DNRM Emerging Strategic Minerals QLD

Overview

New technologies being developed around the world require a different suite of elements from the traditional more commonly
mined ores (Figure 1). Sourcing these new elements poses both challenges and opportunities for the mining industry and
governments around the world. Queensland has resources of several of these elements and is well placed to support global demand.

Several emerging commodities are regarded as critical based on perceived supply issues, while some existing elements (such as tin) are also showing a resurgence due to increased demand from hitech industries. New technologies which use these critical elements include mobile phones, flat screen TVs, electric/hybrid vehicles, electric motors, wind turbine generators, high strength and high temperature alloys (military and civilian planes, space craft) and in catalytic converters in cars.

Rare Earth Elements
What are the REE?

The REE are a group of chemical elements that exhibit a range of special (some unique) properties which are used in many modern and green technologies. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry defines the REE as the 15 lanthanides and yttrium and scandium.
The REE are subdivided into Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE) and Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE). Because all of the uses are in modern and green technologies, it is only in the last twenty years that the REEs have become such valuable commodities.

Heavy Rare Earth Elements
Why are HREE considered ‘critical’?

The HREE include: terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu).
The HREE are considered critical because of their increasing importance in modern and green technologies. The HREE can be regarded as the ‘vitamins’ required for the shift from a carbon based economy to the new 21st century electron economy.
Foreign countries are increasingly exploring for REE in order to reduce the world’s dependence on China and several deposits have been found (including the Mount Weld deposit in Western Australia). However, given the dependence of many new technologies on the REE and the reliance on China for their supply, the elements are listed at the top of the Critical Elements as defined by Geoscience Australia (http://www.ga.gov.au/about/what-we-do/ projects/minerals/current/critical-commodites).
It should be noted that, of the HREEs, dysprosium is considered the most critical over the next 5 years. While many of the HREE are not used in such large quantities than the LREE, they are rarer and not as abundant.

Where are HREE found in Queensland?

HREE are identified at several exploration locations in Queensland but are concentrated in northwest Queensland (such as the Milo Prospect). None are at the resource identification stage.
Yttrium is known from the Korella prospect associated with phosphate mineralisation in the Georgina Basin south of Mount Isa.

Light Rare Earth Elements

Authors disagree on which elements are included in the LREE group, but here are the following elements included in the LREE group: lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), and gadolinium (Gd) – also known as the Cerium Group (Gschneidner, 1966).

Why are LREE considered ‘critical’?

Like HREE, LREE are also considered critical because of their application in modern and green technologies.

Where are LREE found in Queensland?

LREE are known from many parts of Queensland but are concentrated in north west Queensland (Figure 2).
LREE occur in the tailings at the Mary Kathleen uranium mine east of Mount Isa. The deposit is hydrothermal, related to ~1540 million year (Ma) granites, and has a grade of 3% total REE. Although Mary Kathleen was a uranium mine, it was essentially a rare earths orebody containing uranium. The REE at Mary Kathleen comprise lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, with minor praseodymium.

Where is indium found?

Trace amounts of indium occur in base metal sulfides—particularly chalcopyrite, sphalerite and stannite—by ionic substitution. Indium is most commonly recovered from the zinc-sulphide ore mineral sphalerite. The average indium content of zinc deposits from which it is recovered, ranges from less than 1 ppm to 100 ppm. Although the geochemical properties of indium are such that it occurs with other base metals — copper, lead and tin and to a lesser extent with bismuth, cadmium and silver, most deposits of these metals are sub-economic for indium.
Vein stockwork deposits of tin and tungsten host the highest known concentrations of indium. However, the indium from this type of deposit is usually difficult to process economically. Other major geologic hosts for indium mineralisation include volcanic-hosted massive sulphide deposits, sediment-hosted exhalative massive sulphide deposits, polymetallic vein-type deposits, epithermal deposits, active magmatic systems, porphyry copper deposits and skarn deposits.

Where is indium found in Queensland?

