Australia

The Murray Basin (Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia), Eucla Basin (South Australia and Western Australia) and Perth Basin (Western Australia) host the major share of Australia’s mineral sand resources (ilmenite, rutile and zircon). Major economic resources have also been identified in the Canning Basin (Western Australia).

In 2016, an estimated 611kt of ilmenite concentrate, 217 kt of rutile concentrate and 560 kt of zircon concentrate were exported from Australia.

Australia’s Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR)of mineral sands were estimated to be 276.9 Mt for ilmenite, 33.0 Mt for rutile and 78.6 Mt for zircon in 2016 Australia has the world’s largest EDR of rutile (50%; followed by Kenya (21%), South Africa (13%) and India (12%). Australia also has the world’s largest EDR of zircon (67%; Table 7) followed by South Africa (18%) and the second largest EDR of ilmenite (19%) after China (29%) and ahead of India (11%). Australia has large Ore Reserves of mineral sands amounting to 56.5 Mt, 6.7 Mt and 20.0 Mt of ilmenite, rutile and zircon, respectively. In 2016, there were seven operations producing ilmenite, rutile and zircon and an eighth producing just zircon. These mines account for 26%, 31% and 24% of Australia’s ilmenite, rutile and zircon Ore Reserves, respectively. These mines produced 1.4 Mt of ilmenite, 0.3 Mt of rutile and 0.6 Mt of zircon in 2016, a 55% increase for ilmenite from 2015 but largely unchanged for rutile and zircon. In addition, Australia has large Inferred Resources of ilmenite (235.1 Mt), rutile (34.1 Mt) and zircon (61.3 Mt) plus smaller amounts that are regarded as subeconomic. At 2016 levels of production, the average reserve life at operating mines is potentially 11 years for ilmenite, 7 years for rutile and 8 years for zircon. Resource life for ilmenite, rutile and zircon at operating mines is almost triple the reserve life at 33 years, 18 years and 21 years, respectively. years, respectively, and if AEDR is used as an indication of long-term potential supply, then at 2016 rates of production, Australia’s minerals sands resources could last more than a century. Annual production for ilmenite (1.4 Mt), rutile (0.3 Mt) and zircon (0.6 Mt) are equal to only 2%, 4% and 3% of their respective Ore Reserves in 2016. However, cumulative production of ilmenite over the last 15 years is 24.9 Mt which is almost equal to the Ore Reserve of 25.1 Mt from 2002. Cumulative production for rutile (4.3 Mt) and zircon (8.4 Mt) over the same time period actually exceeds the rutile and zircon Ore Reserves from 2002 (3.4 Mt and 5.3 Mt, respectively). Ilmenite production has fallen 26% over the last 15 years from its 2002 level of 1.9 Mt and, despite a 55% increase on 2015 production, production in 2016 was down 42% from its 2006 peak of 2.4 Mt. Some heavy mineral sands producers closed operations at low-grade ilmenite deposits to concentrate on deposits with higher zircon content or those more readily amenable to beneficiation. Ilmenite reserves have, however, increased 125% over the last 15 years from 25.1 Mt in 2002 to 56.5 Mt in 2016, after recovering from a post global financial crisis low of 27.7 Mt in 2009. Rutile Reserves have doubled over the last 15 years from 3.4 Mt in 2002 to 6.7 Mt in 2016 having reached a peak of 10.1 Mt in 2013. Unlike ilmenite, production of rutile over this time period has increased 36% from 0.22 Mt in 2002 to 0.3 Mt in 2016. Peak production (0.47 Mt), however, was actually achieved in 2011, bouncing back after sharply lower levels of mineral sands production in 2009, due to flow-on effects of the global financial crisis in late 2008. Since the high of 2011, rutile production has fallen 36% over the last five years as prices for rutile and ilmenite have remained soft. Ore Reserves of zircon, like those of ilmenite and rutile, have also risen significantly (nearly 300%) over the last 15 years from 5.3 Mt in 2002 to 20.0 Mt in 2016. Zircon production has also declined 25% from its 2015 peak of 0.8 Mt but is still on a rising trend in which production has risen 50% from 0.4 Mt in 2002 to 0.6 Mt in 2016. Over the longer time period of 40 years, cumulative production of 66.7 Mt of ilmenite, 10.6 t of rutile and 20.0 Mt of zircon has removed more material than was estimated as EDR back in 1975 (58.4 Mt for ilmenite, 9.2 Mt for rutile and 15.7 Mt for zircon), yet, EDR has grown enormously since 1975 with all of the exploited mineral sands replaced many times over. Increases in mineral sands EDR (as well as Inferred Resources) from 1996 to 2003 resulted from discovery and subsequent evaluation drilling of heavy mineral sand deposits in the Murray Basin which include the Ginkgo and Snapper deposits in New South Wales, Douglas-Bondi and Woornack deposits in Victoria, and the Mindarie project in South Australia. In addition, from 1998 onwards, there were progressive increases in resources at mineral sand deposits at Jacinth-Ambrosia and Cyclone in the Eucla Basin embracing parts of South Australia and Western Australia, in the North Swan Coastal Plain area north of Perth and the Blackwood Plateau region in Western Australia. From 2007 to 2012, the EDR of ilmenite declined owing to reclassification of some resources to lower resource categories but has since increased owing to new resource delineation, particularly in Western Australia. 7 Ilmenite, rutile and zircon 2015 Reserves and Resources estimates have been revised of Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2016 due to a miscalculation. Ilmenite Ore Reserves for 2015 are revised from the previously reported 49.2 Mt to 41.6 Mt. Ilmenite EDR 2015 is revised from 267.8 Mt to 249.5 Mt. Ilmenite Inferred Resources are revised from 258.6 Mt to 276.4 Mt. Rutile Ore Reserves 2015 are revised from 10.8 Mt to 7.5 Mt. Rutile EDR 2015 is revised from 36.9 Mt to 29.6 Mt. Rutile Inferred Resources are revised from 43.1 Mt to 39.4 Mt. Zircon Ore Reserves are revised from 20.3 Mt to 15.0 Mt. Zircon EDR is revised from 81.4 Mt to 71.0 Mt. Zircon Inferred Resources are revised from 74.9 Mt to 73.5 Mt. Over the last 40 years, the mineral sands inventory has increased rapidly. From 1975 to 2016: • ilmenite EDR increased 370% from 58.4 Mt to 276.9 Mt ; • rutile EDR increased 260% from 9.2 Mt to 33.0 Mt ; and • zircon EDR increased 400% from 15.7 Mt to 78.6 Mt . Mineral sands production over this time period, however, has seen slower increases for ilmenite and zircon and a decrease for rutile. From 1975 to 2016: • Ilmenite production increased 40% from 0.99 Mt to 1.40 Mt ; • rutile production decreased 14% from 0.35 Mt to 0.30 Mt ; and • zircon production increased 58% from 0.38 Mt to 0.60 Mt (Figure 38). Since 1976, total mineral sand resources (EDR + subeconomic + inferred) has increased almost 750% for ilmenite , 500% for rutile and 650% for zircon . Thus, at current rates of production, and even with increased rates of production, Australia has the potential to remain a top global producer for many decades into the future.