Last week I went to watch Red Dog which is a lovely movie about a dog in WA in Mining country. I’d recommend it. It made me want to go out and see some mining in WA. Mining is questionably what is driving the AU economy’s boom at the moment. And although most mining companies are small about 1/4 of all the companies in the Australian stock exchange are in mining related. Australia pulls alot of stuff from the ground and is the worlds largest exporter of coal.
- Iron ore – Australia was the world’s third largest supplier in 2008 after China and Brazil, supplying 342 million metric tonnes.[7]
- Nickel – Australia was the world’s second largest producer in 2006 after Russia.[8]
- Bauxite/aluminum
- Copper
- Gold – Australia is the second largest producer after China.[9]
- Silver
- Uranium – Australia is responsible for 16% of the world’s production and was the world’s third largest supplier in 2009 after Kazakhstan and Canada.[10]
- Diamond – Australia has the third largest commercially-viable deposits after Russia and Botswana.[citation needed] Australia also boasts the richest diamantiferous pipe with production reaching peak levels of 42 metric tons (41 LT/46 ST) per year in the 1990s.[citation needed]
- Opal – Australia is the world’s largest producer of opal, being responsible for 95% of production.[11]
- Zinc – Australia was second only to China in zinc production in 2008, producing just under 14% of world production.[12]
- Coal – Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and fourth largest producer of coal behind China, USA and India.[13]
- Oil shale
- Petroleum – Australia is the twenty-eighth largest producer of petroleum.[citation needed]
- Natural gas
- rare earths
But there is some dangers dangers in the big mines. Its pretty interesting