We are but a cog in a vital part of Worldwide Commerce

What is the volume of stone crushed in the United States of America or Europe? Does Victoria produce more quarry products than either Queensland or New South Wales?

WHENEVER you read an extractives industry magazine anywhere in the world, one of the most frequently stated statistics in the magazine inevitably relates to the volumes of various products produced in the country that you are visiting. Over a period of time the figures themselves tend to become meaningless particularly if you are reading about millions of tonnes of production.

However, what the statistics do show is that the worldwide production of extractives industry products is big business.

RELATIVE WORLD PRODUCTION

Excluding the production of coal, shale and uranium, sand and gravel and crushed stone are the number one and two ranked earth resource worldwide in terms of both amount and value.

Mining is important for countries like Australia because of the import dollars it brings into Australia. However for the domestic market the extractives industry is a vital part of our ever day life.Whether it be the house we live in, the roads we travel on and the buildings we work out of, our material existence is dependent on the products from the extractives industry.

With the annual consumption of extractives industry products around 10 tonnes per person per year in Victoria it is very easy to calculate what quantities of material will be needed each year for the foreseeable future. With our current population around 5,586,000, Victorians will use approximately 55.9 million tonnes of extractive industry products this year, (it is estimated that 15% of this is recycled material and product from mobile crushers).

Many people in Victoria are concerned at the approaching shortage of quarry products available around Victoria but in particular, for the Melbourne Metropolitan area. For example has the Government and construction industry considered a life without the quarry at Montrose. The CMPA document An Unsustainable Future details quite clearly what and where the shortages of products will be.

Both the construction and extractives industry need to keep reminding the “powers to be” that Victoria does face a serious problem and that we need to address it now.

Given the current lengthy time frames imposed by the state and local government bureaucracy to go from the initial planning to actual production of quarry products and unless there are major changes imposed by the new state government, the availability and cost of extractive industry products will be a major concern to all in the not to distance future.

All people involved in the extractives industry need to be very proud of our industry. It has been going from strength to strength over many years despite all the challenges imposed by the deluge of regulation being imposed upon it and by the many downturns in financial activity in the State. We need to ensure that every Victorian is well aware of the significance of this industry to the state.

Thanks to Astec Australia Pty Ltd for supplying the image shown.
Image is courtesy of USGS, modified after Lawatscheck, 1990

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