May 03, 2023
Next week kicks off the ‘Copper to the World’ conference in Adelaide, South Australia, where Mario Escudero, Pares&Alvarez Development Manager, will speak about the multidisciplinary challenges of chloride leaching.
Australia holds the world’s second largest copper reserves and is the 7th largest producer of the red metal worldwide. In 2020 there were 33 operational mines spread across the country.
Where is copper mined in Australia?
The largest single copper mine in Australia is in the country’s leading copper jurisdiction: South Australia. The Olympic Dam polymetallic mine, owned by BHP, sits on the fourth largest copper deposit in the world, and also produces uranium and gold, yielding 138,000 tonnes of copper in 2022.
In total, South Australia is home to four operational mines and holds the bulk of Australia’s economic demonstrated reserves of copper, taking 69% of the total, followed by New South Wales (12%), Queensland (9%), Western Australia (8%) and Tasmania (1%).
While South Australia has the most copper reserves, the state with the most mines is Queensland, with 12 in 2022. Western Australia has 9 and New South Wales has 8. The remaining operational mine is Tasmania, and there are also developing copper projects in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
The future for copper production in Australia remains bright through the next few years thanks to increasing prices and large investments in exploration and development. The Australian government forecasts that copper export earnings will increase from USD $8.6 billion in thhttps://investingnews.com.au/copper-mines-in-australiae 2022/2023 period up to USD$11.7billion in the 2027/2028 period.
Source: https://investingnews.com.au
