Gold
While many world class gold discoveries have been made in Western Australia, geoscientists are confident that many more big deposits are waiting to be found and developed, including a potential new gold province on the southeastern margin of the Yilgarn Craton centred on the Tropicana project.
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Projects and Deposits in WA
Western Australia's (WA) most significant goldfields are located in the Goldfields-Esperance and Mid West regions, with new production commenced or planned for the Pilbara and Great Southern regions.
The majority of gold mined in WA is found in a large area known as the Yilgarn Block. This area comprises narrow zones of folded and metamorphosed (changed by heat and pressure) sediments and volcanic rocks surrounded by granite and granite-gneiss.
WA's ten largest projects produced 4 Moz, or 122 t of gold, and accounted for 72% of the State's total gold production in 2005. These projects comprise (from 1-10): Super Pit (Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd - Newmont and Barrick Gold), St Ives (Gold Fields Ltd), Sunrise Dam (AngloGold Ashanti Ltd), Telfer (Newcrest Mining Ltd), Granny Smith (Barrick Gold), Jundee-Nimary (Newmont), Kanowna Belle (Barrick Gold), Plutonic (Barrick Gold), Agnew (Gold Fields Ltd) and Marvel Loch ( St Barbara Mines Ltd).
Location Options and Infrastructure
Western Australia (WA) has excellent infrastructure available for investors, including rail, ports, airports and roads.
Large world-class industrial estates are available throughout the State, including the Burrup and Boodarie Industrial Estates (Pilbara Region), Narngulu and Oakajee Industrial Estates (Mid West Region), Kemerton Industrial Estate (South West Region) and Mungari Industrial Estate (Goldfields-Esperance Region). The Perth Metropolitan Area has a Heavy Industrial Estate (HIA) located at Kwinana, close to the Fremantle Port.
WA has extensive supplies of cost effective energy available. There are approximately 116 trillion cubic feet of natural gas available offshore for long term contracts (for electricity generation, heating and mineral processing) and abundant coal reserves (for base load electricity generation and mineral processing), estimated to last for around 1070 years at current production rates.
The proximity of Asian markets provides the State with a shipping advantage over any other locations. Numerous ports are located throughout the State.
The State's Regional Development Commissions (external link) detailed information on living and doing business in the regions, including information on location options and infrastructure.
The Perth Mint
The Perth Mint is owned by the Western Australian Government and is Australia's specialist precious metals mint, producing collector and investment coins for world markets.
For information on selling gold to the Perth Mint, please contact the Perth Mint Shop Bullion Trader on +61 8 9421 7412.
Further Information
For information on exploration; land use, title and tenements; project approval processes; royalties; statistics and economics; geoscience services; and environmental services refer to the Minerals and Petroleum section of this website.
The Department's online database, MINEDEX (refer to Online Systems), provides information on:
- Project and current ownership (corporate)
- Sites, site type and development status
- Locality data (coordinates and map sheets)
- Notice of intent for development
- Contact details of each project
An ebookshop is available that provides a vast range of publications (including reports, maps and bulletins) on minerals and petroleum in WA.
The Business and Industry section of this website provides more detailed information on heavy industrial land and infrastructure and services.
For general information about living and working in Western Australia, refer to:
The State's Regional Development Commissions (external link) provide region-specific information on living and doing business in the chosen region.
