MINERAL, OIL AND GAS RESOURCES
The statistics of available mineral resources provided in table 18.1 are obtained from the annual publication Australia's Identified Mineral Resources produced by Geoscience Australia. They provide an indication of the extent of mineral resources available for extraction with the main focus being on economic demonstrated resources (EDR).
EDR is a measure of the resources that are established, analytically demonstrated or assumed with reasonable certainty to be profitable for extraction or production under defined investment assumptions. Classifying a mineral resource as EDR reflects a high degree of certainty as to the size and quality of the resource and its economic viability.
Australia has the world's largest EDR of brown coal (recoverable), lead, rutile, zircon, nickel, tantalum, uranium and zinc, and ranks second in the world for bauxite, copper, gold, ilmenite and silver. In addition, Australia's EDR for industrial diamonds is ranked third and manganese ore is ranked fourth largest in the world. Table 18.1 shows the importance, in a global sense, of the main mineral resources in Australia.
18.1 ECONOMIC DEMONSTRATED RESOURCES OF MAJOR MINERALS - December 2006 |
|  |
| Mineral | Australia | World | Australia's percentage of world EDR | Australia's ranking
in world holdings
of EDR | |
| |
| Bauxite | Gt | 5.7 | 25 | 23 | 2nd | |
| Black coal | | | | | | |
| In situ | Gt | 57.3 | na | na | na | |
| Recoverable | Gt | 39.6 | (a)734 | 5 | 6th | |
| Brown coal | | | | | | |
| In situ | Gt | 41.5 | na | na | na | |
| Recoverable | Gt | 37.3 | (a)155 | 24 | 1st | |
| Copper(b) | Mt Cu | 42.4 | 498 | 9 | 2nd | |
| Diamond | | | | | | |
| Gem and near gem(c) | Mc | 109.9 | na | na | na | |
| Industrial | Mc | 114.3 | 600 | 19 | 3rd | |
| Gold(b) | t Au | 5 480 | 42 480 | 13 | 2nd | |
| Iron ore | Gt | 18.6 | 163 | 11 | 5th | |
| Lead(b) | Mt Pb | 23.5 | 75 | 31 | 1st | |
| Lithium(b) | kt Li | 170 | 4 100 | 4 | na | |
| Manganese ore | Mt | 139 | 1 200 | 12 | 4th | |
| Mineral sands | | | | | | |
| Ilmenite | Mt | 218.5 | 1 124 | 19 | 2nd | |
| Rutile | Mt | 21.7 | 55 | 39 | 1st | |
| Zircon | Mt | 33.9 | 78 | 43 | 1st | |
| Nickel(b) | Mt Ni | 23.7 | 64 | 37 | 1st | |
| Silver(b) | kt Ag | 45.6 | 285 | 16 | 2nd | |
| Tantalum(b) | kt Ta | 52 | 55 | 95 | 1st | |
| Uranium(b)(d) | kt U | 714 | (e)2 643 | 27 | 1st | |
| Zinc(b) | Mt Zn | 40.6 | 228 | 18 | 1st | |
| |
| na not available |
| (a) Geoscience Australia estimate. |
| (b) Quantity measured in contained metal. |
| (c) Detailed data are not available on world resources of gem/near gem diamond but Australia has one of the largest stocks for this category. |
| (d) Refer to Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2007 for comparison of resource categories in the national scheme with those of the international scheme for classifying uranium resources. |
| (e) Data obtained from OECD Nuclear Energy Agency & International Atomic Energy Agency (OECD/NEA & IAEA) (2006). Compiled from the most recent data for resources recoverable at less than US$80/kg U. Data for the United States of America is not available for this category. |
| Source: Geoscience Australia, 'Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2007'. |
During the year ended December 2006 the most significant increase in Australia's EDR was recorded for iron ore (13%) (table 18.2). The factors behind the increase in Australia's iron ore EDR are the inclusion of Balmoral Southern and Mt Karara deposits for the first time and large increases at the Balmoral Central (George Palmer), Christmas Creek and Cloud Break deposits (all in Western Australia). The significant decrease in diamond EDR (down 12%) was due to production at the Argyle mine in Western Australia and resource re-assessment.
