Pandemic be damned: 2020 was South Australia’s second-highest year of mining value

South Australia recorded its second-highest ever year of mining value in 2020, despite the impacts of COVID-19. The South Australia Department for Energy and Mining said the state’s mineral resource production for 2020 reached $7.06 billion, up from $6.9 billion in 2019. That’s the second-highest on record, behind the $7.31 billion in 2014, and it was driven largely by copper with $2.42 billion worth of the metal produced, including a whopping $1.35 billion in the second half of the year, the best-ever six-month period in South Australia’s history. SA resources in great health The South Australia Chamber of Mining and Energy (SACOME) CEO Rebecca Knol said the resources sector was vital to the state’s economy. “During 2020, the resources sector demonstrated both its resilience as a sector and its importance to the state’s economy,” she said. “Copper, gold and iron ore were the driving forces behind the growth in 2020 with BHP Group Ltd’s (ASX:BHP) Olympic Dam, OZ Minerals Limited’s (ASX:OZL) Carapateena and Prominent Hill operations and SIMEC’s Middleback Ranges operation collectively contributing to this significant lift in productivity. “These results should be sending a very clear message that the resources sector is in a growth phase and providing well-paid employment in both metropolitan and regional areas.” The oil and gas sector contributed $1.34 billion, a fall on previous years, while gold contributed $952.5 million and iron ore $1.23 billion in 2020. Uranium production in 2020 decreased to $521.4 million from $538.7 million in 2019. Other contributors to the 2020 production figures were opals ($17.1 million) and industrial minerals ($277.4 million), while construction materials such as limestone and dolomite were steady at $235 million. Knol predicted royalties of $301 million for the 2021 financial year, following $311 million in 2020. And the increase in production shows little sign of slowing; export commodity figures for April showed South Australia had $1.32 billion in exports in April, the third-highest month on record, putting the state on track for a record 2021. Price hikes Many of the resources being produced by South Australia have benefited from rapidly increasing prices and fears of supply crunches. Copper prices jumped by 24 per cent in the second half of 2020 despite the increase in the value of the Australian dollar compared to the US dollar. The copper price has surged a further 17 per cent in the first four months of 2021 to more than $12,000 per tonne in April. Copper and iron ore have experienced growth of 32% and 21% respectively, although gold has fallen by less than 1%.