Indium occurs associated with zinc mineralisation and Queensland is a global supplier of zinc. In 2014–15, Queensland produced ~8% of global zinc (Office of the Chief Economist, 2016; USGS, 2016), making it a potential large scale producer of Indium. Indium is known to occur with tin–base metal mineralisation in vein deposits in the Irvinebank–Herberton and Mount Garnet areas (for example, Arbouin, Black Sparkle, Isabel, Orient Camp, Weinert, Baal Gammon, Khartoum) within the Hodgkinson Province (Figure 2).
Queensland’s known indium resources and reserves total 114 392 tonnes (t), but because it is not an element that is usually assayed for, its full distribution is not known.
Polymetallic sulphide-tin deposits of the Hodgkinson Province represent the most important indium resources in Australia. The Baal Gammon deposit has total reindicated and inferred resources of 2.8 Mt of ore at 0.996% Cu, 0.199% tin, 40 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and 38 g/t indium. All of these metals are expected to report in the concentrate. These indium grades are amongst the highest in the world.

Exploration potential in Queensland

The Hodgkinson Province in Queensland has the potential to be one of the world’s leading indium resource areas.

Tin
Why is tin considered ‘critical’?

Tin is present in almost all continents, and of the 19 countries in which tin was mined in 2012, the top 6 accounted for 81% of the total world tin production of 294 000 t. China was the leading producer (34% of world output), followed by Indonesia (17%), Peru (10%), Bolivia (8%), Burma (7%) and Brazil (6%) (USGS, 2016).
Worldwide demand for primary tin was expected to increase at moderate annual rates. The rate of increase, however, could increase in a few years if new applications continue to find acceptance in the marketplace, especially in the electronics field where tin solder is needed. Higher tin prices that have prevailed in recent years, however, discourage use in new applications.
During the next decade, technological changes will likely affect tin consumption in its main applications of electronics, solder, and tinplate. Miniaturization, new assembly technologies, and lower coating weights could reduce consumption, but offsetting this were prospects for new applications for tin chemicals, energy-related technologies such as lithium-ion batteries, and steel alloys.
Another possible use for tin is in sodium ion batteries. While these batteries lag behind lithium ion batteries at present, they are cheaper to produce. They are however, heavier and at present, have inferior cycling performance to lithium ion batteries.

a significant percentage of the world’s output. Tantalum is also produced in Thailand and Malaysia as a by-product of the tin mining there.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has also been a major producer of tantalum, but internal issues has resulted in limited supply and a consequential price increase.

With the closure of Wodgina and Mt Cattlin and the increasing depth of mining at Greenbushes (combined with low grades) Australia’s production is likely to taper so new sources are required.

Where are tantalum and niobium found in Queensland?

Anomalous tantalum and niobium are known in pegmatites in the Buchanan’s Creek and Grant’s Gully areas, in the Georgetown-Forsayth area. Tantalum has been reported from some gold mines in the Georgetown area, for example, Cumberland. Tantalite (and columbite) has been found in alluvial deposits in the same areas and at Gilberton.

Tantalum also occurs associated with tin-tungsten pegmatite mineralisation in the Hodgkinson Province in north Queensland and with pegmatite at Mica Creek, south of Mount Isa.

Because tantalum and niobium are not usually assayed for, their actual distribution is poorly known.

There are two operating mines, one granted mining lease and two prospects for tungsten in Queensland.
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Mount Carbine (Carbine Tungsten Limited): The Mount Carbine mine is an operating open-pit mine, about 75 km north west of Cairns in north Queensland. The deposit is in an outlier of thermal metamorphism related to the S-type Mount Carbine Granite.
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Wolfram Camp (Almonty Industries Inc): The Wolfram Camp deposit is 80 km west of Cairns and was discovered in 1888. It comprises predominantly glassy to white quartz with shoots containing coarse-grained wolframite, molybdenite and bismuthinite. Mineralisation occurs in greisen within the roof zone of a highly fractionated granite of Carboniferous age.
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Watershed Scheelite project (Vital Metals Limited):
The Watershed Scheelite deposit occurs as stratabound replacement lenses in calc-silicate rocks of the Devonian Hodgkinson Formation, and in dyke-like bodies of albitised granite associated with Carboniferous granite intrusions.Mineralisation is exclusively scheelite over a strike length of
3 km. The deposit is approximately 150 km north west of Cairns and mineralisation is exposed on a north-trending ridge

Rhenium
Why is rhenium considered critical?

