31 minute read
INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
FEEDING THE GREEN TRANSFORMATION
WITH DEVELOPERS ASKING OF MORE BATTERY MATERIALS THAN EVER BEFORE, AUSTRALIA HAS A CRITICAL ROLE TO PLAY IN ENSURING THE WORLD’S GREEN REVOLUTION REACHES ITS DESTINATION.
Australia is in the box seat when it comes to capitalising on the renewable energy transition, with the country’s upstream capability not solely rooted in commodities such as iron ore and gold.
Australia has some of the world’s richest resources of battery materials and leads the pack when it comes to lithium production and exports.
Spodumene concentrate is Australia’s primary lithium resource, which international customers convert into lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide to be used in batteries.
The Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia, owned by a three-way joint venture of IGO and Tianqi Lithium Corporation (51 per cent) and Albemarle Corporation (49 per cent), has an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of spodumene.
Once Pilbara Minerals has ramped up its Ngungaju plant and completed improvements on its Pilgan plant at the Pilgangoora lithium operation in WA, the company hopes to be producing 580,000 Mtpa of spodumene by the middle of 2022.
Nickel is a sought-after resource in electrification, as it can improve the energy density and storage capacity of electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Australia has a number of established nickel producers, including BHP’s Nickel West operation, IGO’s Nova operation and Glencore’s Murrin Murrin mine in WA.
According to the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources’ Resources and Energy Quarterly December 2021, Australia’s annual nickel exports amounted to 181,000 tonnes in the 2020–21 financial year.
This is a significant figure, but considering Australia has the world’s largest nickel reserves of an estimated 19 million tonnes, the country has barely scratched the surface of its potential.
Nickel development projects in Australia include Panoramic Resources’ Savannah nickel project in WA, which delivered its first shipment of nickel-copper-cobalt concentrate in December 2021.
Western Areas’ Odysseus mine in WA produced first nickel ore in October 2021, and after completing construction of its concentrator complex the company aims to produce first concentrate in the December quarter of 2022.
By that time, the mine will be under the control of IGO after the major miner bought Western Areas for $1.096 billion in December 2021. IGO hopes to complete the transaction in April 2022.
Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM) is a future producer of green nickel, cobalt, high-purity alumina and other by-products through its TECH Project.
The TECH Project is slightly different to the average pit-to-port operation in that it will import highgrade ore from New Caledonia to be processed in its Townsville plant.
QPM updated the TECH Project’s life cycle assessment in November 2021, which suggested it will be the first ever battery-grade nickel manufacturing plant that’s not only carbon-neutral, but carbon-negative.
QPM will look to achieve this goal through a gas-sourcing strategy that will see it repurpose greenhouse-intensive waste gas from metallurgical coal mines to power its manufacturing plant.
To solidify this, QPM signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Transition Energy Corporation and North Queensland Gas Pipeline in August 2021 to establish a dedicated gas supply chain from the northern Bowen Basin to the TECH Project.
The TECH Project is estimated to require 10 petajoules of gas per annum once in steadystate operation.
QPM managing director and chief executive officer Stephen Grocott said the TECH Project was built with sustainability front of mind.
“Gaining recognition for our sustainability credentials is very
important. Just recognising that in the market is significant for producers like QPM because we are so clean and so green it’s not funny,” he said.
“In the sustainability race, we’ve finished the race and we’ve got our feet up having a cold drink while other people are still strapping on their running shoes.
“We’re negative greenhouse gas intensive, zero process liquid discharge, we’re almost no residue, no tailings dam. We use recycled materials in our process.”
Joined by Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) and Cobalt Blue, QPM was invited to a December 2021 meeting with Republic of Korea (South Korea) President Moon Jae-in in what was the first visit to Australia by a South Korean president since 2009.
South Korea has become a technological powerhouse, with the country home to three battery heavyweights, LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation, combining for approximately a third of the global EV market.
President Moon’s visit with QPM, ASM and Cobalt Blue was his only business engagement during his short stay down under, sending a strong signal that South Korea is keen to engage with Australia’s emerging critical minerals producers.
