/content/speeches/2002/003.asp |archive-date=20 August 2006 |df=dmy }} Japan was the major purchaser of Australian mineral exports in the mid-1990s.

Of the developed countries, perhaps only Canada and Norway have mining as such a significant part of the economy; for comparison, in Canada mining represents about 3.6% of the Canadian economy and 32% of exports,{{cite web|url=http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms/cmy/pref_e.htm |title=Canadian Minerals Yearbook, 2004 |author=Natural Resources Canada |access-date=19 June 2006 |publisher=government of Canada |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616091341/http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms/cmy/pref_e.htm |archive-date=16 June 2006 |df=dmy }} and in Norway mining, dominated by petroleum, represents about 19% of GDP and 46% of exports.{{cite web|url=http://www.ssb.no/english/yearbook/emne09.html|author=Statistics Norway|publisher=Government of Norway|title=Statistical Yearbook 2005|access-date=19 June 2006}}. By comparison, in the United States mining represents only about 1.6% of GDP.{{cite web|url=https://www.bea.gov/bea/industry/gpotables/gpo_action.cfm?anon=145&table_id=14095&format_type=0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923183020/https://www.bea.gov/bea/industry/gpotables/gpo_action.cfm?anon=145&table_id=14095&format_type=0|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 September 2015|title=Gross-Domestic-Product-by-Industry Accounts|author=Bureau of Economic Analysis|publisher=United States government|access-date=19 June 2006}}

The mining sector employed in 2021 about 270,000 people, about 2.0% of the total labour force.{{cite web |title=Labour Force, Australia, Detailed |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/jun-2021/6291004.xls |website=Statistics |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |access-date=23 August 2021 |location=Canberra |date=22 July 2021}}

Australia's mining industry is 86% foreign owned; BHP is 76% foreign owned, and Rio Tinto is 83%. Between them they constitute 70% of listed mining company resources.[https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/undermining-our-democracy-foreign-corporate-influence-through-the-australian-mining-lobby/ Undermining our democracy: Foreign corporate influence through the Australian mining lobby - The Australia Institute]

Australia's mining services, equipment, and technology exports are over $2 billion annually.{{cite web|url=http://www.austrade.gov.au/overseas/layout/0,,0_S3-1_3zo-2_-3_PWB110704527-4_-5_-6_-7_,00.html |title=Mining Capability Overview |publisher=Austrade |access-date=18 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214104214/http://www.austrade.gov.au/overseas/layout/0%2C%2C0_S3-1_3zo-2_-3_PWB110704527-4_-5_-6_-7_%2C00.html |archive-date=14 February 2006 |url-status=dead }} Due to the predominance of mining activities in Australia, many technological innovations have been developed or proven in Australian mine sites. These innovations include contributions to autonomous underground vehicles, 3D scanning and printing and underground communications.{{Cite web |last=Nadig |first=Smruthi |date=2023-04-26 |title=Digital transformation: how Australian mining is embracing technological innovation |url=https://www.mining-technology.com/features/digital-transformation-how-australian-mining-is-embracing-technological-innovation/ |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=Mining Technology |language=en-US}}

{{Further|Environment of Australia|Climate change in Australia}}

File:Queenstown minesite area 1984.jpg, completely denuded of vegetation through effects of mining]]

Australia is the world's third largest exporter of fossil fuel carbon dioxide-emissions potential.{{Cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-08-19/australia-co2-exports-third-highest-worldwide/11420654|title=Australia is the world's third-largest exporter of CO2 in fossil fuels, report finds|last=Kilvert|first=Nick|date=18 August 2019|work=ABC News|access-date=20 December 2019}} “Australia mines about 57 tonnes of CO2 potential per person each year, about 10 times the global average”.