Rhenium is one of several strategic elements that have not been exploited in significant quantities, but which are now attracting new interest because of likely new sources and their potential use in new technologies. Regarded as one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust, rhenium is highly ductile with the third highest melting point behind carbon and tungsten.
Rhenium is one of a group of refractory metals, including niobium, molybdenum, tantalum and wolfram, which have very high resistance to heat and wear. Rhenium is probably not found free in nature, but only in the mineral molybdenite which is the major commercial ore. Chile has the world’s largest rhenium reserves in molybdenite as a minor constituent in its porphyry copper deposits.

Where is rhenium found in Queensland?

The Merlin deposit is the world’s highest grade molybdenum and rhenium deposit and is hosted by the metasedimentary rocks of the Kuridala Group in the Mount Isa Eastern Succession (Figure 2). Very high-grade molybdenum mineralisation close to the surface also occurs at its southern end in the subsidiary Little Wizard deposit. The origin of the mineralisation is unclear, but there are closely related copper–gold deposits in the region, which are classified as iron-oxide–copper–gold (IOCG) and are probably related to Proterozoic granitoids. The molybdenum–rhenium mineralisation is overlain by discrete copper and zinc-rich polymetallic sulphide zones of the Mount Dore ore body (http:// www.australianminesatlas.gov.au). Published probable reserves at Merlin are 7.1 Mt at 1.1% molybdenum and 18.1 g/t rhenium for a contained 78 000 t molybdenum and 129 t rhenium.
Chinova Resources commenced construction of a decline at Merlin in late 2010 and reported that phase 1 was completed in early 2012. Phase 2 of the decline development is awaiting project approval (http://www. australianminesatlas.gov.au).
Rhenium is also present at the Kalman copper–gold–molybdenum deposit 62 km south east of Mount Isa. This molybdenum also contains high concentrations of rhenium. The deposit is still being explored. The deposit has inferred resources of 60.8 Mt at 0.05% molybdenum, 1.19 g/t rhenium, 0.32% copper and
0.15 g/t gold, with a contained 30 400 t of molybdenum (http://www. australianminesatlas.gov.au).

• Wolfram Camp: The Wolfram Camp tungsten–molybdenum mine, 90 km west of Cairns, produces molybdenum as a byproduct of tungsten—its primary product. The deposit has an inferred and indicated resource of 1.42 Mt at 0.6% WO3 and 0.12% molybdenum.
• Anthony prospect: Zamia Metals Limited completed a scoping study on the Anthony molybdenum project 67 km north north-west of Clermont. Mineralisation is related to a porphyry molybdenum copper system. Zamia has reported an inferred sulphide resource of 250 Mt at 0.039% molybdenum in sulphide ore body (0.02% Mo cut-off grade). It is estimated it has a contained metal resource of 121 940 t.
• Julia Creek: Potentially significant molybdenum resources occur within the oxidised part of the Julia Creek oil shale deposits in the Eromanga Basin in north west Queensland. Intermin Resources Limited has estimated that the oil shales contain molybdenum of slightly more than 900 000 t.

Exploration potential in Queensland

In addition to the deposits described above, resources are at Anduramba in south east Queensland, Ben Lomond East near Townsville, Maureen near Georgetown and Monument near Monto (Figure 2). Ben Lomond is one of the highest grade per tonne uranium resources in Australia with a substantial molybdenum credit at an average grade of 0.15%. Auzex Resources Limited has intersected significant molybdenum mineralisation during drilling at the Galala Range tungsten prospect west of Cairns. There is potential for the delineation of significant molybdenum resources at the Mungana and Red Dome porphyry and skarn copper-gold deposits near Chillagoe.

Scandium
Why is scandium considered critical?