ASM used its time alongside highlevel delegates to establish a deal with the Korean Mine Rehabilitation and Resource Corporation (KOMIR), the country’s dedicated body supporting the supply of critical minerals and metals into Korea.
The agreement will see ASM work closely with KOMIR to expand the use of rare earths and critical metals in Korea and shore up import opportunities going forward. The company’s South Korean processing plant will be a centrepiece of this partnership.
Liz Griffin, executive director for the Australia-Korea Business Council (AKBC) – the national body that facilitated the meeting – forecasts plenty more deals to come in the wake of the meeting.
“Things are really going to escalate and heat up over the coming weeks, months and years,” Griffin said. “Remarkably, we’ve already seen follow-up from Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and they’ve already followed up on some of the recommendations that we made in the meeting.”
Cobalt Blue chief executive officer Joe Kaderavek said the meeting with President Moon was not just a coalescing of delegates, but the creation of a new sector.
“The Korean Government sees this as a strategic opportunity to build an industry,” he said.
“On their side, they’re looking to create a critical minerals MoU. They’re looking to create a preferred relationship between our government and their government.
“They’re looking to put their own money in, so our $1.5 billion critical minerals loan facility will soon be matched. There will be a similar deployment of capital specifically on critical minerals between the two governments.
SOUTH KOREA PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN AT THE MEETING.
“Watch this space. Don’t think of it as a one-off here or there, think of it as an industry-building process.”
Cobalt Blue is represented by its Broken Hill cobalt project in New South Wales, which comprises a global mineral resource of 118 million tonnes at 859 parts per million cobalt-equivalent for 81,100 tonnes of contained cobalt.
Broken Hill’s pilot plant successfully produced cobalt sulphate samples in October 2021, and with a host of parties eager to receive samples Cobalt Blue will transition the pilot plant to a demonstration plant in 2022.
Kaderavek says the demonstration plant will be one of its kind.
“We are going to be mining 3000 tonnes of ore and producing about 3000 kilograms of various cobalt products (from the demonstration plant). That has never been done before for a greenfield project globally,” he said.
“Why are we doing that? One, we’re proving the process works on a 24–7 basis … another important point is that (we need to ensure) we’re making the right product.
“So we’ve already shipped samples to 30 partners globally as part of our pilot plant, which has now ceased operation. We’re now upscaling to a demonstration plant where those initial pilot samples will lead to further discussion.
“We’re looking to provide up to 100 kilograms to those partners so they can then take that and do their actual tests. As opposed to just testing for purity, they’ll do an actual test to make it into a battery.”
Cobalt Blue has also established an MoU with the Queensland Government to explore opportunities in the recovery of cobalt (and any coexisting base and precious metals) from mine waste.
This forms part of the Queensland Government’s $13 million New Economy Minerals Initiative and will see Cobalt Blue conduct testwork to evaluate minerals processing options in the recovery of target metals. Cobalt Blue expects to receive initial samples for testwork in the first quarter of 2022.
Kaderavek says that while Australia’s cobalt potential is well realised in the ground (16 per cent of the world’s cobalt reserves), it is also significantly untapped in waste.
“In waste, we have significant quantities of cobalt. For example, in Queensland there is approximately 300,000 tonnes of cobalt sitting atsurface in tailings dams, in waste streams,” he said.
“So, typically, 40- or 50-metre depth, easy to extract – it’s already been mined, it’s already been ground – so the processing costs are a fraction.”
Not only is there the economic incentive to extract cobalt from waste, but there’s also environmental, social and governance (ESG) benefits, as the extraction process reduces contaminant leaching.
Kaderavek says the possibilities are endless when it comes to wasteextracted cobalt, with potential partners likely to pay premium prices for recycled cobalt given the ESG correlation.
Australia is also advancing its potential in rare earths, something ASM is hoping to commercialise through its Dubbo project in NSW, along with other emerging rare earths companies such as Hastings Technology Metals, Arafura Resources and Northern Minerals.
Lynas Rare Earths already has an established operation at Mt Weld, WA, which produced 4209 tonnes or rare earth oxides in the December quarter of 2021.
Rare earths are used for magnets in EVs and require a small amount that is crucial to delivering an EV off
DRILL CORE FROM THE BROKEN HILL PROJECT.
the production line.
