Summary of Reserve and Resource Life

Australia has vast resources of many of the 35 major and minor mineral commodities covered in this report, as well as unquantified resources of many other minerals, some of which are considered critical for modern and emerging technologies and by trading partners.

It is not possible to state with any certainty how long Australia’s resources will last because production rates vary, the economic viability of deposits may change in the future and the rate of new resource delineation rarely matches resource depletion. However, a general impression of the range of possibilities can be gained by deriving the ratio of the various 2020 reserve and resource estimates to 2020 production figures (Table 6). Operating mines have provided the production rates for each commodity and the resulting ratios are an average mine life that assumes the unlikely scenario that no new mines are ever developed, no mines are closed or, if so, other mines make up the shortfall in production.

The reserve and resource life estimations for ‘all deposits’ (Table 6) indicate the potential for longer-term mineral supply in Australia. Using the AEDR/production ratio as the best proxy for a long-term outlook, it is only diamond, gold and manganese ore that have resource lives of less than 50 years.

Table 6. Average reserve life and resource life (years) for selected commodities as at December 2020.

Commodity	Operating Mines¹			All Deposits
Commodity	Ore Reserves²	Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources³	All Resources⁴	Ore Reserves⁵	AEDR⁶	All Resources⁷
Bauxite	17	17	52	17	50	95
Black Coal	21	50	77	32	135	300
Copper	22	92	123	27	110	160
Diamond	1	0	0	1	<5	<5
Gold	9	26	34	13	35	55
Ilmenite	10	36	43	56	240	500
Iron Ore	12	30	73	25	55	150
Lead	18	56	74	24	75	125
Lithium	76	99	122	94	155	200
Manganese Ore	17	39	43	28	60	180
Nickel	28	49	66	56	125	255
Rutile	8	23	28	49	165	370
Silver	16	51	67	20	70	100
Tin	28	46	51	37	70	120
Uranium	38	163	224	41	200	315
Zinc	16	42	87	18	50	90
Zircon	9	28	33	61	190	350

Notes
Reserve and resource life for each mineral commodity are calculated by dividing the inventory by production. The resulting ratio is a snapshot in time that can only be used for general impressions because it is an average and it assumes (1) that production rates in the future will remain the same as those used in the calculation, (2) deposits deemed economic/uneconomic remain so in the future and (3) that depleted resources are never replaced.

1. Operating mines includes all mines that operated during 2020 and thus contributed to production (see Table 1).

2. Ore Reserves as reported in compliance with the JORC Code, plus non-JORC Code equivalents (see Table 1).

3. Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources, inclusive of Ore Reserves, as reported in compliance with the JORC Code, plus non-JORC Code-equivalents (see Table 1).

4. All Resources for Operating Mines includes Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources, inclusive of Ore Reserves, as reported in compliance with the JORC Code, plus non-JORC Code-equivalents (see Table 1).

5. Ore Reserves as reported in compliance with the JORC Code, plus non-JORC Code equivalents (see Table 2).

6. AEDR = Accessible Economic Demonstrated Resources (see Table 3). Figures rounded to nearest five years.

7. All Resources for All Deposits includes EDR, Subeconomic Demonstrated Resources and Inferred Resources (see Table 3). Figures rounded to nearest five years.