Mining has had a substantial environmental impact in some areas of Australia. Historically, the Victorian gold rush was the start of the economic growth of the country, leading to major increases in population. However, it also resulted in deforestation, consequent erosion, and pollution in the areas that were mined.{{cite web |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.html?storyid=135 |title=Deforestation – Gold |publisher=Special Broadcasting Service |access-date=19 June 2006 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030256/http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.html?storyid=135 |url-status=dead }} The effects on the landscape near Bendigo and Ballarat can still be seen today. Queenstown, Tasmania's mountains were also completely denuded through a combination of logging and pollution from a mine smelter, and remain bare today. It is estimated that 10 million hectares of land have been affected throughout the history of mining in Australia. Because Australia's mines are distributed across varying climates the knowledge gained from one mine's restoration does not easily extrapolate to other sites.

Uranium mining has been controversial, partly for its alleged environmental impact but more so because of its end uses in nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The Australian Labor Party, one of Australia's two major parties, maintains a policy of "no new uranium mines". As of 2006, the increased world demand for uranium has seen some pressure, both internally and externally on the ALP, for a policy change.{{cite web |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18703281-2702,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070728091913/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18703281-2702,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 July 2007 |author1=Patrick Walters |author2=Joseph Kerr |name-list-style=amp |date=4 April 2006 |title=PM threatens ALP on China uranium deal|work=The Australian |access-date=19 June 2006}} Australia is a participant in international anti-proliferation efforts designed to ensure that no exported uranium is used in nuclear weapons.{{cite web |title=Weapons of Mass Destruction: Australia's Role in Fighting Proliferation |url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/wmd/ |year=2005 |access-date=19 June 2006 |author=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |publisher=Government of Australia |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060526230045/http://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/wmd/ |archive-date = 26 May 2006}}

During the period of 2010 and 2013, Australia saw a debate about the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT). The tax, levied on 30% of the "super profits" from the mining of iron ore and coal in Australia. A company was to pay the tax when its annual profits reach $75 million. The controversy regarding the MRRT was such that an "ad war" between the government and mining interests began in May 2010{{cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/national/kevin-rudd-defends-mining-ads/story-e6frfkvr-1225872937660 |title=Kevin Rudd defends mining ads: News.com.au 29 May 2010 |publisher=News.com.au |date=29 May 2010 |access-date=2010-08-29 |archive-date=26 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126124938/http://www.news.com.au/national/kevin-rudd-defends-mining-ads/story-e6frfkvr-1225872937660 |url-status=dead }} and continued until the downfall of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in June 2010.{{cite web |author=AAP |url=http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1075600 |title=Mining stocks soar as RSPT ads axed: NineMSN 24 June 2010 |publisher=Money.ninemsn.com.au |access-date=2010-08-29 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711163306/http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1075600 |archive-date=11 July 2012 |url-status=dead }} The Australian Electoral Commission released figures indicating mining interests had spent $22 m in campaigning and advertisements in the six weeks prior to the end of the Rudd prime ministership.[https://www.smh.com.au/business/a-snip-at-22m-to-get-rid-of-pm-20110201-1acgj.html A snip at $22m to get rid of PM: SMH 2 February 2011] Mining interests re-introduced the advertisements arguing against the proposed revised changes during the 2010 federal election campaign.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/miners-launch-new-war-on-julia-gillards-tax/story-fn59niix-1225896299032 |title=Miners launch new war on Julia Gillard's tax: The Australian 24 July 2010 |publisher=Theaustralian.com.au |date=24 July 2010 |access-date=2010-08-29}}

The Coalition, led by Tony Abbott, went to the 2010 and 2013 elections promising to repeal the tax. The Coalition won the 2013 election, and after one failed attempt to pass the bill, the Mining Tax Repeal Bill finally passed both houses of Parliament on 2 September 2014 and the tax was subsequently repealed.