Whether it’s in the supply of lithium, nickel, cobalt, rare earths or any other critical mineral, Australia’s role in the world’s green transformation will only grow in the coming years and decades. The country’s critical minerals industry is established but we’ve only scratched the surface of our potential.
So who’s next? Who will follow in the footsteps of QPM, ASM and Cobalt Blue and grab the opportunity by the scruff of the neck? AM
FUTURE MINERS TO CHANGE UP SKILLSETS
IN THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE, MINING AND METALS COMPANIES WILL ADOPT NEW TECHNOLOGIES, BECOMING PART OF THE WORLD’S DECARBONISATION JOURNEY.
ACCENTURE’S GASTÓN CARRIÓN.
The transformation has already begun, and has the possibility of leading to safer work, higher paying jobs, and better quality of life.
However, the mining industry must adjust its skillset accordingly, with many previously required skills becoming less imperative and a whole spectrum of essential new skills emerging.
Information technology company Accenture, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s mining and metals future of work taskforce, conducted a Global Talent Innovation Initiative to look into the skills gaps that are forming in the industry.
It found that even after upskilling the vast majority of their current workforce, most companies will still experience skills gaps in their local labour markets.
Gastón Carrión, Accenture managing director of global natural resources talent and organisation/human potential lead, said the industry is experiencing issues around retaining and developing talent for the future.
“My number-one finding was that the by strategy that miners have been using for pretty much all the history is not going to make the cut for the next five, 10, 15 years because of the diverse workforce they will need to operate the mines of the future,” he said.
In order to solve the future problems in the environment, social and governance (ESG) agenda by improving the market and getting into renewables, innovation is key.
But innovation doesn’t come by doing the same thing that was done yesterday.
“We might need different profiles coming into the industry which are less engineer-based and more design thinkers, big thinkers, and so forth,” Carrión said.
“Also, the mining sector has traditionally been very much processbased and now we will need to use data to construct future pathways. For the long term, analytical skills will be critical.”
As a workforce grows younger, the values of those workers adjusts accordingly. With Generation Z the future of the taskforce, the report found that what younger people value most is the culture and society of the organisation.
“Elements around empathy are imperative. Creating a diverse workforce is quite important for the miners and will be critical to developing the soft skills of the future leaders in order to connect, not only within the organisation, but outside of the ecosystem,” Carrión said.
The report also found that three quarters of Gen Z rank purpose above their pay cheque, and value working for companies that actively work on improving the society and environment of the workplace.
“Quite often people will value the nature of the work that they’re doing and the purpose of the work above their income,” Curtin University professor of practice in mining automation and data analysis at the Western Australian School of Mines (WASM) Dr Robert Solomon said.
“When I first went into the workforce, I believe that was also one of the drivers of our careers by myself and my colleagues, but I think over the last 20 years or so it shifted, and it went into very much driven by what your income was.
“It’s refreshing to see the upcoming generation who are driven by more idealistic perspectives as well, which I agree with – and I’m inspired by it, in fact.”
Carrión outlined the fact this is not a problem that can be solved in isolation by one particular country or company. It requires an industry consortium.
Accenture and the World Economic Forum’s mining and metals future of work taskforce are now delving into the next phase of the initiative.
“Phase two will have a focus on putting a workforce plan in place that we can then showcase to the rest of the industry companies that will be impacted over the years,” Carrión said.
Solomon said that while the challenges are increasing, so are the opportunities for the future workforce.
“There’s a world of opportunity for the young graduates and young professionals entering the industry, but we can’t predict what the future is going to be like,” he said.
“So the key to success is to accept the challenges, do the best job you can, and continuously learn.
“Learning is no longer just a key to success. It’s a key to survive.” AM
KEY THEMES FOR METS COMPANIES IN 2022
CHRISTINE GIBBS STEWART, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF AUSTMINE, THE NATIONAL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION FOR THE AUSTRALIAN MINING EQUIPMENT, TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES (METS) SECTOR, EXAMINES WHAT WILL IMPACT METS COMPANIES IN 2022 AND BEYOND.
