Mining in Western Australia

Mining transformed the Western Australian economy. Gold finds in the 1890s brought unprecedented numbers of people and amounts of capital to the state. Gold mining declined after 1904, and Western Australia went through a painful period of structural adjustment over the course of the following three decades during which time two world wars, an international depression and a major drought complicated the state's economic development. Mining began to take off again in the 1930s, however at the time the state governments' focus was on agricultural expansion and manufacturing initiatives. The primary sector would experience strong growth until the early 1970s, after which it levelled off. More than of marginal agricultural land was abandoned, and the government turned to mining as the state's main economic priority. The period after 1945 has been characterised by the development of the state's mining sector into a world-scale industry and Western Australia's increasing access to the rest of the world. Communication and transport advances brought Western Australia much closer to the rest of the world, providing opportunities for local producers to access markets in other countries much more easily. On the other hand, overseas producers could access the Western Australian market relatively more readily. The outcome has been a highly specialised and trade-dependent Western Australian economy (with mining and mineral processing the dominant industries), using income derived to import many other goods and services. The state's second major resource boom was stimulated when, in 1960, the Commonwealth Government lifted the iron ore export embargo that had been in place since 1938. Demand was fuelled by the buoyant Japanese economy and Japanese, American and British investment flowed into the state. While Asia had previously been a market for Western Australian products (notably sandalwood and wool), the export of iron ore to Japan marked a fundamental shift in Western Australia's trade dynamic and paved the way for the development of Asia as the state's most important trading region. Prior to the resurgence of the resource sector, economic conditions had been relatively subdued, with constant-price household income per capita roughly the same in 1960–61 as in 1948–49. However, the mining boom caused income per capita to more than double by 1973–74. Importantly, while iron ore was (and remains) a significant component of the mining industry, one important aspect of the resources boom in the 1960s that set it apart from the gold rush, was the diversity of commodities being mined. There were major discoveries of nickel, petroleum, bauxite and alumina, which all developed into significant industries in the 1960s and 1970s. There was also a major revival in the mining of gold in the 1980s, stimulated by price increases associated with the end of the gold standard in 1971, high inflation throughout the 1970s and new processing technology. ==Timeline==

• 1848: Lead ore was found by explorer James Perry Walcott, a member of A.C. Gregory's party, near Northampton. • 1863: Lead and copper ores represent 14% of the colony's total annual exports, exceeded only by wool and sandalwood. • 1877: Copper and lead ores are the colony's second largest export, still at 14% of the total, after wool. • 1885: The colony's first gold rush at Halls Creek in the Kimberley district • 1887: The Yilgarn gold rush around Southern Cross • 1892: Arthur Bailey and William Ford discover gold at Fly Flat near Coolgardie. • 17 June 1893: Paddy Hannan discovers gold near Kalgoorlie, sparking Western Australia's gold rush. • 1899: Sir John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia, saw the importance of gold in the development of Western Australia's economy, and successfully lobbied the British Government to establish a branch of the Royal Mint in Perth. • 1934: A lease was assigned over iron ore deposits at Koolan Island in Yampi Sound off the coast of the Kimberley to the Nippon Mining Company backed by the Japanese government. • 1935–39: High gold prices encourage investment. • 1937: Public and government outcry when Nippon Mining proposed not to use Australian labour but to send its own engineers to construct the Koolan Island mine. • 1939–45: Labour shortages as a result of the Second World War caused many mines to cease operation, and following the war, many did not re-open. • 1938: Commonwealth government enacts iron ore export embargo. • 1940: Extensive survey of iron ore deposits determined only two were commercially viable, one being the Yampi Sound Group. • August 2009: Gorgon Consortium signs $50 billion contract with PetroChina for gas extraction from the fields around Barrow Island. ==Major commodities==

