AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW FROM PAST TO PRESENT

Economic growth is assured in Australia because the nation is built on strong work values. More than this, we’re blessed with large mineral resources, a source of mined material assets that continues to bolster our fiscal coffers. Destined to push our industrial complex far into the twenty-first century, we have much to be thankful for, but where did the Australian mining industry begin? Mining installations don’t pop up overnight, that’s for sure, so what can history tell us about our initial geological engagements?

SOUTHERN FOSSIL FUEL PIONEERS

The early days of a new country are a precarious affair, but life was made somewhat easier on the newly founded southern colonies by the discovery of coal. Large deposits in the late 1700s provided a black anthracite backbone, one that gave rise to new townships and primitive mines. Based on the simple but sturdy dwellings built by the indigenous people, early mining had made landfall. Burnt for homes and new industries, steam engines and locomotives, civilization began its spread outward from New South Wales.

THE GOLDEN DAYS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY

Coal was coming out of mines near Newcastle. People were building communities in Victoria, and the first structures in a small town would later lead to a metropolis known as Melbourne. It was the 1830s and rumours of gold deposits were growing. Still lacking momentum, miners came over from Northern America to change this lack of focus. They were flushed with news of the California Gold Rush. Australia’s gold rush was about to begin. The 1850s represents a huge period in Australian mining history, a time where gold was mined extensively in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland.

MODERN AUSTRALIAN MINING COMPLEXES

Nearby metropolitan resources are mostly exhausted now, but huge mineral deposits are still to be found in the back-of-beyond. Tin and copper came after gold. Diamond mines are prosperous, with the world’s second largest diamond mine, Argyle Mine, finding its place in the remotest territories of Western Australia. Meanwhile, on moving away from precious gemstones and metals, rare elements are also mined in Australia. These hard-to-find resources are essential commodities, materials required for modern electronics and other contemporary products.

Whether by fortune or divine design, the founding of a colony in New South Wales created a formidable industrial complex, one initially fueled by fossil fuel but one that also spread out to uncover the world’s most precious minerals and ores. Mines continue to thrive on this resource-rich continent.

Screening Technology Pty Ltd T/AS Hawk Machinery

Address: 7 Lantana St Blackburn North Vic 3130
Contact Person: Bohdan Blaszczyk
Phone: +61 3 9877 7777
Fax: +61 3 9877 8177
Mobile: 0411 099 989

Email: info@hawkmachinery.com.au

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