Given our strong ecosystem and focus on innovation, Australian METS are well placed to continue on a growth trajectory and once again engage with the world. As the mining industry embraces its role in the global community and seeks to secure social licence to operate, decarbonisation has emerged at the top of the sustainability agenda.
Executives from the world’s leading mining organisations have pledged to achieve net zero scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and with this commitment the expectations of the value chain are shifting and suppliers must demonstrate the sustainability benefits of their solutions.
The METS sector has an opportunity to stay ahead of the game and pioneer new methods of decarbonising mining. Solutions that drive energy efficiency, reduce diesel fuel consumption and electrify mining are already available in the market and will be important building blocks for a zero emissions future. However, new technologies need to be developed to create a real step-change in curbing emissions, and as we have seen in programs such as the Charge On Innovation Challenge and Electric Mine Consortium, a collaborative industry approach is needed to ensure success.
Australia has spent the bulk of the past 24 months in isolation. While border closures and travel bans may have helped control COVID-19 infections and fatalities, these restrictions have been detrimental to exporters.
Exporting is the lifeblood of many Aussie METS who have taken their solutions global and won market share through superior product quality, constant innovation, and technological expertise. However, business growth has been stunted by reduced access to overseas customers, diminished in-market support, interrupted supply chains and inability to get on site.
Furthermore, the reduced participation from Australian METS in international marketing activities such as trade shows and exhibitions has decreased future project opportunities and provided a leg-up to competitors, with the absence of Australians at last year’s MINExpo particularly glaring.
Austmine is focusing on opening avenues to North and South America in 2022 and we will be collaborating with Austrade to increase Australia’s presence at EXPONOR in Antofagasta, Chile from June 13–16 and PERUMIN from 20–24 in Lima, Peru. Plans are also in motion for international mining missions later in the year to Quebec, Canada, and Arizona, US.
Australia’s mining innovation ecosystem is truly the envy of the world. Across the country various networks and programs have been established to fast-track technology development and facilitate greater cooperation between businesses across the mining value chain.
This structured and sophisticated approach to industry collaboration has ensured we remain at the forefront of mining innovation globally and has driven solution development in areas such as electrification, tailings management, hard safety controls and robotics and automation. Other mining nations have seen our success and are now seeking to replicate these approaches abroad.
Greater collaboration, transparency and communication across the industry has given rise to open innovation programs that target critical industry issues and difficult-to-solve operational challenges. Examples of these programs include the BHP Austmine Supplier Innovation Program, OZ Minerals Think and Act Different Incubator and Thinking Critical South Australia.
There has never been a more exciting time to be part of the METS sector, but significant disruption is pervasive globally.
COVID-19 will continue to interrupt businesses and, as recently witnessed around the world, lockdowns and increased restrictions will still be utilised by governments to contain the virus.
METS companies are continuing to battle with global container shortages, delayed shipments and increased freight rates, affecting their ability to meet contractual obligations and undertake additional work. According to an ACCC report released in November 2021, freight rates on key global trade routes are seven times higher than they were just over a year ago.
METS organisations must embrace strength in numbers to combat disruption and share information, knowledge and expertise with each other to support a stronger, sustainable industry.
Mining technology businesses emerged as one of the few winners from COVID-19 disruption, with the pandemic forcing operations to bring forward digital transformation initiatives by several years.
This digital wave is good news for METS. To keep up with competitors, mining companies have reduced inhouse technology development and outsourced this to the METS sector, which has the knowledge, resources and expertise to rapidly bring new solutions to the market.
Mining technology is a hot investment commodity and nearly $US2 billion in transactions have been completed across the last two years. This trend will only continue as the pace of digital transformation accelerates and miners seek to reduce supply chain complexities and simplify the digital platforms work across.
It is imperative for METS businesses to integrate their solutions into the digital mining ecosystem and put data and information from their technologies into the hands of decisionmakers. Digital application is now an expectation for product and service offerings, not an additional benefit. AM
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IRON ORE MINERS WEATHER THE CYCLICAL STORM
A VOLATILE IRON ORE PRICE CAUSED A FEW HEADACHES FOR BURGEONING PRODUCERS IN LATE 2021, BUT A FIRST QUARTER RECOVERY HAS ALLOWED SOME TO RETURN BIGGER AND BETTER IN 2022.