18.2 ECONOMIC DEMONSTRATED RESOURCES OF SELECTED MINERALS |
| |
| | Australia | World | |
| Mineral | 2005 | 2006 | % change | 2005 | 2006 | % change | |
| |
| Bauxite | Gt | 5.8 | 5.7 | -1.7 | 25.0 | 25.0 | - | |
| Coal, black(a) | Gt | 39.2 | 39.6 | 1.0 | 739.0 | 734.0 | -0.7 | |
| Coal, brown(a) | Gt | 37.4 | 37.3 | -0.3 | 155.0 | 155.0 | - | |
| Copper(b) | Mt Cu | 41.4 | 42.4 | 2.4 | 490.0 | 498.0 | 1.6 | |
| Diamond(c) | Mc | 129.2 | 114.3 | -11.5 | 614.0 | 619.0 | 0.8 | |
| Gold(b) | t Au | 5 225.0 | 5 480.0 | 4.9 | 42 225.0 | 42 480.0 | 0.6 | |
| Iron ore | Gt | 16.4 | 18.6 | 13.4 | 160.0 | 163.0 | 1.9 | |
| Lead(b) | Mt Pb | 23.8 | 23.5 | -1.3 | 75.0 | 75.0 | - | |
| Lithium(b) | kt Li | 170.0 | 170.0 | - | (d)4 100.0 | (d)4 100.0 | - | |
| Manganese ore | Mt | 143.0 | 139.0 | -2.8 | 1 200.0 | 1 200.0 | - | |
| Mineral sands(e) | Mt | 268.3 | 274.1 | 2.2 | 1 243.0 | 1 257.0 | 1.1 | |
| Nickel(b) | Mt Ni | 23.9 | 23.7 | -0.8 | 64.1 | 63.8 | -0.5 | |
| Silver(b) | kt Ag | 44.0 | 45.6 | 3.6 | 283.0 | 285.0 | 0.7 | |
| Tantalum(b) | kt Ta | 52.0 | 52.0 | - | 55.0 | 55.0 | - | |
| Uranium(b)(f) | kt U | 716.0 | 714.0 | -0.3 | (d)1 947.0 | (d)2 643.0 | 35.7 | |
| Zinc(b) | Mt Zn | 41.8 | 40.6 | -2.9 | 228.0 | 228.0 | - | |
| |
| - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
| (a) Recoverable coal. |
| (b) Quantity measured in contained metal. |
| (c) Industrial diamond only. Data are not available on world resources of gem/near gem diamond but Australia has stocks amongst the largest for this category. |
| (d) Excludes the United States of America. |
| (e) Includes ilmenite, rutile and zircon. |
| (f) Uranium resources in the less than US$80/kg U category are considered to be economic for 2006 data. Data for 2005 refers to resources in the less than US$40/kg U category. |
| Source: Geoscience Australia, 'Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2007'. |
Australia's oil and gas resources encompass crude oil, condensate, naturally occurring liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas. EDR for oil and gas are resources which are judged to be economically extractable and for which the quantity and quality are computed partly from specific measurements, and partly from extrapolation for a reasonable distance on geological evidence. Subeconomic demonstrated resources (SDR) are similar to EDR in terms of certainty of occurrence but are considered to be potentially economic only in the foreseeable future.
The information presented in table 18.3 is obtained from the annual publication
Oil and Gas Resources of Australia, produced by Geoscience Australia. The table shows that between 2001 and 2005, EDR for crude oil reserves and LPG fell by 19% and 27% respectively. Sales of gas reserves increased by 17% and condensate by less than 1% over this period. Decreases in oil reserves are mainly due to production exceeding discoveries in the period while recent gas discoveries have been the main contributor to the increase in condensate and gas reserves. SDR decreased for all oil and gas resources between 2001 and 2005.
18.3 OIL AND GAS RESOURCES - 1 January |
| |
| Crude oil | Condensate | LPG | Sales gas | |
| GL | million barrels | GL | million barrels | GL | million barrels | billion cubic metres | trillion cubic feet | |
Economic demonstrated resources | |
| |
| 2001 | 194 | 1 222 | 300 | 1 889 | 292 | 1 835 | 2 203 | 78 | |
| 2002 | 206 | 1 295 | 289 | 1 821 | 293 | 1 845 | 2 667 | 94 | |
| 2003 | 176 | 1 108 | 276 | 1 737 | 274 | 1 726 | 2 528 | 89 | |
| 2004 | 187 | 1 175 | 284 | 1 787 | 235 | 1 481 | 2 594 | 92 | |
| 2005 | 157 | 988 | 301 | 1 894 | 214 | 1 343 | 2 587 | 91 | |
Subeconomic demonstrated resources | |
| |
| 2001 | 87 | 546 | 119 | 749 | 86 | 540 | 1 618 | 57 | |
| 2002 | 68 | 427 | 115 | 724 | 79 | 499 | 1 499 | 53 | |
| 2003 | 68 | 426 | 109 | 683 | 79 | 498 | 1 518 | 54 | |
| 2004 | 79 | 494 | 113 | 713 | 78 | 493 | 1 504 | 53 | |
| 2005 | 81 | 507 | 114 | 720 | 78 | 492 | 1 482 | 52 | |
| |
| Source: Geoscience Australia, 'Oil and Gas Resources of Australia', 2002, 2003 and 2004 issues. |
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