Western Australia’s principal resource projects

The gold industry accounted for almost half of all principal projects (65 projects), followed by iron ore (28 projects or 20 per cent), mineral sands (12 projects), lithium (eight projects), salt (six projects), and nickel (five projects). The remaining 15 projects were for the mining of copper-lead-zinc (two projects), bauxite (three projects), coal (two projects), manganese (one project), rare earths (one project), silica sand (three projects), talc (one project) and tantalum (two projects).

The State’s mining industry also comprised 11 principal producers of basic raw materials required for the local construction industry. This includes clays, construction materials (aggregate, gravel, rock and sand), dimension stone, gypsum, limestone, limesand and spongolite.

There were also 15 major mineral processing operations to transform bauxite into alumina; gold doré into gold bars; nickel concentrate into nickel matte, powder, briquettes, and sulphate; rutile and synthetic rutile into titanium dioxide pigment; zircon into fused zirconia; silica sand into silicon metal; spodumene concentrate into lithium hydroxide; and rare earth concentrate into rare earth carbonate.

Production from Western Australia’s petroleum industry was from 19 projects that produced LNG, condensate, oil, domestic gas and/or LPG, from 51 fields in onshore and offshore areas of the State.