While the wider mining industry continues its battle with issues of labour shortages and border restrictions, the price of iron ore has been both a blessing and a curse over a short period.
Rising to record highs of $US230 ($294) per tonne in May last year, before diving to $180 and rising above $200 again from June through July, it provided miners with plenty to consider.
Australia-China relations were stretched by Chinese restrictions on steel production, but analysts were sure the tides would turn and iron ore prices would return to usual programming.
But a mountainous dive was to come, as iron ore prices caught up with the curb in steel production and more than halved in the space of two months.
From July to September, the price dropped another $130 per tonne and several of Australia’s growing iron ore producers were brought to unfeasible standstills.
By mid-November, a secondary dive saw the iron ore price bottom out in the low $80s per tonne and the likes of GWR Group, CuFe, Venture Minerals, Indus Mining and Mount Gibson had all halted mining operations citing iron ore prices.
GWR chair Gary Lyons foreshadowed in September his company was well prepared to outlast the pricing lull in Australia’s top export.
“Whilst it is disappointing that mining operations have temporarily ceased at the C4 iron ore mine, it is important to note GWR remains in a strong position to resume operation as the mine will be left in a productionready state in order to take advantage of a recovery in iron ore prices,” Lyons said.
And outlast they did. By the turn of the new year, the iron ore price had been above $100 per tonne for more than three weeks and showed few signs of slowing down.
Come the middle of January, GWR was able to recommence mining operations at C4 as prices rose past $120, while the company continued its haulage operations and sales had continued over the holiday period.
Lyons said while he was optimistic in September about seeing this result, he admits to being thankful it turned out for the best.
“There was certainly no expectation on my part, so you’d have to say the feeling is more so one of relief that we were able to start operations again,” Lyons told Australian Mining.
“However, although we’d ceased mining activities, we hadn’t stopped moving product. We had a stockpile and we’ve continued to make some sales and haul some product to the port.”
By February, GWR had returned to full production at C4, with several sales locked away for the months to come. At time of writing, GWR’s publicly announced sales included one March shipment for $110 per tonne; April, May and June shipments at $111 per tonne; and one July shipment for $114 per tonne.
Lyons said he was happy to secure the near-term future of the company in uncertain times.
“It is great to see the flagship C4 iron ore mine back in full production. Having worked through the recent volatility in iron ore prices, the GWR team has been able to refine its operations focused on cost reduction and fixed price contract shipments,” he said.
Lyons added it was important to secure these sales to avoid any disappointment caused by future market crashes.
“These sales were at a fixed price and on an FOB (free on board) basis simply because of the fluctuations in shipping costs and I didn’t want to be exposed to that volatility,” he said. “The volatility is not only in iron ore price
PWC PARTNER MARC UPCROFT.
GWR’S C4 IRON ORE MINE HAS RETURNED TO FULL PRODUCTION.
ATLAS COPCO
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and shipping, but also in currency exchanges. I just hedged our bets wherever I possibly could to know exactly what we’re going to be banking.”
Lyons’ advice to anyone in a similar position to GWR’s was to protect against the future by securing it ahead of time.
“I’m not sure I’ve done anything too clever or smart, but when we’re considering our shareholders and the many mums and dads out there, security is key and it’s critical we’re able to continue mining operations while delivering product with some sort of margin,” he says.
In the case of GWR’s C4 iron ore mine, with a 750km drive to the Port of Geraldton for stockpiling, the operation is far more susceptible to falls in iron ore price than most.
This caution may well have been the right tact in this scenario, as PwC partner Marc Upcroft said 2022 may see similar behaviour in the iron ore price as in 2021.
“I think that volatility is going to be a theme we see in 2022 again. We are going to see demand changes,” Upcroft said.
“The way iron ore works is supply is not quite fixed but not quite as variable as demand is, which is why when we see changes in demand we
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GWR HAS 20 MILLION MORE TONNES TO MINE AT C4.
see significant price changes in iron ore.”