Major commodities in Western Australia in order of their 2021–22 sales values: Iron ore Iron ore mining in Western Australia, in the financial year 2018–19, accounted for 54 percent of the total value of the state's resources exports, with a value of A$78.2 billion. The overall value of the mineral and petroleum industry in Western Australia was A$145 billion in 2018–19. In 2018–2019, gold production in the state was steady on the previous year, at , 6.4% of world production, although an improving gold price delivered a 4.6 percent increase in value, from $11.4 billion in 2017–18, to a record annual value of $11.9 billion. Lithium Historically, Lithium mining in Western Australia accounted for only a very small share of the state's mining revenues, to the point were the production would not be listed individually by the annual relevant mining department's publication but rather be grouped with tin and tantalum. In 2009–10, for example, the combined value of lithium, tin and tantalum production in the state stood at just under A$75 million in comparison to the state's mining industry value of A$71 billion at the time, with the state's lithium production coming from just one operation, the Greenbushes mine. Production values for the three minerals had doubled by 2015, and, in 2016–17, seven lithium mines were active in Western Australia, with a combined production of 2.1 million tonnes of spodumene concentrate at a value of A$1.6 billion. Western Australia, during 2021–22, was the world's largest producer of Lithium, accounting for 52 percent of the world production. Global Lithium prices rose drastically, with spodumene concentrate reaching A$6,000 per tonne, six times its previous record, while battery-grade lithium hydroxide rose to US$70,000 per tonne. Spodumene concentrate production in the state increased to 2.05 million tonnes, resulting in a record value of A$6.8 billion. Worsley Alumina constructed a bauxite mine site and refinery in the early 1980s, with the mine located near Boddington. The bauxite is transported by a conveyor belt to the refinery at Worsley. Following an A$1 billion expansion in 2000, Worsley now export of alumina. Production of alumina and bauxite was a record in 2018–19. The value of the alumina and bauxite sector increased 25 per cent from $6.6 billion in 2017–18 to $8.3 billion in 2018–19. The state's largest export markets for alumina are United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, South Africa and Mozambique. Nickel mining is the sixth largest commodity sector in Western Australia with a value of A$4.946 billion in 2021–22. The 147,190 tonnes sold in that year accounted for 5.5 percent of the world's nickel production and 100 percent of all nickel produced in Australia. The 2021–22 value of nickel sales was the highest in 15 years, while the amount produced was the lowest in 20 years. Copper Western Australian output of copper increased by ten percent in 2009, having grown from just over per annum in 2000 to by 2009, In 2009 however, world copper prices fell by 26 percent, causing the industry in the state to lose 11 percent of its value. The Savannah Mine restarted production in late 2021, with the main production of copper in the state coming from the Golden Grove mine, the DeGrussa mine and the Jaguar mine as well as, as a by-product, from Nova, a nickel mine, and the Boddington gold mine. While the overall salt production in Western Australia dropped by 4 percent in 2019–2020, to 11.2 million tonnes, the value of the industry increased by 24 percent, to A$375 million, due to increased prices. In 2021-22, Western Australia produced 11.6 million tonnes of Salt, a decrease compared to the previous period, at a value of A$558 million. Salt mining in Western Australia is carried out at Dampier, Lake Macleod and Port Hedland by Dampier Salt, at Onslow by Onslow Salt, at Shark Bay by Shark Bay Salt and at Lake Deborah by WA Salt Koolyanobbing. Coal Coal in Western Australia is currently, as of 2019, mined at Collie, where two mines are operating. Ninety percent of all coal mined at Collie is used in power stations, the remainder in the mineral sands production. While a small amount of Western Australian coal has been exported to India and China in recent years, the majority goes to the coal-fired power stations, mainly located in the Collie area. Coal production in the state has been quite steady in the past decade, with the 2019 production of 6.3 million tonnes: only four percent less than in 2009. Like production, the value of the Western Australian coal industry has remained reasonably constant, too, with a slight increase in sales to A$319 million in 2019. In 2021-22, Western Australia produced 5.19 million tonnes of coal, a record low, at a value of A$325 million, seeing an increase despite the reduced production. Coal mining in Western Australia was carried out at the Premier mine (Yancoal) and the Griffin mine (Griffin Coal Mining Company), but the latter entered into receivership in September 2022. Manganese In 2021–22, Western Australia produced 539,000 tonnes of manganese, an increase from the 469,000 tonnes from the previous period, at a value of A$324 million. Sales values for the previous period are not available as it was achieved by a sole producer, the Woodie Woodie mine. Manganese mining in Western Australia is carried out at the Woodie Woodie mine, operated by Consolidated Minerals, and the Butcherbird mine, a new mine opened in 2021 and operated by Element 25. Diamonds The bulk of diamonds produced in Western Australia originated from the Argyle diamond mine, located in the far north of the state. The mine produced around 20 percent of the global diamond output and commenced mining in 1985. The mine's most famous product was its pink diamonds, of which it produces around 90 percent of the world's supply, which is, however, only one percent of the mine's overall production. Apart from Argyle, there is only one other operating diamond mine in the state, the Ellendale mine, located east of Derby, which opened in 2002. Ellendale produces the rare yellow diamonds. In 2009, sale volumes for diamonds fell by 44 percent while the value of the industry in the state decreased by 53 percent in comparison to 2008. By 2022, diamond mining in Western Australia had ceased after the closure of the Argyle diamond mine. Uranium No uranium mining currently takes place in the state. Five projects are in the approval process but none of these projects are progressing to production in the short term given the low uranium price. These five projects are as follows, with Lake Maitland, Lake Way and Yeelirrie located within of Wiluna. • The Lake Maitland uranium project, • Toro Energy's Lake Way uranium project, • Cameco's Yeelirrie uranium project, • Cameco's Kintyre uranium project, and • Vimy Resources' Mulga Rocks uranium project. Although no uranium mining is currently taking place, Western Australia is proposed for permanent disposal of nuclear waste from around the world. ==Controversies==

