IRIS Tasmania: Mining

Tasmania's geology lends itself to a very active minerals exploration and mining industry. There is a wide variety of high-grade mineral deposits in a compact area of 68,000 square kilometres. These deposits include:
iron ore, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, tin tungsten, silica, dolomite, magnesite, platinum, chromite and coal.

There are in excess of 580 active mining leases across the State, highlighting the strength of the mining sector.

The total value of mining and metallurgical production in Tasmania was estimated as $2,658 million in 2006/07. The mineral extraction and processing sector is Tasmania's largest export industry, accounting for 53% of mercantile exports in 2007/08.

Tasmania's mining operations are mainly concentrated in:

the Mersey-Lyell Region, famous for its mineralisation, particularly metallic minerals: base metals, gold and iron ore. The two largest base metal mining operations in this region are: a zine-lead-gold-silver-copper mine at Rosebery on the West Coast and the Mt Lyell copper-gold-silver mine in the Queenstown area of western Tasmania.

Other significant mining production activities in this region include:

the Avebury nickel mine west of Zeehan (currently on care and maintenance)
the Renison tin mine At Renison Bell near Zeehan which also takes ore from Mt Bischoff near Waratah
gold at the Henty Gold Mine south of Rosebery
iron ore at Savage River
one of the world's largest deposits of limestone at Railton provides raw material to make cement
dolomite and silica floor quarries.

the Northern Region, with one mining operation for the production of metallic minerals, that being gold at Beaconsfield. Fuel mineral deposits are evident throughout Tasmania but are most important in the north-east. Coal is mined from the Duncan Colliery near Fingal and the Blackwood Colliery and Cullenswood Open Cut near St Marys. The coal is used by local industry.

Non-metallic minerals produced at quarries in the Northern Region include limestone and dolomite and construction materials.

The Southern Region is not rich in minerals, the only mining production being construction materials. Coal is mined periodically from a deposit at Kimbolton near Hamilton and washed at Fingal. At Risdon near Hobart, zinc mineral concentrates are used to produce zinc metal at the Nystrar Hobart smelter. A by-product of the production of zinc at Risdon is sulphuric acid, used on site to make farm fertilisers.

Tasmania's major operating mines are:

Beaconsfield Mine - gold, silver
Henty Mine - gold, silver
Mt Lyell Mine - gold, silver, copper
Rosebery Mine - zinc, lead, gold, copper, silver
Renison Mine - tin
Savage River Mine - magnetite (converted to iron ore pellets at Port Latta).

Other Tasmanian mining operations are:

Avebury Mine - nickel (currently on care and maintenance)
Cement Australia - limestone for cement manufacturing
Cornwall Coal - coal, as well as coal washing and processing plant
Que River Mine - zinc, lead and silver.

Assistance

Mineral Resources Tasmania, a division of the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, is a centralised source of information on the geology and mineral deposits, mineral tenements and the mining industry in Tasmania. MRT offers a wide range of services to support exploration for minerals in Tasmania including a range of geoscientific data available through TIGER in geospatial format.

The 3-D Geological Model of Tasmania is available from Mineral Resources Tasmania.

The TasExplore project is providing new geological, magnetic, radiometric and gravity data for north-east Tasmania and an improved geological correlation between western and north-west Tasmania.

MRT provides approval for exploration activities and co-ordinates the approvals of other land managers on Crown land. Companies intending to explore for minerals in Tasmania need to take out an Exploration Licence and pay the appropriate fees and rents [PDF 75 KB].

Companies wishing to mine need to take out a Mining Lease and obtain development approval.

Mining statistics

The Australian mineral statistics 2009 report [PDF 644 KB] for the December quarter 2008 is available from ABARE.