With such distance between the C4 mine and its nearest port, Lyons recognised his company’s burden of higher-than-average production costs.
“We’re always going to be the last to commence mining and the first to stop, simply because of costs associated, particularly with logistics from mine to port,” he said.
“We’re very sensitive to any price movement and I always say, ‘a sparrow in the hand is better than the eagle sitting on the roof’, so I’m always very focused on protecting margins.”
This aligns with forecasts from Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Kim Christie, who remains optimistic for miners like GWR.
“Small mines tend to be higher cost operations so these operators will remain cautious in regard to their outlook for prices, particularly as 2022 progresses,” Christie said.
“Having said that, even at $90 per tonne, most will be making decent margins so we think that 2022 will still be a positive year for most Australian iron ore producers.”
Lyons said he plans to take this forecast and run with it – at a responsible pace, of course.
“We still have more iron ore to sell, I haven’t locked everything away. But if we see another rise in iron ore price then I’ll be looking to take advantage of that and hedge out even further,” Lyons concludes.
Overall, the iron ore price remains promising in an Australian landscape that has been historically very favourable toward the production of iron ore.
With the country’s proximity to major iron ore importers like China, Japan and Korea, and the high quality of the ore, Australia is well placed to weather any more financial
GWR HAS SECURED IRON ORE SHIPMENTS UNTIL THE END OF JULY. storms that come its way.
“For the average iron ore producer in Australia, our average production cost is still really low, which means greater profits,” Upcroft said.
“The iron ore sector is still quite healthy overall.” AM
AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL GEMSTONE. SOURCE: PETE MURRAY.
OPAL IS ONE OF THE FEW MINERALS THAT CAN BE EXTRACTED ECONOMICALLY THROUGH SMALL-SCALE OPERATIONS. THE INDUSTRY IS FACING SOME CHALLENGES, BUT THESE PASSIONATE MINERS ARE NOT AFRAID OF TOUGH TIMES.
Australia produces over 90 per cent of the world’s opal, giving it the rightful title of the country’s national gemstone.
It’s found in the key areas of Lightning Ridge and White Cliffs in New South Wales, Coober Pedy and Andamooka in South Australia, and the Queensland opal fields located within the Winton Formation.
Opal mining is no easy feat, nor is it for the faint of heart. Unlike other types of mining, there is no guaranteeing where opal will be found, how much of it will be found, or when.
Often described as a thrill akin to gambling, opal miners can go weeks, months or even years without finding opal – until they do.
“For someone that’s willing to gamble, the possibility of going out with nothing to their name and coming back with hundreds of thousands of dollars in a little bag is a gamble, and that’s what it’s really about,” White Cliffs Miners Association president Ron Dowton told Australian Mining.
Lightning Ridge in NSW is the world’s leading producer of the rare black opal for which Australia has become famous. Black opal was even declared a state emblem in 2008.
“It’s a risky industry financially, but the attraction for young people – our next generation of opal miners – I would think is to be self-employed, it is to run your own agenda,” National Opal Miners Association secretary and Lightning Ridge Miners Association secretary and manager Maxine O’Brien told Australian Mining.
“You have to be very practical to be able to keep your costs of production down, but it has that element of gambling.
“There is a thrill to it. It’s not like in another type of mine, where you’re working for somebody else and you’re mining things every day with a constant stream of commodity.
“If you discover something when opal mining, it’s incredibly beautiful and you would be the very first person who has ever seen it on Earth.
“Opal fever is real; you just fall in love with the stone.”
The vast majority of opal mining in Lightning Ridge occurs in the Narran-Warrambool Reserve.
Special conditions apply to opal prospecting and mining within the reserve, with 28-day, or in some circumstances three-month, licences available for designated prospecting blocks. There is a restriction of two mineral claims per person, and the claims are 50m x 50m.
“We have a title system, where we already have local prospecting areas created. We’ve got one whole area which is a dedicated mineral claims district, but half of it we don’t have access to as yet,” O’Brien said.
“Our prospecting blocks are predetermined, but they nevertheless need to be mapped out because they have been all over the shop, which has had a bit of an impact on prospecting.
