Mine reuse project
The New South Wales Government has completed a project investigating the occurrence of valuable critical minerals within mine waste produced as a by-product of mining.
The Project was a collaboration under Geoscience Australia’s (GA) Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. Collaborative partners include Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) at The University of Queensland (UQ), RMIT University, and Geoscience Australia (GA).
The Geological Survey of NSW’s Mine Reuse Project collected more than 1,200 samples from 28 current and historic mine sites and one power station site, revealing elevated concentrations of 11 critical minerals including copper, cobalt, silver and antimony.
These critical minerals are vital for current and future technologies like electric vehicles, solar technologies, defence and aerospace, wind turbine, electronic and medical applications.
Historic mines where sampling occurred include CSA in the Central West, Queen Bee, Great Cobar and Nymagee in the Far West, Endeavour and McKinnons in the Central West, and Hillgrove in the Northern Tablelands.
Current mines where geoscientists were looking for additional materials include the Peak Gold Mine and Tritton near Cobar, RASP and Southern Operations near Broken Hill, and Stratford in the Upper Hunter.
The Project generated a wealth of knowledge on the geochemical and mineralogical character of mine waste material improving the understanding of the resource potential of such waste in New South Wales. For mines that have closed, the results could highlight new potential for future production, bringing more jobs and investment opportunities to those communities across regional NSW.
The Mine Reuse Project supports the NSW Government’s Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy, which outlines the vision to position NSW as a major global supplier and processor of critical minerals and high-tech metals.
Read the Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy.
The Mine Reuse Project data can be accessed via the NSW Resources Digital Imaging Geological System (DIGS) portal.