Industry Profile - Mining and Mineral Processing
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New South Wales has a long history of mining and mineral processing activity. The remote western New South Wales town Broken Hill is built on the world's largest silver, zinc and lead mine and has been primarily a mining town since Broken Hill Propriety Limited or BHP set up a mine there in 1885 and went on to become the largest mining company in Australia. The gold rush of the 1850s had the inland NSW gold belt become a series of gold mines, with Australia the world's leading gold producer at the time. Similar success continues today, with new mines in Western NSW producing over $500 million worth of gold in recent years.
The most successful mines in New South Wales are the four major coal mines which account for 75% of the States total mining output. With successful export partners in Asia, NSW produces almost $5 billion worth of coal, exporting approximately 70 million tonnes a year and generating just over 90% of the State's electricity.
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