Facts & Figures: Mining Trivia

0.39 g/t
Gold grade of the Paracatu mine operated by Kinross Gold Corporation in Brazil,
believed to be the lowest grade gold mine in the world. It has reserves of
1,461,061,000 tonnes at 0.39g/t for a total of 18,485,000 ounces of gold

3420oC
Melting point of Tungsten, the highest of all metals and second only to the melting
point of Carbon. This compares with -39 for Mercury, 327 for Lead and 1535 for Iron

83
Number of countries, for which statistics are available, that produce salt. World
production in 2010 was 266,500,000 tonnes, the biggest producers are the United
States and China

95%
Chinas share of rare earth element production. However, China only has 37% of the
worlds reserves of the 17 eleme

19.28 g/cm3
Density of Gold in grams per cubic centimetre. Hydrogen has a density of
0.00008988, Iron of 8.784 and man-made element Hassium has an estimated
density of 41 g/cm3

95 metres
Height of the Bagger 293, the worlds largest mobile mining machine, manufactured
and operated in Germany. It is a bucket wheel excavator that weighs 14,200 tonnes
and moves 240,000 cubic metres a day

April 26, 1942

1,549 coal miners lost their lives at Honkeiko Colliery, China. This is believed to be
the worst mining disaster the world has ever seen

5,100 metres
Height above sea level of La Rinconada, a city of >30,000 that services the adjacent
gold mine operated by Corporacion Ananea. It is the highest city in the world, the
highest point in Australia is only 2,228 metres

3,750 horsepower
Output of a Terex MT 6300AC, one of the worlds largest mining trucks. It is 7.9
metres high with a payload of 400 tonnes and gross weight of 660 tonnes

610 BC
Date the first known gold coins were minted in Lydia, located in what is now Turkey.
China is thought to have also minted gold coins around 600 BC

2,400,000,000 tonnes
Estimated global iron ore production in 2010. Of which 900,000,000 tonnes were
produced by China and 420,000,000 tonnes by Australia

7,229,000,000 tonnes
Estimated global hard coal production in 2010. Of which 3,162,000,000 tonnes were
produced by China and 353,000,000 tonnes by Australia

3,900 metres
Depth of the TauTona Mine, the worlds deepest underground mine in the West Wits
gold field, SA, operated by AngloGold Ashanti. It takes one hour to travel to the
deepest faces which reach a temperature of 60 oC

11,554,000,000 tonnes
Total sulphide resource at Escondida, Chile, at a grade of 0.59% copper. This is in
addition to a total reserve of 4,977,000,000 tonnes at a grade of 0.71% copper

29,000,000 tonnes
Copper produced from Chuquicamata mine in Chile through 2007. It is one of the
largest and oldest copper mines in the world and has been mined since at least the
fourth century A.D.

1,600 metres
Depth of the Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, USA. The mine is the worlds deepest
open pit and is a National Historic Landmark that has been in operation since 1906
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