Opportunities are not equal
Some nearer ‘break out’ than others fewer solutions
required
Some challenges are more ‘resolvable’ than others
Some ‘break outs’ will be bigger than others
Key is to focus on those ‘near breakout’ with resolvable (i.e.
technical, geological) issues, and that have a big pay off
Explore Dual Citizenship in Africa | Citizenship Benefits & Requirements
Australia's advantage on the periodic table and the significance of emerging elements
1. Australia’s advantage on the
periodic table and the
significance of emerging
elements
Allan Trench & John Sykes
The University of Western Australia
2. A visionary whose vision is still to arrive
“…by 2135… there will hardly be any miners
underground. Minerals will be won either by robotized
machinery or by in situ extraction of the valuable
ingredients. …biotechnology will be increasingly
employed in situ to convert metals into a readily
soluble form. Mineral processing would then become
largely a matter of handling solutions, thus obviating
the need for crushing and grinding.”
• Arvi Parbo, in S.D. Strauss, 1986, Trouble in the Third
Kingdom, p210
This radically different view of the future of
mining has been the same for a long time. Why?
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
2
Sir Arvi Parbo
(1926-2019)
Alcoa /
Western Mining
/ BHP
Portrait by Joe
Greenberg
(2001)
3. A brief history of minerals use
Australia’s advantage on the periodic table
and the significance of emerging elements
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
3
4. Stone Age tools to…
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4
160,000 - 5,000 years ago
Damaidi Rock Art, Ningxia
Hui Autonomous Region
Northwest China
7,000-8,000 years ago
Source: http://history.cultural-
china.com/en/56History9528.html
Stonehenge,
Southern England
4,000-5,000
years ago
Map: Wikipedia
5. …Bronze Age tools, metallurgy & trade…
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5
5,000 - 3,000 years ago
Map: University of Maryland
Images: Wikipedia /
Shutterstock
Pyramids of Giza
Egypt
2,686-2,181 BCE
Late Bronze Age
Trade Routes of
the Mediterranean
Houmuwu Ding
Shang Dynasty, China
1,300-1,046 BCE
6. …and Iron Age smelting & empires…
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AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
6
1,000BCE – 500AD
Terracotta Warriors
Qin (Ching) Dynasty, China
221-206 BCE
Iron Age Trans-Eurasian Trade Routes
Map: Dorling Kindersley
“Roman Iron
Armour” in the
Film: Gladiator
7. The Iron Age ‘Periodic Table’
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AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
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C
Fe Cu
Ag
Au Pb
S
Hg
Sn
8. Then Renaissance mining & ‘exploration’…
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8
1300-1750AD
Images from De Re
Metallica by Agricola,
1556
Marco Polo visited Kublai
Khan of Yuan Dynasty
China ~1275
Map of Voyages of Discovery to 1610
Map: World Maps Online
Image:
Wikipedia
9. …but still the same ‘Periodic Table’
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
9
Cu Antiquity
Zn Classical, Medieval & Renaissance
C
Fe Cu
Ag
Au Pb
As
S
Zn
Hg
Sn
10. Industrial Age steel, coal & gold fever…
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AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
10
Steamship advert
for Californian gold
rushes (1849)
Australian gold
miners (1875)
1750-1914AD
Image:
Schmoop
Bessemer
converter at
Station Square,
Pittsburgh
“Iron and Coal”
by William Bell
Scott (1855-60)
Images:
Wikipedia
Image: State Library of New South Wales
11. …and discovery of a different type!
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AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
11
12. From this…
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AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
12
Cu Antiquity
Zn Classical, Medieval & Renaissance
C
Fe Cu
Ag
Au Pb
As
S
Zn
Hg
Sn
13. …to this…
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
13
Cu Antiquity
Zn Classical, Medieval & Renaissance
C
Fe Cu
Ag
Au Pb
Cr As
S
Zn
Hg
Sn Sb
Al Enlightenment & Industrial Age
H
Li
Na
K
Rb
Cs
La
Ac
Be
Mg
Ca
Sr
Ba
Sc
Y
Ra
Ti
Zr
Hf
V
Nb
Ta
Mo
W
Mn
Ru
Os
Co
Rh
Ir
Ni
Pd
Pt
Cd
B
Al
Ga
In
Tl
Si
Ge
N
P
Bi
O
Se
Te
Po
F
Cl
Br
I
He
Ne
Ar
Kr
Xe
Rn
Ce
Th
Pr Nd
U
Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Pa
Re
14. …and this!
