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Copper Mines In Australia

Ever thought in which the copper piping or wiring used in your household and appliances arises from? Chances are, it turned out purchased one of Australia's large copper mines. Australia, after Chile, the usa of America and Indonesia, is definitely the fourth largest producer of copper in the Western world. Regardless that we have now a serious large distribution of copper mineralization, unfortunately we cannot obtain that many mines.

The greatest producers of copper in Australia could be the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia as well as Mount Isa mines in Queensland. The mining operations in Northparkes and Cadia-Ridgeway (New South Wales), Golden Grove (Wa), Ernest Henry and Osborne (Queensland), and Mount Lyell (Tasmania) are also of note for their copper ore production.

Olympic Dam This copper mine is at a large 550 kilometres from Adelaide. That it was discovered in 1975 by Western Mining Corporation, but production wouldn't begin until 1988. The mine currently is assigned to BHP Billiton.

Mount Isa The series of mines in Mount Isa were found by miner John Campbell Miles in 1923. The copper ore was initially discovered in 1927. The company (Mount Isa Mines) was founded in 1924 and production began after in 1931. The mine is now a component of the Xstrata mining company.

Northparkes Located 27 kilometres away from the town of Parkes, this copper mine was discovered in 1977. Production began in 1994, utilizing the open pit mining method. Currently, 80% of the mine is of Rio Tinto Group as well as the other 20% by Sumitomo Group.

Cadia-Ridgeway This mine is available around 20 kilometres within the town of Orange and was first opened in 1998. Through the entire 1990's, the complete area was created in fact it is the second largest open cut mine in Australia. It can be currently operated by Newcrest Mining, there are speculations that it'll close sometime during 2013.

Golden Grove Located 52 kilometres outside the town of Yalgoo, this copper mine is operated by Minerals and Metals Group. They took over ownership in 2009 after previous owners, OZ Minerals, met financial hardships.

Ernest Henry Named following your father of Cloncurry and it is founder, Ernest Henry, this mine is discovered in1866. It, however, wouldn't begin commercial production until 1998.

Osborne Because mine is really so isolated from your nearby towns, it is run to be a fly-in fly-out operation from Townsville. Production in this copper mining began in 1995, and possesses been owned by Barrick Gold Corp since 2006.

Mount Lyell Located nearby to Queenstown, this mine was opened in 1896 then reopened in 1995 by Copper Mines of Tasmania.

Even though Australia has much less copper mines than other high-producing companies, the amount of money and quality of the metal they will mine in excess of makes up for doing this. Many of these mines are offered to the public, allowing tourists to watch the mining and production process.