|
|
MINERAL, OIL AND GAS RESOURCES
The statistics of available mineral resources provided in table 16.8 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 and manganese ore are rated the fourth largest in the world. Table 16.8 shows the importance, in a global sense, of the main mineral resources in Australia.
16.8 ECONOMIC DEMONSTRATED RESOURCES OF MAJOR MINERALS - December 2004
|
| Mineral | Quantity | Australia | World | Australia's percentage
of world EDR | Australia's
ranking in
world holdings
of EDR |
|
| Bauxite | Gt | 5.7 | 23 | 25 | 2nd |
| Black coal |  | | | | |
| In situ | Gt | 57.4 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Recoverable | Gt | 40.4 | (a)743 | 5 | 6th |
| Brown coal | | | | | |
| In situ | Gt | 41.7 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Recoverable | Gt | 37.5 | (a)156 | 24 | 1st |
| Copper(b) | Mt Cu | 42.1 | 490 | 9 | 2nd |
| Diamond | | | | | |
| Gem and near gem(c) | Mc | 53.4 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Industrial | Mc | 55.6 | 580 | 10 | 4th |
| Gold(b) | t Au | 5,589 | 42,000 | 13 | 2nd |
| Iron ore | Gt | 14.6 | 160 | 9 | 5th |
| Lead(b) | Mt Pb | 22.9 | 70 | 33 | 1st |
| Lithium(b) | kt Li | 170 | 4,110 | 4 | (d) |
| Manganese ore | Mt | 133 | 1,175 | 11 | 4th |
| Mineral sands | | | | | |
| Ilmenite | Mt | 217.2 | 1,088 | 20 | 2nd |
| Rutile | Mt | 20.2 | 52 | 39 | 1st |
| Zircon | Mt | 30 | 74 | 41 | 1st |
| Nickel(b) | Mt Ni | 22.6 | 61.8 | 37 | 1st |
| Silver(b) | kt Ag | 41.4 | 280 | 15 | 2nd |
| Tantalum(b) | kt Ta | 53 | 56 | 95 | 1st |
| Uranium(b)(e) | kt U | 701 | (f)1,743 | 40 | 1st |
| Zinc(b) | Mt Zn | 41.0 | 222 | 18 | 1st |
|
(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) According to United States Geological Survey estimates, Chile holds about 73% of the world's lithium resources, followed by China 13%, Brazil 4.5% and Australia with just over 4%. However, resource data are not available for some important producing countries including Argentina and Russia. Lithium brine resources, now the dominant feedstock for lithium carbonate production, are produced dominantly by Chile. Canada and Australia have the most significant hard-rock resources of lithium.
(e) Refer to Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2005 for comparison of resource categories in the national scheme with those of the international scheme for classifying uranium resources.
(f) Source: OECD/NEA & IAEA (2004). Compiled from the most recent data for resources recoverable at <US$40/kg U. Data for USA is not available for this category.
Source: Geoscience Australia, 'Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2005'. |
During the 12-month period ended December 2004 significant increases in Australia's EDR were recorded for tantalum (29%), lead (19%), zinc (18%) and iron ore (18%) (table 16.9). The increase in Australia's tantalum EDR is due to a reclassification of the Brockman rare earth resource in Western Australia. The main factor contributing to the increase in Australia's lead EDR was additional resource definition and reclassification at Mt Isa in Queensland. Reclassification of resources and improved grades at Mt Isa and George Fisher, both in Queensland, were the main reasons for the increase in EDR for zinc. A reclassification of several magnetite deposits from subeconomic to economic due to increasing prices was the main factor behind the increase in iron ore EDR.
The significant decrease (26%) for Australian diamond EDR was due to Argyle mine production and the introduction of a new resource model and revised mine plan, which resulted in some ore reserve being classified as mineral resource.
