Updated February 2023

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Copper properties and uses

Copper is one of the most important and widely used metals of modern society due to its properties of:

  • high electrical conductivity
  • high thermal conductivity
  • resistance to corrosion
  • ability to form alloys with other metals such as brass (zinc), bronze (tin) and cupronickel (nickel).

The demand for copper is forecast to increase substantially to supply the materials required for the global energy transition. Copper is predominantly used for copper wire in building construction, electronics and transportation equipment. Copper is also an integral part of the rapidly expanding Electric Vehicle (EV) and Renewable Energy industries.

Copper can occur naturally in its pure state (native copper) but is principally mined as sulphide minerals chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), chalcocite (Cu2S) and bornite (Cu5FeS4). The main oxidised ores are the copper oxide, cuprite (Cu2O), and the carbonate minerals azurite (Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2) and malachite (Cu2CO3(OH)2).

Copper in South Australia

South Australia contains 69% of Australia's economic demonstrated resources of copper (Geoscience Australia 2022) and produced 29%, or 272,886 t, of Australia's mined copper in 2020 (Department for Energy and Mining 2022).

Stacked copper cathode at Olympic Dam

Stacked copper cathode at Olympic Dam. (Courtesy BHP Billiton)

copper_map

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Copper statistics 2020

SOUTH AUSTRALIAVOLUME/VALUE
Mine Production Volume1  272,886 t
Mine Production Value1 $2.43 billion
Selected Mine Production2 · Olympic Dam 185,100 t Cu cathode
· Prominent Hill 61,375 t Cu in concentrate
· Carrapateena 27,632 t Cu in concentrate 
Exploration Expenditure3 $45.8 million
Resources2 90.5 Mt contained Cu
Reserves2 13 Mt contained Cu
AUSTRALIAVOLUME/VALUE
Mine Production4 930,000 t
Exploration Expenditure3 $333.1 million
Resources5 93.36 Mt
Reserves5 22.99 Mt
Selected Mine Reserves2 · Olympic Dam (SA) 10.04 Mt Cu
· Cadia East (NSW) 7.4 Mt Cu
· Carrapateena (SA) 2.3 Mt Cu
· Ernest Henry (Qld) 0.37 Mt Cu
WORLDVOLUME/VALUE
Mine Production6 20.4 Mt – Chile 5.8 Mt; China 1.7 Mt; Peru 2.5 Mt; United States 1.3 Mt
Resources6 N/A
Reserves6,7 870 Mt – Chile 200 Mt; Peru 92 Mt; Australia 88 Mt
  1. Mineral Resources Division, Government of South Australia. https://energymining.sa.gov.au/minerals/mining/resource_production_statistics
  2. Total Resources, Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) compliant, compiled from published company reports.
  3. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2021.
  4. Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS) 2017
  5. Geoscience Australia (GA) 2021.
  6. United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries 2021.
  7. Australia, JORC compliant reserves were 22.99 Mt.

Copper production graph 2021

South Australian copper production, 2005 to 2021.

Copper exploration graph 2021

South Australian copper exploration expenditure, 2005 to 2021.

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Major mines

Major copper mines in South Australia include:

  • Olympic Dam (BHP) – Total resource of 11,320 Mt at 0.71% Cu, 0.23% U3O8, 0.31 g/t Au and 1.31 g/t Ag. Production in 2021-2022: 138,400 t Cu, 2,375 t U3O8, 119,500 oz Au and 743,000 oz Ag.
  • Carrapateena (OZ Minerals) – Total resource of 950 Mt at 0.57% Cu, 0.25 g/t Au and 2.7 g/t Ag. Production in 2021: 55,262 t Cu and 89,778 oz Au.
  • Prominent Hill (OZ Minerals) – Total resource of 150 Mt at 0.9% Cu, 0.8 g/t Au and 2.5 g/t Ag. Production in 2021: 62,927 t Cu and 141,676 oz Au.
  • Kanmantoo (Hillgrove Resources) – Total resource of 6.41 Mt at 1.09% Cu, 0.12 g/t Au and 4.1 g/t Ag. Operation currently in Care and Maintenance.