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
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Cu Antiquity
Zn Classical, Medieval & Renaissance
C
Fe Cu
Ag
Au Pb
Cr As
S
Zn
Hg
Sn Sb
Al Enlightenment & Industrial Age
H
Li
Na
K
Rb
Cs
La
Ac
Be
Mg
Ca
Sr
Ba
Sc
Y
Ra
Ti
Zr
Hf
V
Nb
Ta
Mo
W
Mn
Ru
Os
Co
Rh
Ir
Ni
Pd
Pt
Cd
B
Al
Ga
In
Tl
Si
Ge
N
P
Bi
O
Se
Te
Po
F
Cl
Br
I
He
Ne
Ar
Kr
Xe
Rn
Ce
Th
Pr Nd
U
Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Pa
Pu Modern Age (1937 CE-present)
Fr Rf Db Sg
Tc
Re
Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh
At
Uus Uuo
Pm
Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
15. Minerals use in the Modern Era
Australia’s advantage on the periodic table
and the significance of emerging elements
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
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16. …Fuelled by Chinese industrialisation
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AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
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History of World Gross Domestic Product (GDP): % of Total in $1990 at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
Source: The Economist; Data: Angus Madison
23. However, of all these elements…
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
23
Cu Antiquity
Zn Classical, Medieval & Renaissance
C
Fe Cu
Ag
Au Pb
Cr As
S
Zn
Hg
Sn Sb
Al Enlightenment & Industrial Age
H
Li
Na
K
Rb
Cs
La
Ac
Be
Mg
Ca
Sr
Ba
Sc
Y
Ra
Ti
Zr
Hf
V
Nb
Ta
Mo
W
Mn
Ru
Os
Co
Rh
Ir
Ni
Pd
Pt
Cd
B
Al
Ga
In
Tl
Si
Ge
N
P
Bi
O
Se
Te
Po
F
Cl
Br
I
He
Ne
Ar
Kr
Xe
Rn
Ce
Th
Pr Nd
U
Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Pa
Pu Modern Age
Fr Rf Db Sg
Tc
Re
Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh
At
Uus Uuo
Pm
Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
24. …we only use a few in ‘large’ amounts
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
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Everything
else: US$502
Billion
1. Oil: US$1.75 Trillion 2. Coal: US$499 Billion
4. Gas: US$363 Billion
3. Cement: US$433 Billion
5. Iron Ore: US$185 Billion 6. Gold: US$116 Billion
7. Aluminium: US$111 Billion 8. Copper: US$105 Billion
25. It is not yet the ‘Rise of the Esoteric Metals’
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1913
1917
1921
1925
1929
1933
1937
1941
1945
1949
1953
1957
1961
1965
1969
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
Market size of Base, Precious & Esoteric Metals
over the last 100 years in 2012 dollars (billions)
Antimony
Electronic Metals (Bi, Ga, Ge, In, Se & Ta)
Light Metals (Mg & Ti)
Battery Metals (Cd, Co, Li & V)
Precious Metals (Au, Ag & PGMs)
Base Metals (Al, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sn & Zn)
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1913
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2012
Data: USGS
Slid
e 25
of
26. Past dramatic change in minerals use
Australia’s advantage on the periodic table
and the significance of emerging elements
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
26
27. Aluminium: the 20th Century Metal
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
1913
1917
1921
1925
1929
1933
1937
1941
1945
1949
1953
1957
1961
1965
1969
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
Market size of the Base Metals over the last 100
years in 2012 dollars (millions)
Copper
Tin
Zinc
Lead
Aluminium
Nickel
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1913
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2012
Data: USGS
28. How to use a lot of metal
For a metal to be mined in large volumes it must:
1. Be relatively abundant in the crust
2. Geologically concentrate into mineral deposits
3. Be easy to mine the ore from the ground
4. Be easy to extract the metal from the ore
5. Have substantial demand
6. Have diverse demand
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
DISCOVERY
SUPPLY
DEMAND
Based on: Krishnamurthy & Gupta (2004)
29. Similar stories for nickel and uranium
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1900
1908
1916
1924
1932
1940
1948
1956
1964
1972
1980
1988
1996
2004
2012
Growth in market size indices of copper
and nickel 1900-2013 (1900 = 1)
Cu Index Ni Index
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
Growth in market size indices of copper
and uranium 1950-2013 (1950 = 1)
Cu Index U Index
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Slid
e 29
of
Data: USGS
30. What is the aluminium of the 21st
Century?
Australia’s advantage on the periodic table
and the significance of emerging elements
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
30
31. Potential and lack of constraints required
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Final
market
size
potential
Lack of discovery, supply & demand constraints on the market
High potential and few
constraints
Low potential but few constraints
High potential but many
constraints
Low potential and many constraints
Source:Sykes et al.,2016a
32. How is Australia positioned for future
metals use?
Australia’s advantage on the periodic table
and the significance of emerging elements
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
32
36. Opportunities are not equal
• Some nearer ‘break out’ than others – fewer solutions
required
• Some challenges are more ‘resolvable’ than others
• Some ‘break outs’ will be bigger than others
• Key is to focus on those ‘near breakout’ with resolvable (i.e.
technical, geological) issues, and that have a big pay off
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
37. References
• J. P. Sykes, J. P. Wright & A. Trench (2016) Discovery, supply and demand: From Metals of
Antiquity to critical metals, Applied Earth Science, 125:1, 3-20, DOI:
10.1080/03717453.2015.1122274
• J. P. Sykes, J. P. Wright, A. Trench & P. Miller (2016) An assessment of the potential for
transformational market growth amongst the critical metals, Applied Earth Science, 125:1, 21-
56, DOI: 10.1080/03717453.2015.1104055
3 May 2019
AMIRA Ideas Factory, Perth, WA
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38. ..but some also have more growth potential
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39. ..but some also have more growth potential
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