16.9 ECONOMIC DEMONSTRATED RESOURCES OF SELECTED MINERALS
|
| | Australia | World |
| |
|
|
| Mineral | Quantity | 2003 | 2004 | % change | 2003 | 2004 | % change |
|
| Bauxite | Gt | 5.5 | 5.7 | 3.6 | 23.0 | 23.0 | - |
| Coal(a) | Gt | 75.8 | 77.9 | 2.8 | 962.0 | 899.0 | -6.5 |
| Copper(b) | Mt Cu | 40.1 | 42.1 | 5.0 | 490.0 | 490.0 | - |
| Diamond(c) | Mc | 75.1 | 55.6 | -26.0 | 580.0 | 580.0 | - |
| Gold(b) | t Au | 5,382.0 | 5,589.0 | 3.8 | 43,000.0 | 42,000.0 | -2.3 |
| Iron ore | Gt | 12.4 | 14.6 | 17.7 | 143.0 | 160.0 | 11.9 |
| Lead(b) | Mt Pb | 19.3 | 22.9 | 18.7 | 71.0 | 70.0 | -1.4 |
| Lithium(b) | kt Li | 167.0 | 170.0 | 1.8 | 4,107.0 | 4,110.0 | 0.1 |
| Manganese ore | Mt | 124.0 | 133.0 | 7.3 | 967.0 | 1,175.0 | 21.5 |
| Mineral sands(d) | Mt | 262.3 | 267.4 | 1.9 | 753.0 | 1,214.0 | 61.2 |
| Nickel(b) | Mt Ni | 22.8 | 22.6 | -0.9 | 62.8 | 61.8 | -1.6 |
| Silver(b) | kt Ag | 42.9 | 41.4 | -3.5 | 284.0 | 280.0 | -1.4 |
| Tantalum(b) | kt Ta | 41.0 | 53.0 | 29.3 | 43.6 | 56.0 | 28.4 |
| Uranium(b) | kt U | 675.0 | 701.0 | 3.9 | 1,716.0 | 1,743.0 | 1.6 |
| Zinc(b) | Mt Zn | 34.8 | 41.0 | 17.8 | 222.0 | 222.0 | - |
|
(a) Includes recoverable black and brown 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) Includes ilmenite, rutile and zircon.
Source: Geoscience Australia, 'Australia's Identified Mineral Resources', 2004 and 2005 issues. |
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 16.10 is obtained from the annual publication Oil and Gas Resources of Australia, produced by Geoscience Australia. The table shows over 2000 to 2004, EDR for crude oil reserves fell by 15% while reserves for sales gas increased (EDR by 17%, SDR by 24%) due mainly to discoveries of major gas resources off north western Australia. Discoveries of crude oil reserves had not been sufficient to offset the reduction in crude oil reserves through production. The increase in crude oil reserves from 1 January 2003 to 1 January 2004 was predominantly due to heavy oil discoveries in the Carnarvon Basin. Production has been the main contributor to the decline in the EDR for condensate reserves.
16.10 OIL AND GAS RESOURCES - 1 January
|
| | Crude oil | Condensate | LPG | Sales gas |
| |
|
|
|
|
| | gigalitres | million
barrels | gigalitres | million
barrels | gigalitres | million
barrels | billion
cubic
metres | trillion
cubic
feet |
|
| Economic demonstrated resources | | | | | | | | |
| 2000 | 219 | 1,378 | 283 | 1,780 | 274 | 1,726 | 2,105 | 74 |
| 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 | 186 | 1,168 | 247 | 1,554 | 210 | 1,323 | 2,462 | 87 |
| Subeconomic demonstrated resources | | | | | | | | |
| 2000 | 55 | 345 | 61 | 384 | 75 | 471 | 1,173 | 41 |
| 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 | 65 | 409 | 112 | 707 | 78 | 493 | 1,459 | 52 |
|
| Source: Geoscience Australia, 'Oil and Gas Resources of Australia', 2001, 2002 and 2003 issues. |
|
Print Page