Minerals are a vital part of our everyday life. Nearly every product we use contains minerals, or is manufactured with machines or tools that contain minerals.

Coal

• The single biggest use for coal is steel making. Coal is also used as an energy source for generating electricity, for export industries such as forestry, dairy, and meat producing and cement industries, as well as commercial and home heating.
• More than 5 million tonnes of coal are produced each year. About 2.5 million tonnes of coal are exported.

Gold

• Most gold mined in New Zealand is exported (along with silver). The international demand for gold by industry, particularly for use in fabrication and electronics, is increasing and now exceeds total mine production by about 40%.
• Industry now consumes more than 200 tonnes (6 million ounces) of gold each year and this is growing at an annual rate of 8%.
• In addition to its value for jewellery, gold has many other uses including computus medicine, telecommunications, and a wide range of applications in industry and aviation.

Silver

• Silver, which is produced together with gold in hard rock mines, is also used for jewellery (and silverware), electronics and medicine.
• However, due to the extreme light sensitivity of silver compounds, silver's main use throughout the world is in photography.

Ironsand

• Ironsand is mined for steelmaking in New Zealand and for export to steel makers overseas.
• Steel made from ironsands is used to manufacture roofing for houses, cutlery and kitchen utensils, aeroplanes and cars.
• Small amounts are used in glazing - glass and ceramics.

Tungsten

• In New Zealand tungsten is used as tungsten carbide, an extremely hard material from which machine tools subject to intense wear and abrasion are made. It also has a variety of other industrial uses especially in electronics and lighting.

Non-Metallic (Industrial) Minerals

• From cardboard to ink, cosmetics to pesticides, aircraft runways to vanity units, New Zealand's industrial minerals play a key role in a vast range of industries. They are all too often overlooked as the public is forced to focus its attention on such 'mining' related issues as land owner rights and environmental impacts. Industrial minerals are produced throughout New Zealand and are used for making glass, steel, paper, paint, carpet, and many other manufactured goods.

Aggregates

• Aggregates (sand, gravel, and rock) are the most widely used mineral products - more than 8 tonnes are used per person each year in New Zealand.
• Road making, building, and construction consume most of the aggregates mined in New Zealand.

Clays

• Sodium montmorillonite. Sound like a bit of a mouthful? In fact occasionally it quite literally is, when used in the production of beer and wine, and that's when it's not being used in laundry detergent, sunburn cream, drilling mud or children's crayons.
• Clays including bentonite; halloysite and kaolin are used in the manufacture of bricks, tiles, pipes and pottery (plates, cups, etc), and as filters in the manufacture of paper, paint, pharmaceutical and animal health products.

Dolomite

• Dolomite is used in agriculture and home gardening, and glass making.

Limestone

• Limestone is used in cement manufacture, roading, pottery, and agriculture.
• High quality limestone and marble are used as fillers in the paint, glass, rubber, plastics, and paper industries.

Perlite

• Perlite is used to manufacture insulating boards, potting mix, and other light-weight concrete.

Pumice

• Most of New Zealand pumice was formed during volcanic eruptions in the Rotorua-Taupo area during the last 20,000 years. It is used to manufacture wallboard, plaster, and lightweight concrete.

Salt

• Salt, from sea water, is harvested once a year and used in New Zealand.

Silica Sand

• Silica sand is used in bottle glass and window glass manufacture.
• Other uses include foundry sands and as a filler in the building industry.

Sulphur

• Sulphur is used as a fertiliser additive.

Mineral Exploration

• Although mineral exploration in New Zealand has been mainly directed at coal, gold, silver, and ironsand, a wide range of other minerals has been produced since the mid 1970s. More than 20 metallic and non-metallic minerals have been subject to exploration.
• The recent increase in the level of exploration activity in New Zealand will need to continue if we are to maintain our present level of mineral production.

Unlike many raw materials, minerals must be mined where they are found.

Up to 70% of our known resources are on public land administered by the Department of Conservation.

[introduction]
[mineral exploration in New Zealand]
[mining & other land uses]
[history of mining in New Zealand]
[mining legislation: permits & access]
[environmental controls: the RMA]
[taxation & royalties]

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