Critical metals and minerals: An Australian perspective Dr Roger Skirrow Resources Division,...

Critical metals and minerals:An Australian perspective

Dr Roger SkirrowResources Division, Geoscience Australia

Four Mile uranium deposit, SA

Your mobile phone contains over 50 elements*

(http://news.cnet.com/2300-1041_3-6244920-16.html)

Approximately 1.5 billion mobile phones are sold each year, consuming (in value order):• Gold (~51 tonnes, t)• Palladium (~22.5 t)• Copper (~4,000 t)• Silver (~525 t)• Platinum (~510 kg)

Also requiring . . .• Rare-earth elements (REE)• Tantalum• Indium• Tin• Titanium• Lithium• Gallium • Cobalt

* If you have a recent-model smartphone

BUT SOME OF THESE METALS AND SEMI-METALS ARE SUBJECT TO HIGH RISK OF SUPPLY

Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

Critical commodities – what are they?

Supply risk

US National Academy of Sciences (2008)

Economic impact of

supply restriction

4 (high)

2

3

1 (low)

1 (low) 2 3 4 (high)

Rhodium

Manganese

Indium

Palladium

Rare-earthelements

Gallium

Copper(non-critical)

Tantalum

Vanadium

Titanium

Lithium

Definition: metals, non-metals and minerals that perform an essential economic function but are subject to a high risk of supply.

(‘Strategic commodities’ are those important for military purposes)

Supply risk factors:

• Geological scarcity

• Lack of substitution or recycling

• Geopolitical instability

• Concentration of production and/or processing in particular countries or companies

• Lack of large-scale markets

• Production only as a by-product

• Limited methods of recovery

Highcriticality

PlatinumNiobium

Lowcriticality


Uses of critical commodities

Industry / usage Critical metals and minerals

Steel-making and super-alloys (Fe-based) Cr, V, Ni, Mo, Co, Re, Nb

Light alloys (e.g. in cars, aircraft; Al-based) Ti, Sc

Industrial processing (catalysts etc) PGE, REE, Li, Ti, Zr, He, Sb

Electronics & high-tech In, REE, PGE, Li, Ga, Ta, Nb

Low-emissions energy production REE, In, Sb, Ga

Low-emissions energy usage (e.g. batteries) REE, PGE, Li, Ni, Co, graphite

Water & food security PGE, Cr, Ti, potash, phosphate

Catalytic converters in cars:platinum & palladium (PGE)

Industrial catalysts: woven thread of platinum

Magnets in turbines: REE (e.g. neodymium)

Super-alloys: rhenium in jet engine turbines

High-efficiency photo-voltaic: Te, In, Ga, Cd


Demand: Leading importers of critical commodities

Source: UNComtrade, 2012



Supply: Leading producers of critical commodities

Source: BGS World Mineral Statistics

Li, Zr (Al)

Case 1: platinum-group elements (PGE)

• $25 billion in import value (2012)*• Supply dominated by 2 countries• South African supply at risk• Australia has few known

resources • What is potential?

*Import value for top 5 countries in 2012: ~$25 billion USD (UNComtrade, Dec 2012)

(platinum, palladium, rhodium, osmium, iridium, ruthenium)


Case 2: rare-earth elements (REE)(the REE are NOT RARE! Family of 17 metals including 15 lanthanides, scandium and yttrium)

Sources: past production from USGS (2013); supply forecasts from Roskill, Chegwinden & Kingsnorth (2010) and Kara et al. (2010)

Supply 2014(Source: Roskill)

Demand 2014(source: Roskill)

Neodymium production, and forecast supply and demand

future estimateshistorical data

batteries in electric vehicles

year


Rare-earth element resources

Australia holds 2.2% of world’s REE economic resources but some of world’s largest sub-economic resources(Geoscience Australia, Dec 2013)

Critical commodities – Australia’s opportunities to supply global demand

• Australia is a relatively small consumer of CCs, mostly in imported goods

• Potash and phosphate (as in ‘NPK’) are some of the few critical to Australian industries (agriculture)

• However, a review by Geoscience Australia (2013) highlighted Australia’s resources of, and potential for, many critical commodities

• These represent opportunities to supply critical commodities to Australia’s trading partners

• Also opportunities for value-adding (e.g., processing, manufacturing)

Geoscience Australia’s assessment of critical commodities

• 34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed

• Level of criticality determined by ranking commodities in ‘risk lists’ of the UK, EU, USA, Republic of Korea and Japan





• Categories of resource potential indicate level of opportunity for Australian mineral resource industries

• Based on known resources and geological favourability

(very high)



(high)







• 34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed by Geoscience Australia

• Level of criticality is based on UK, EU, US, Republic of Korea and Japan stated priorities, and reflects risk of supply and economic importance of commodity






(moderate)



• 34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed by Geoscience Australia

• Level of criticality is based on UK, EU, US, Republic of Korea and Japan stated priorities, and reflects risk of supply and economic importance of commodity







Elements concentrated in ore deposits derived from Earth’s mantle

Australia’s inventory of critical and other elements


• Study of Ni-Cu-PGE potential by Geoscience Australia just completed; 1st of its kind for the nation

• Identified areas of known deposits

• Also predicts many other areas with potential for Ni-Cu-PGE deposits

• Information for mineral exploration companies to reduce their risk in exploration targeting

Australia’s potential for mantle-derived deposits of Ni, Cu, PGE, Cr, V


Australia’s potential for critical commodities: tungsten, tin, lithium, REE

related to granites

• Also zirconium, niobium, tantalum, beryllium

• Geological potential currently being investigated by Geoscience Australia

• Tungsten and lithium: Australia has 11% of world’s resources of each

Tungsten-tin province

Tin-tungsten provinces

Tantalum-tin-lithium provinces


1:1m Surface Geology

Geoscience Australia delivers national datasets to support exploration

Gravity

Radiometrics

Magnetics

Data from Geoscience Australia and State/NT Geological Surveys


Critical Commodities – An Australian perspective

• Global demand high & rising, particularly in high-tech sectors

• Global supply subject to risks

• Australia has major resources and potential

• Opportunity for Australia to provide assured supply of critical commodities

Critical metals and minerals: An Australian perspective Dr Roger Skirrow Resources Division,...

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