Mining based Industries

Mining has long been important in the Murray-Darling Basin and makes an important contribution to its overall economy. Mining is not evenly spread out in the basin but is more concentrated in specific locations.

Copper is one of the most important minerals in the Basin and it frequently occurs with other minerals such as lead, zinc, sliver and gold. The main mining centre for copper is located at Cobar and it mined in conjunction with lead, zinc, and sliver. Broken Hill is one of the largest mining centres for lead, zinc and sliver as well as cadmium and antimony that are produced as by products.

Other metallic minerals are also mined in the basin such as tungsten at Tingha, tin at Gibsonvale and in the Stanthorpe area, iron oxide at Tallawang and magnesite at Young.

Precious metals and minerals such as gold, opals, sapphires, and other gemstones are also found in the Basin. Gold is still mined in areas such as the Owens Valley- Beechworth area, at peak mines near Cobar and at Temora etc. The MDB produced half of the total opal production in Australia. The major centres for opals are in New South Wales, at Lightning Ridge-Coocoran and in White Cliffs. There are numerous occurrences of other gemstones including diamonds, but the only mining operations are for sapphires in the Inverell-Glen Innes districts, emeralds at Emmaville and rhodonite near Tamworth.

Energy minerals such as coal are also mined in the Basin. From the north west of Lithgow north to Rylstone are where major coal deposits are located. The other important coal mining areas is in New South Wales in the Gunnedah district and in Queensland in the Chinchilla area.

Content sourced from the Murray-Darling Basin Commission Resources Book by Peter Crab