AIMR 2020 at a glance

Stylised infographic providing the following facts and statistics regarding mineral exploration and the gold industry in Australia in 2019: - Gold, copper and iron ore are the top three commodities explored in Australia. A strong gold price has led to a modern gold rush in 2019 with a large increase in exploration expenditure for the commodity. - Exploration expenditure totalled $2.648 billion dollars in 2019. Gold accounts for 40% of this expenditure (less than 5% of gold export value). - Exploration investment increased 21% compared to 2018. - Australia continues to be the world leader in identified gold resources and has seen an increase in gold production in 2019. - Fosterville, Victoria, is the world’s highest-grade gold mine (millhead grade 39.6 g/t Au in 2019). - Australia is ranked number 1 globally for gold resources. Australian gold accounts for (10,795 t) or one fifth of the world’s resources. - Australia exported gold worth $25 billion dollars (362 tonnes) in 2019. - Australia produced a record 326 tonnes of gold worth $27.7 billion dollars. This is an increase of 11 tonnes and $933 million dollars compared to 2018. - In 2019, the price of gold increased by 15% to A$2007 per ounce. This is an increase of A$309 per ounce compared to 2018.

Stylised infographic providing the following facts regarding Australia’s potential to supply the world with critical minerals used in modern technologies: Australia supplies the world with the following critical minerals: antimony, cobalt, graphite, lithium, magnesium, manganese, platinum group elements, rare earths, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, vanadium and zirconium. Minerals for Electric vehicles: Australia supplies a variety of minerals for electric vehicle production, including the critical minerals lithium, cobalt and rare earths, and the base metals copper and nickel. Minerals for Renewable energy: Australia supplies a variety of minerals for the production of renewable energy sources, including the critical minerals cobalt, platinum group elements, germanium, rare earths and titanium, as well as other commodities such as aluminium, copper, zinc and silicon. Critical Minerals for Medical applications: Australia has the potential to supply a variety of critical minerals used in medical applications. These critical minerals include helium, beryllium, tantalum and bismuth. Critical Minerals for Electronics: Australia has the potential to supply a variety of critical minerals used in electronic applications, including rare earths, antimony, chromium, indium and platinum group elements. Critical Minerals for Aerospace: Australia has the potential to supply a variety of critical minerals used in aerospace applications, including niobium, beryllium, tantalum and scandium. Critical Minerals for Alloys: Australia has the potential to supply a variety of critical minerals used as alloys in industrial applications, including vanadium, magnesium, chromium and tungsten. Minerals for Batteries: Australia has the potential to supply a variety of minerals for the production of battery technologies including the critical minerals lithium, graphite cobalt, vanadium and manganese and the base metals aluminium and lead.

Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols

kg	kilogram
t	tonne
kt	kilotonne (thousand tonnes)
Mt	million tonnes
L	litre
GL	gigalitre
c	carat
Mc	million carats
oz	ounce
m	metre
km	kilometre
%	per cent
ktpa	kilotonnes per annum
Mtpa	million tonnes per annum
MTU	metric tonne unit
ppm	parts per million
PGE	platinum group elements
REE	rare earth elements
REO	rare earth oxides
SOP	sulphate of potash
AIMR	Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources

ASX	Australian Securities Exchange
CRIRSCO	Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards
JORC	Joint Ore Reserve Committee
JORC Code	Joint Ore Reserve Committee Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves
IAEA	International Atomic Energy Agency
OECD/NEA	Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency
USA	United States of America
USGS	United States Geological Survey
AEDR	Accessible Economic Demonstrated Resources
EDR	Economic Demonstrated Resources
RAR	Reasonably Assured Resources
$	dollar (Australian)
US$	United States of America dollar
AG	Aktiengesellschaft (joint-stock company)
Co	Company
Inc	Incorporated
Ltd	Limited
PLC	Public Limited Company
PTY	Proprietary
COVID-19	Infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus strain

Banner image: Gold is used as an investment tool, in electronics and for jewellery. The jewellery sector accounts for almost half of the world’s gold demand.