“We only mine on the Cretaceous ridges and the maps were only digitised 10 or 15 years ago and they never quite aligned with the geological features on the ground.”
Keeping small-scale mining going is imperative for places like Lightning Ridge to stay afloat, with the majority of the town made up of self-employed miners.
“The opal mining industry in NSW is probably the last bastion of the country, and it creates a totally different society. It’s small-scale all the way through the distribution chain until it gets to the export,” O’Brien said.
“It’s a pretty important export throughout our community and I think it’s worth preserving in the Australian landscape and culture.”
Over in White Cliffs, the opal industry has run into some regulatory roadblocks.
Negotiations on new land-use agreements for the dugouts have been ongoing since 2016, when NSW Crown Lands realised a native title determination accidentally cancelled out many of the dugout licences.
Resolutions are yet to be made between Crown Lands, White Cliffs locals and the Barkandji Native Title Group Corporation, meaning opal mining is at a standstill.
At this stage, the highest form of tenancy under native title – a permanent lease with the ability to transfer rights to family members – has been offered to dugout owners.
Dowton is confident White Cliffs will return to mining opal in the future.
“One of the things about being an opal miner is you can’t be fainthearted; the faint-hearted always lose and I certainly don’t want to be a loser. I’ve put 45 years of my life into this,” he said.
North of the border, Queensland opal mining is based on a claim system that has served the industry for a long time and is currently facing proposed changes from the State Government.
The draft plan proposes to remove mining claims from the Mineral Resources Act 1989 entirely.
“It looks like they might be the first state in Australia to eliminate mining claims as a form of mining tenure, and that’s the current battle we’re involved in,” Queensland Opal Miners Association president Rob White told Australian Mining.
“Prior to COVID the opal industry was in a stage of resurgence, but the moratorium of mining claims will increase the cost of the start-up by a lot.
“It’ll mean we have to go back to mining leases.
“It’s such a shame because opal is an iconic product. We call our sporting teams after it, we call our transport cards after it and every tourist that comes to Australia wants to buy a piece of it.”
Queensland Opal Miners Association secretary Kevin Phillips said geologists often find their careers through associations with opal and other gemstones.
“They generally become interested in geology through minerals and gems
KEEPING SMALL-SCALE MINING GOING IS IMPERATIVE. SOURCE: PETE MURRAY.
QUEENSLAND OPAL MINING IS BASED ON A CLAIM SYSTEM. SOURCE: PETE MURRAY.
AUSTRALIA PRODUCES OVER 90 PER CENT OF THE WORLD’S OPAL. SOURCE: DEISENBERGER MINING.
OPAL MINING IS NO EASY FEAT. SOURCE: PETE MURRAY.
THE OPAL MINING INDUSTRY DESERVES SUPPORT; OUR OWN BORN-AND-BRED WORKERS, WHO JUST WANT A FAIR GO, AND THE RIGHT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE ECONOMY ... SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES IN ORDER TO KEEP REGIONAL FACILITIES, AGENCIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN THE REGION IS SO IMPORTANT.”
and gold, through their associations with small-scale mining events that occur in their youth,” he said.
“The opal mining industry deserves support; our own born-andbred workers, who just want a fair go, and the right to contribute to the community and the economy.
“Supporting small businesses in order to keep regional facilities, agencies and infrastructure within the region is so important.”
Over in South Australia, opal mining has experienced something of a resurgence over the past four years, the Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) told Australian Mining.
Between 2018 and 2022, the DEM has received more than 435 new permit applications and there have been close to 2000 registered claims during that time.
In its prime, Coober Pedy was home to more than 5000 residents, of which around 600 were miners, the DEM said. At the last census, there were approximately 1300 residents in Coober Pedy, of whom 250–280 were miners.
“One person can get one mining claim in South Australia,” Cooper Pedy Miners Association president Justin Freytag said.
“Depending on where that is, it could be anywhere from 15m2 up to 200m x 100m claims. But that’s only in certain areas to try and encourage people to go and work in those areas.”
The Australian opal mining industry is facing some battles ahead, but these miners are no strangers to tough times.
“You don’t find opal on a wage. You find opal when you’re hungry,” Phillips said. AM
