Mining in Western Australia

Mining in Western Australia
Position of Western Australia within Australia highlighted
Location
State	Western Australia
Country	Australia
Regulatory authority
Authority	Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
Website	Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
Production
Commodity	Iron ore 861.3 million tonnes Gold 212 tonnes (6.8 million troy ounces) Nickel 160,371 tonnes Alumina 13.1 million tonnes Copper 119,128 tonnes Zinc 62,233 tonnes Lead 12,766 tonnes Salt 11.6 million tonnes Cobalt 5,863 tonnes Diamonds 0 Coal 4.8 million tonnes
Value	A$182.9 billion
Employees	126,481 (FTE)[1]
Year	2022-23[1]

Mining in Western Australia, together with the petroleum industry in the state, accounted for 94% of the State's and 46% of Australia's income from total merchandise exports in 2019–20. The state of Western Australia hosted 123 predominantly higher-value and export-oriented mining projects and hundreds of smaller quarries and mines. The principal projects produced more than 99 per cent of the industry's total sales value.^[2][3]

Western Australia's mineral and petroleum industry, in 2019–20, had a value of $174 billion, up from $145 billion in 2018–19. In comparison, the value of the mineral and petroleum industry in 2005–06 was $43 billion.^[4][5]

Iron ore was, in 2019–20, the most important commodity in Western Australia, accounting for 60 percent of sales in the state's mineral and petroleum industry. The petroleum sector, consisting of oil and gas, followed in second place with 22 percent of the overall value. The third most important commodity in the state was gold, at $16 billion, 9.2 percent of the overall value. Alumina, nickel, and base metals (copper, lead and zinc) followed in order of importance, each achieving a value in excess of A$1 billion. Other major commodities included lithium, mineral sands, salt, coal, cobalt, rare earths, and diamonds.^[2]

Employment in the Western Australian mining and petroleum industry has sharply increased over the last decade, from 85,163 in 2010, directly employing an average of 135,001 people during 2019–20. The largest employers were the iron ore (48.5%) and gold (23.4%) sectors.^[2][6]

The industry's regulating authority in Western Australia is the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, renamed from the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) on 1 July 2017, which in turn replaced the Department of Industry and Resources (DOIR) on 1 January 2009. The department also produces the annual Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest and operates the MINDEX website, which is aimed at listing all current and former mining operations in the state.^[7]