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Australian resources of sulphur-bearing minerals

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Created 20/01/2025

Updated 20/01/2025

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Sulphur is a non-metallic element which occurs in the free form as native sulphur and in combination with metals as sulphides and sulphates. The principal sulphide minerals used, or usable, for their sulphur content are those of iron (pyrite, pyrrhotite and marcasite), copper and iron (chalcopyrite), lead (galena) and zinc (sphalerite and the iron-bearing varieties known as marmatite). The principal sulphate minerals are those of calcium (anhydrite and gypsum) and of potassium and aluminium (alunite). Sulphuric acid is made in large quantities from sulphide minerals; either by roasting pyrite concentrates specifically for that purpose, by roasting or smelting base-metal ores and concentrates, or, in smaller quantities, from sulphate minerals as a co-product of cement manufacture. Sulphur is used principally for making sulphuric acid (94% in 1949), which is one of the most important substances in modern chemical industry. Sulphuric acid is made in Australia and consumed almost entirely in the manufacture of chemical fertilizers (mainly superphosphate) for the agricultural and pastoral industries. In more industrialized countries, a considerable amount of sulphuric acid is used in heavy industries. Sulphur-bearing materials used to make sulphuric acid include- Brimstone-native sulphur (100% sulphur); pyrite or pyrite concentrates iron sulphide (50% sulphur); zinc concentrate zinc sulphide (32% sulphur); anhydrite calcium sulphate (23.6% sulphur). Australia has no deposits of native sulphur. It imports brimstone and also uses domestic pyrite concentrates and zinc concentrates. Fortunately, Australia has several large deposits of sulphide materials. The largest are at Mount Isa and Mount Morgan, in Queensland, Broken Hill and Captain's Flat in New South Wales, Mount Lye11 and Read-Rosebery in Tasmania, Nairne in South Australia, and Norseman in Western Australia.

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Title Australian resources of sulphur-bearing minerals
Language eng
Licence notspecified
Landing Page https://devweb.dga.links.com.au/data/dataset/8af6c2c4-414d-430e-9e42-c8fe827dbe60
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 20/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[112.0, -44.0], [155.0, -44.0], [155.0, -10.0], [112.0, -10.0], [112.0, -44.0]]]}
Data Portal data.gov.au