Possible mining boom from new minerals

MARCH 20, 2019

QRC chief Ian Macfarlane and Resources Minister Matt Canavan.

HUNDREDS of millions of dollars of “critical” minerals could be sitting in tailings dams and not being utilised, a new report has revealed.

Geoscience Australia’s Critical Minerals in Australia: A Review of Opportunities and Research Needs revealed a host of opportunities being under-utilised in Australia.

For North Queensland there’s a variety of potential opportunities for critical mineral production.

The report said in addition to mineral deposits, former mine and smelter/refinery wastes could be potential sources of economically useful quantities of critical minerals.

Raw cobalt is seen after a first transformation. / AFP PHOTO / SAMIR TOUNSI

This is the case with Clive Palmer’s shuttered Yabulu nickel refinery. Mr Palmer has stated his intention to produce cobalt, which is within the tailings dams.

Australian Mines is also proposing on starting a scandium, cobalt and nickel mine — with the first two identified as critical minerals in the report.

Indium, a metal used in electronics, specialty alloys, touch screens and the renewable energy sector, is another potentially under-utilised mineral closely associated with zinc.

Indium is a by-product of zinc refineries and is growing in demand around the world, the report shows. There is limited production of the mineral globally.

“Indium is typically produced as a by-product of zinc yet, despite Australia being a major producer of zinc in terms of exported concentrates and domestic refining, there is no known current domestic production of refined indium, even though some smelters may have production capability,” the report said.

“Other critical minerals, which can be extracted from zinc concentrates, include gallium, germanium and cadmium.”

The report said Australia’s existing smelters and refineries extracted very few critical minerals, and this could present an opportunity at these sites.

“In summary, there are a variety of mineral resources that are likely to contain a diversity of critical minerals at potentially economic concentrations at existing and old mines, smelters and refinery wastes,” it said.

In Townsville SunMetals operates a zinc refinery, which it is planning to expand.

The business is owned by Korea Zinc. Indium is not produced at the site but it is understood the product is sent to South Korea to be produced.

Glencore which mines zinc concentrate but does not process the product does not have any indium production.

In the report it is estimated that 26.4 tonnes of indium could be produced in Australia each year from current refineries of zinc.

However, the report cautions the estimate is “largely theoretical” because the actual production of critical minerals as by-products might be limited by technical, social, economic and environmental factors which can vary for each mine or processing facility.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said critical minerals were generating an enormous amount of investment interest.

“Trade and Investment Queensland is working closely with the resources industry to ensure that Queensland captures the largest possible slice of that pie,” he said.

“The report makes it clear that the market for critical minerals is fast growing and is generating high demand for very high value materials.

“This is an important diversification opportunity for Queensland to add new revenue streams to the existing bulk commodities we do so well like copper, zinc, lead and even gold.”

An aerial view of Yabulu Nickel Refinery’s tailing ponds.

Mr Macfarlane said Queensland has enormous potential, including the possibility the cobalt in the tailings dam at QNI is the largest deposit in Australia.

“The opportunity to generate a revenue stream from rehabilitation of tailings is a win for the regional economy, a win for the Treasurer’s budget and a win for the environment,” he said.

Mr Macfarlane said commodities like coal, LNG, bauxite and zinc would continue to underwrite the state’s in the future.

“But Queensland’s potential is made all the richer through our new prospects for exploration in critical minerals including rare earths, scandium, rhenium, indium and tungsten,” he said.

The Queensland Resources Council chief said Townsville would benefit from any new work around emerging minerals.

“Townsville is one logical hub for the exploration, production and value-adding for the industries that will develop around these new critical minerals,” Mr Macfarlane said.

Resources and Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan said Australia was already demonstrating it could meet the needs of key trading partners in a range of critical minerals.

“The growing list of new and emerging technologies using critical minerals includes advanced manufacturing and health applications, rechargeable batteries, renewable energy systems and electric cars,” he said.

The leading conclusion from the report said considering Australia’s leading expertise in mining and processing, as well as extensive mineral resources likely to contain critical minerals, there was potential for Australia to develop into a supplier of critical minerals into the future.