Developing projects

Major developing copper projects in South Australia include:

  • Oak Dam (BHP) – Undergoing resource definition. Drilling highlight of 425.7 m at 3% Cu, 0.59 g/t Au and 6.03 g/t Ag from 1063 m depth.
  • Hillside (Rex Minerals) – Total resource of 337 Mt at 0.60% Cu and 0.14 g/t Au. Mineral Lease Granted.
  • Kalkaroo (Havilah Resources / OZ Minerals) – Total resource of 223.8 Mt at 0.49% Cu and 0.36 g/t Au, and 193.3 Mt at 120 ppm Co.
  • Elizabeth Creek (Coda Minerals) – Total resource of 62.8 Mt at 1.15% Cu, 10.24 g/t Ag and 472 ppm Co.
  • Kapunda (EnviroCopper) – Total resource of 47.4 Mt at 0.25% Cu for in-situ recovery.
  • Fremantle Doctor (OZ Minerals) – Inferred resource of 104 Mt at 0.7% Cu, 0.5 g/t Au and 3 g/t Ag.
  • Mutooroo (Havilah Resources) – Total resource of 13.1 Mt at 1.48% Cu and 0.14% Co.
  • North Portia (Consolidated Mining and Civil) – Total resource of 12.5 Mt at 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au and 425 g/t Mo.

Exploration models

Copper mineralisation is widespread and found in most geological provinces throughout South Australia. The most significant regions of copper mineralisation are the Olympic Cu-Au Province (eastern Gawler Craton), Curnamona Province and Adelaide Superbasin / Delamerian Orogen.

Olympic Cu-Au Province

The Olympic Cu-Au Province is a ~600 km long metallogenic corridor in the eastern Gawler Craton containing significant copper mineralisation. This world-class copper province is highly prospective for iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) and skarn deposits formed during early Mesoproterozoic Hiltaba Suite magmatism and eruption of the Gawler Range Volcanics at c. 1590 Ma. Major copper deposits in the Olympic Cu-Au Province include Olympic Dam, Carrapateena, Prominent Hill and Hillside.

Curnamona Province

The Curnamona Province, which straddles the border of South Australia and New South Wales, experienced similar magmatism to the eastern Gawler Craton during the early Mesoproterozoic, making it prospective for similar styles of copper deposits as the Olympic Cu-Au Province. Significant copper deposits in the Curnamona Province include Kalkaroo, Mutooroo and North Portia.

Adelaide Superbasin / Delamerian Orogen

The Adelaide Superbasin is a large sedimentary basin formed during the Neoproterozoic- to early-Cambrian that occurs largely between the Gawler Craton and Curnamona Province. The stratigraphy of the Adelaide Superbasin has been compared to the Katanga Basin in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which hosts the Central African Copper Belt. These correlations support the prospectivity of the Adelaide Superbasin for sediment-hosted copper mineralisation. Examples include deposits in the Mount Gunson region on the Stuart Shelf and the Kapunda deposit, north of Adelaide.

A large proportion of the Adelaide Superbasin was deformed by the Delamerian Orogeny during the Cambrian and Ordovician. The magmatism, metamorphism and deformation associated with this event formed the Kanmantoo deposit.

South Australia major exploration models (PDF 520 KB)

Additional reading

Cooper BJ and McGeough MA (Eds) 2006. South Australia mineral explorers guide. Second edn. South Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Resources. Mineral Exploration Data Package 11.

Heithersay P 2002. Prominent Hill discovery - URN 1: The best Cu-Au intersection in 25 years. MESA Journal 24:4-5. Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, Adelaide.

Reid A 2019. The Olympic Cu-Au Province, Gawler Craton: a review of the lithospheric architecture, geodynamic setting, alteration systems, cover successions and prospectivity. Minerals 9(6):371.

Reynolds LJ 2001. Geology of Olympic dam Cu-U-Au-Ag-REE deposit. MESA Journal 23:4-11. Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, Adelaide.