A January 2014 poll conducted by UMR Research, however, found that a majority of Australians still think that multinational mining companies do not pay enough tax.{{cite news| url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/big-miners-in-firing-line-over-tax-payments-20140115-30va9.html | work=Sydney Morning Herald| title=Big miners in firing line over tax payments}}[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/19/mining-tax-its-time-for-all-australians-to-realise-they-are-being-ripped-off?CMP=ema_632 Mining tax: it's time for all Australians to realise they are being ripped off]. The Guardian

In the 2017 Western Australian state election The Western Australian National Party led by Brendon Grylls, who retook the leadership in August 2016, ran on a policy to tax BHP and Rio Tinto $5 for every tonne of iron ore mined (as opposed to $0.25 currently{{clarify timeframe|date=May 2022}}{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}).{{cite news|title=WA Nationals: Brendon Grylls elected leader again after Terry Redman resigns|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-09/brendon-grylls-elected-nationals-leader-in-wa/7706490|access-date=12 February 2017|newspaper=ABC News|date=9 August 2016}} While a poll conducted found that 39.4% of voters surveyed supported the policy, 37.1% opposed and 23.5% were undecided.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/mar/10/wa-nationals-leader-digs-in-on-mining-tax-as-bhp-billiton-steps-up-attack | title=WA Nationals leader digs in on mining tax as BHP Billiton steps up attack | website=The Guardian | date=9 March 2017 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/wa-election-miners-campaign-against-tax-fails-to-win-voters-20170302-gup82r#ixzz4al7vE3VM | title=WA election: Miners' campaign against tax fails to win voters | date=2 March 2017 }}

The big mining companies ran an advertising campaign against the policy.{{cite news | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-14/mining-lobby-campaign-attacking-brendon-grylls-deemed-a-success/8350614 | title=Anti-mining tax advertising avalanche set to blast Grylls out of Parliament | newspaper=ABC News | date=13 March 2017 }}{{cite news | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-13/brendon-grylls-fighting-two-front-war-on-mining-tax/8117518 | title=Brendon Grylls fights for political survival | newspaper=ABC News | date=13 December 2016 }}

Grylls was defeated in that election by the Labor candidate.

File:MtKembla coalmine disaster memorial.JPG

Creswick in the Victorian goldfields is the site of the New Australasian No.2 Gold Mine. On 12 December 1882, 29 miners became trapped underground by water that broke through from the adjacent flooded No.1 Gold Mine workings. Only five survived. Despite two days of frantic pumping, water filled the mine workings. The trapped men scrawled last notes to their loved ones on billy cans before they drowned. Some of these have been kept and still bear the messages. The men that perished left 17 widows and 75 dependent children.[http://www.gold-net.com.au/archivemagazines/may99/9905150000.htm#9 Gold-Net Australia Online – May 1999]{{cite news |title=The New Australasian Mine Disaster |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/190597427 |access-date=22 April 2021 |work=The Age |date=29 January 1883 |location=Melbourne |page=3}}

In 1902 a gas explosion in the Mount Kembla Colliery in the Illawarra region of New South Wales resulted in the deaths of 96 men and boys, either while at work or in the course of trying to rescue others. Every family in the village lost a relative. A service of commemoration is held annually on 31 July at the Mount Kembla Soldiers' and Miners' Memorial Church. This was Australia's worst mining disaster.Stuart Piggin and Henry Lee, The Mount Kembla Disaster, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992{{cite news |title=The Kembla Disaster |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14522971 |access-date=22 April 2021 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=16 January 1903 |page=3}}

On 12 October 1912 at Queenstown, Tasmania the North Mount Lyell Fire caused the death of 42 miners, and required breathing apparatus to be transported from Victoria to rescue trapped miners. The subsequent royal commission was inconclusive as to the cause.{{cite news |title=North Lyell Disaster |work=The Argus |date=10 January 1913 |location=Melbourne |page=6}}

The 1921 Mount Mulligan mine disaster occurred in Far North Queensland. A coal dust explosion killed 75 men.

