Old waste at current and historic mine sites could be hiding critical minerals and high-tech metals deposits with the Geological Survey of NSW’s Mine Reuse Project finding elevated concentrations of eleven deposits across the Central West, Northern Tablelands and the Hunter Valley.
Critical minerals and high-tech metals are crucial for clean energy technologies, such as electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, along with aerospace applications. The International Energy Agency estimates that over the next 20 years the global economy will require six times the current amount of critical minerals to reach net-zero carbon emissions.
The NSW Mine Reuse Project collected more than 1,200 samples from 28 sites – 13 in the Central West, two in the Central Tablelands, one in the Northern and another in the Southern Tablelands, three in the Hunter and one in the Upper Hunter, two in Broken Hill and one in the Macarthur region.
The samples were run through the latest sampling techniques and underwent high precision chemical analysis to identify the critical minerals.
Some of the critical minerals identified included Tellurium that is used in solar cells, Antimony which is used to harden lead in storage batteries and other critical minerals like Zinc, Silver, Copper and Tungsten.
Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos said the data reinforces the importance of NSW for big critical minerals projects.
“As key ingredients in our solar panels, wind turbines, EVs and batteries, critical minerals and high-tech metals are integral to our economic future.
“This release of data is an important part of our critical minerals strategy. This pre-competitive data helps to minimise investment risk in exploration and identify new opportunities.
“We know how important mining is to communities across the state. More exploration means more jobs and more investment in regional NSW,” Courtney said.
The Mine Reuse Project also identified existing discoveries from the reprocessing of waste and tailings. This includes gold from historic tailings at the Mineral Hill mine in the Central West, and tin from Ardlethan mine site in the Riverina.
Data from Geological Survey projects are used extensively by the industry to guide explorers and miners and assist them in identifying new opportunities for critical minerals mines. Providing free, pre-competitive data helps de-risk projects and draws investment to NSW.
The release of data from projects like this helps focus explorers and miners on the best opportunities for development and could see an increase on the 190 critical minerals exploration titles already being pursued across NSW.
Chief Geoscientist and head of Geological Survey NSW Dr Phil Blevin said the results will help to drive investment and innovation.
“The Mine Reuse Project is a direct outcome of the government’s commitment to a Critical Mineral and High-Tech Metals Strategy that drives investment and innovation in the exploration and mining sector through the provision of world-class and targeted precompetitive geoscience.
“There is a significant multiplier effect in the provision of this data, and it helps drive exploration and innovation. The results of the Mine Reuse Project is just another example of this.”
| The Mine Reuse Project data can be accessed at: https://www.resources.nsw.gov.au/geological-survey/projects/mine-reuse-project |
