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Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2003

Created 16/10/2025

Updated 16/10/2025

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In 2002, Australia's economic demonstrated resources (EDR) of bauxite, diamond, gold, iron and manganese ore, lithium, tin, tungsten and uranium increased, while those of black coal, ilmenite, tantalum, cadmium, zinc and vanadium decreased. EDR of brown coal, cobalt, lead, magnesite, rutile, zircon, nickel, niobium, phosphate, shale oil and silver remained at levels similar to those reported in 2002. The reductions in EDR were due mainly to production, with low commodity prices a subsidiary factor. Australia's EDR of base metals (zinc, lead, silver) nickel, mineral sands and uranium remain the world's largest, while bauxite, black coal, brown coal, cobalt, copper, gold, iron ore, lithium, manganese ore, rare earth oxides and gem/near gem diamond rank in the top six worldwide. Strong growth in gold prices in 2002 contributed to an increase in its EDR. The duration of gold's EDR (20 years at current production rates), however, signals the need for ongoing successful exploration in the short and medium term for this commodity, which is currently Australia's third largest export commodity. Similarly, there is a need for significant new discoveries of base metals to produce these commodities at current output levels beyond the next 20 to 25 years. Australian mineral exploration expenditure fell by 6% to $640.5 million in 2001-02, the lowest financial year current dollar amount since 1992-93. Spending for the calendar year, however, rose by $13.8 million (2%) to $678.2 million. A world survey of exploration budgets for 2002 by the Metals Economics Group saw Australia displaced by Canada as the world's leading exploration destination. In response to the low levels of exploration expenditure, industry and governments initiated studies to examine the economic implications of the downturn and ways at building industry recovery, including policy measures that may facilitate future mineral exploration activity in Australia.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2003
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/6fa51491-f5f1-4af4-a02d-a615f4d845ae
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 20/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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      ],
      [
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      ],
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      [
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      ],
      [
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      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Australia's Identified Mineral Resources 2003". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/australias-identified-mineral-resources-2003