The lack of production has restricted scandium’s usefulness, but likely future increased production will lead to more research and more uses will emerge. Regular supply, such as that predicted to come from Queensland will see the scandium use increase and become more common.

The main current uses for scandium are:

• Bicycle frames and golf clubs: In scandium–aluminium alloys a small amount of scandium significantly increases the strength and corrosion resistance of the alloy. Such light, high strength alloys are currently mainly used in high performance sporting goods such as baseball bats, bicycle frames or golf clubs.
• Advanced fuel cell technology: In the manufacture of solid oxide fuel cells which chemically convert natural gas (or other fuels) into electricity, scandium oxide produces the most efficient cells at lower temperatures. These cells provide more efficient on-site electricity and heating and produce less carbon dioxide than conventional fuel cell technology.
• Lighting for film and television: High intensity discharge lamps use scandium iodide to create a light that is similar to daylight. Scandium lights are used on film sets or sporting arenas to improve television pictures because of the light quality and because they are more efficient than other high intensity lights. The USA uses 20 kg of scandium a year to create high intensity lights.
• Fighter jets and hand guns: Scandium alloy is also used to make high strength hand gun frames for the same reason it is used in sporting goods—it is light and strong. Russia uses the scandium–aluminium alloy in the frames of its MiG fighter airframes. This use is likely to be more common as supplies of scandium increase.

Where is Lithium found?

Globally, lithium is not particularly rare. Low cost abundant lithium occurs in salt flats in Chile and Bolivia (together they hold ~40% of the world’s known lithium). Brines are also known from China and the USA. Extraction of lithium from brines is in the form of lithium chloride then needs to be converted to lithium carbonate for use in batteries – an energy intensive process.
In Australia, lithium is mostly recovered from lithium minerals, specifically the mineral spodumene (LiAlSi2O6), mostly in several deposits associated with pegmatites in Western Australia. The largest deposit is the Greenbushes deposit south of Perth.
Recent technological advances have identified a process for the low cost extraction of lithium from the mineral lepidolite, which occurs in pegmatites. This process extracts the lithium as lithium carbonate which is used directly in lithium-ion batteries. Globally, the mineral lepidolite has not been readily recorded making the resources of the mineral uncertain.

Where is there potential for lithium resources in Queensland?

The mineral lepidolite has been known in Queensland for some time but its distribution has been uncertain. Recently lepidolite has been the focus of exploration in the Georgetown region in north Queensland. Significant quantities have been found at Buchanan’s Creek and the adjacent Grant’s Gully south of Georgetown. Exploration of this deposit is continuing and drilling to define a resource is expected later this year.
Recently, lepidolite has been identified at Gingeralla west of Mount Garnet south west of Cairns.

Graphite
Why is graphite considered ‘critical’?

Graphite has a number of traditional uses, including refractory applications (foundry facings, crucibles, retort linings), brushes in electric motors, dry cells, ”lead” pencils, and as an additive in paints, lubricants and stove polishes.
The automotive industry has also adopted graphite for use in brake linings, gaskets, clutch materials and dry lubricants, while elsewhere it’s been adopted for use in fire retardants and reinforcements in plastics. Graphite is now also being used in nuclear reactors to control the speed of the nuclear fission reaction.
More recently, the market for graphite has begun to expand incrementally reflecting its use in a number of green technologies including lithium ion batteries, fuel cells, flow batteries and the expansion of nuclear power development. Many of these applications have the potential to consume more graphite than all present uses combined. The proliferation of batteries used in the development of electric cars will further drive increased graphite demand in the future. Battery grade graphite involves production of a new form of graphite – spherical graphite. The manufacture of spherical graphite requires chemical modification of flake graphite and at present is mainly performed in China. However other parts of the world are seeking to manufacture the product.
A new carbon-based compound, graphene, has also been developed from flake graphite. Graphene is a 2 dimensional hexagonal lattice of pure graphite one atom thick which is very strong and efficiently conducts heat. It is 100 times as strong as steel and has exciting uses in areas such as battery technology and conductive coatings.