Copper, Lead and Zinc
- Base metal mining in Western Australia is carried out on a
large scale and is highly mechanized. It uses both open cut and
underground shaft and decline methods of mining. Although copper,
lead and zinc are referred to as base metals, they actually have
few common properties and their market factors of price, supply and
demand are largely independent.
- The first official mine established in Western Australia was an
operation mining lead at Geraldine, near Northampton, in 1850.
During the early 1900's copper was mined at Ravensthorpe, Whim
Creek and Leonora. In 1979 the rich copper/lead/zinc deposit was
discovered at Scuddles (Golden Grove) and production began in 1990.
In 1983 the Nifty copper deposit was discovered in the Pilbara
region and commenced production ten years later.
- Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity. Half of the
world's copper production goes into electrical applications. Lead
is a dense, heavy and toxic metal. It is used to create lead-acid
batteries, its alloys include solder, ammunition and some
anti-friction metals and lead compounds are used in the production
of high quality crystal. Zinc is used to create alloys such as
brass and bronze, but by far its most common use is in
galvanizing.
- The value of copper sales in 2007 increased 11 percent to
just over $1 billion.
- Zinc created $685 million in total value in 2007.
- Lead extracted produced $116 million in value in 2007.
- To download a copy of the Copper, Lead and Zinc fact
sheet click here.
Click the link to download this .pdf file