Safety In the past decade, from 2001 to 2010, 42 employees have lost their lives in the state's mining industry. Of those, gold and iron ore have been the most dangerous, with 14 fatalities each, followed by nickel, with nine. Of the 42 fatalities, 29 have occurred at the surface and 13 in underground mining. From 1943, the year the Department of Mines records started, to 2010, there have been 657 work-related fatalities in the mining industry in the state. Environment east of Wagerup, Western Australia The majority of Western Australian mining operations are located in remote, thinly populated parts of the state. It was highlighted by the Office of the Auditor General that, despite the growth of the mining sector in Western Australia, inspections by the relevant government departments, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, had actually fallen in number in 2022. Those inspections that did take place focused on the Goldfields and southern regions, with none conducted in the north of the state in the 2021–22 financial year. Because of its close proximity to the state's capital Perth, 55km south-west of the city centre, the effects of bauxite mining on the environment and Perth's drinking water have raised concerns. Bauxite mining takes place as close as 300 metres to Serpentine Dam, one of the city's drinking water supplies. In the five years prior to 2023, 227 drainage failures across Alcoa's Western Australian mines were recorded, with sediment flowing into Serpentine Dam 46 times during 2021. Also in 2021, 100,000 litres of diesel and hydraulic oil spillage from heavy mining equipment were recorded. It has also been highlighted that bauxite mining, in the 2010s, has led to more land clearing than logging carried out by the timber industry, with mining accounting for 62 percent of the deforestation of tall and medium forests in Western Australia during that time. While native forest logging is to be banned from 2024, no such restrictions have been placed on bauxite mining. Bauxite mining takes place in the Northern Jarrah Forest, an ecosystem already under threat because of reduced rainfalls and temperature increase. While rehabilitation of the previously mined land takes place, until 1988 by planting dieback-resistant eucalypts from Eastern Australia, now by planting jarrah and marri trees, native forests take up to 200 years to fully recover as a habitat for native bird life. ==Statistics==

Annual statistics for the Western Australian mining industry. Figures are for financial years, which, in Australia, run from 1 July to 30 June: Production Value Employees ==Notes==