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Copper Mining Australia

Since ancient times, mankind has used copper, being the first mineral extracted by man. Copper is a chemical element with high thermal and electrical conductivity. Copper is very useful as it is a soft and malleable material, having a golden brown colour. Copper is generally found along with gold, silver, lead or zinc. Australia is the fifth leader in the world regarding copper production, having some of the largest copper mines with an annual production of almost 900 tones of copper.

The most important Australian producers are The Olympic Dam in South Australia and Mount Isa Mines in Queensland. Apart from these, Australia has many other copper producers throughout the Australian land in areas such as: in New South Wales there is Northparkes and Cadia-Ridgeway, in Western Australia - Golden Grove and in Queensland - Ernest Henry, Osborne and Mt Gordon.

The Olympic Dam mining centre, situated in South Australia, represents the fourth largest copper deposits and also the single uranium deposit in the world. This mine operates with high technology equipment practicing very productive underground mining techniques to excavate the minerals which contain gold, copper, zinc, nickel and lead. The Olympic Damn Company produces around 730,000 tonnes copper annually.

Mount Isa Mines deals with tow underground copper mines: Enterprise and X4, producing 6.5 tones of copper per annum. Among these tow mines; the Enterprise is the most recent copper producer belonging to Mount Isa Mines. The other mines which activate in copper industry have highly contributed to the Australian economy too.

Copper is the most widely spread raw material as it can be used in many industrial fields. It is a great conductor therefore most of the electrical devices contain copper wires being very accessible as the prices are low. Metals which can be purified and turned into metallic copper materials, are used to produce things that are very similar to the real metal such as heating appliances, telecommunications, refrigeration, coins, pipes, and other household objects. They illustrate the great importance of copper. Since native copper has been mined for centuries, nowadays, it can be found in limited areas which once used to be active mines throughout Australia, making this native copper very valuable. The industry and the extraction of copper are rapidly developing as the market's demands are widely spread. Processing copper gives the opportunity to produce useful things, raising the capital of many companies which commercialize it.

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