File:Mount-mulligan-cape-york.JPG]]

Four serious accidents have occurred at mines in the Central Queensland town of Moura. The first accident took the lives of 13 men in September 1975. In July 1986 there was an explosion at Moura Number 4 Mine. 12 coal miners lost their lives in this disaster that sparked controversy after experts claimed the accident was avoidable. Another explosion killed two men in January 1994 and just eight months later another explosion deep underground took the lives of 11 men.{{cite book |title=Australia's worst disasters: mining disasters |last=Barwick |first=John |year=1999 |publisher=Heinemann Library |location=Port Melbourne, Victoria |isbn=1-86391-886-8 |pages=24–25 }}

On 23 March 1887 an explosion at the mine in Bulli in New South Wales killed 81 people.Wollongong City Library, [http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library/localinfo/bulli/history.html Bulli – History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919143012/http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library/localinfo/bulli/history.html |date=19 September 2006 }}. Retrieved 2/11/06. A royal commission was set up to investigate the explosion and concluded:

{{blockquote |text = ..that the explosion was caused by marsh gas or carburetted hydrogen gas [methane] that had accumulated at the face ... That the immediate cause was probably the flame from an overcharged shot that had apparently been fired fired by [a miner] in the coal in No. 2 heading.}} The gas explosion propagated a coal dust explosion and travelled towards the fresh air at the surface.

The commission was of the opinion that carelessness, want of skill, and the loose and perfunctory manner in which the principal operations in the mine were performed by the majority of the men, and countenanced by at least the overman and deputies, were immediately connected with, and led up to, the occurrence of the final catastrophe, when, by the direct negligence of probably one man, eighty other men lost their lives, and that the mine deputy, the mine overman (foreman) and the mine manager were guilty of contributory negligence.{{cite news |title=The Bulli Disaster |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/108007121 |access-date=23 August 2021 |work=Evening News |date=14 July 1887 |location=Sydney |page=3}}Illawarra Coal, [http://www.illawarracoal.com/bullidisaster.htm Bulli Colliery Gas Explosion- 1887]. Retrieved 2/11/06.

At the Box Flat Mine in Swanbank, South East Queensland, 17 miners were lost after an underground gas explosion occurred on 31 July 1972. Another man died later from injuries sustained in the explosion. The mine tunnel mouths were sealed and the mine closed shortly after.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/MMS/StatementDisplaySingle.aspx?id=64205 |title=Q150 bridge naming kicks off with Box Flat Bridge |author=Craig Wallace |author-link=Craig Wallace (politician) |access-date=25 October 2010 |date=4 June 2009 |work=Ministerial Media Statement |publisher=Department of the Premier and Cabinet }}

• Henry Lawson, His Father's Mate from While The Billy Boils, 1896 (short story)
• Nickel Queen, based on the Western Australian nickel boom of the late 1960s
• Colin Thiele, The Fire in the Stone (book which became a film)
• Wendy Richardson, Windy Gully 1989 Currency Press (play)
• Conal Fitzpatrick, Kembla- The Book of Voices 2002 Kemblawarra Press (poetry) {{ISBN|0-9581287-0-7}}
• Henry Handel Richardson, The Fortunes of Richard Mahony: Australia Felix Takes place in the chaos of the early Ballarat goldrush.
• Richard Lowenstein, Strikebound (1984 film).
• Tim Burstall, The Last of the Knucklemen (1979 film, based on the play by John Power, who also wrote a novelisation of the film).
• Kriv Stenders, Red Dog (2011 film, based on the true story)
• Franklin White. Miner with a Heart of Gold: biography of a mineral science and engineering educator. 2020. Friesen Press. ISBN 978-1-5255-7765-9 (Hardcover) 978-1-5255-7766-6 (Paperback) 978-1-5255-7767-3 (eBook)

{{Portal|Australia}}

• Mining in the Northern Territory
• Mining in Western Australia
• NSW Minerals Council
• Uranium mining controversy in Kakadu National Park

{{Reflist}}

• [https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/minesatlas Australian Mines Atlas ]
• [https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/minewaste Atlas of Australian Mine Waste ]
• {{cite web |url=http://www.australianminesatlas.gov.au/?site=atlas |title=Australian Atlas of Mineral Resources, Mines & Processing Centres |publisher=Geoscience Australia |access-date=6 June 2006 }}
• [http://www.minerals.org.au/ Minerals Council of Australia]

{{Australia topics}}

{{Economy of Australia}}

{{Oceania topic|Mining in}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mining In Australia}}