• RMIT Australia
  • RMIT Global
  • RMIT Australia
  • RMIT Europe
  • RMIT Vietnam

• Students
• Alumni
• Staff

Research Repository

Back to Library

• Home
• Browse
• Search
• FAQs
• About
• Contact Us

The world's lead-zinc mineral resources: Scarcity, data, issues and opportunities Mudd, G, Jowitt, S and Werner, T 2017, 'The world's lead-zinc mineral resources: Scarcity, data, issues and opportunities', Ore Geology Reviews, vol. 80, pp. 1160-1190. Document type: Journal Article Collection: Journal Articles Title The world's lead-zinc mineral resources: Scarcity, data, issues and opportunities Author(s) Mudd, G Jowitt, S Werner, T Year 2017 Journal name Ore Geology Reviews Volume number 80 Start page 1160 End page 1190 Total pages 31 Publisher Elsevier Abstract Lead and zinc keep humanity powered and sheltered, yet a comprehensive understanding of Pb-Zn resources in known mineral deposits has been lacking, leading to uncertainty over when we might expect the supply of these metals to face potential constraints. Addressing this, we compile an extensive database of the world's known Pb-Zn mineral deposits and provide in-depth analyses of their contained resources, ore-grades, economic value, by-products and geological settings. Our data indicate that at least 226.1 Mt Pb and 610.3 Mt Zn are present within 851 individual mineral deposits and mine waste projects from 67 countries (and one in international waters), at an average grade of 0.44 %Pb and 1.20 %Zn. The identified resources are dominantly present within sediment-hosted Pb-Zn deposits (490.6 Mt Pb + Zn + Cu), which contain the equivalent of VMS, Skarn, Porphyry, Epithermal and mixed sediment-hosted deposits combined, and 49% of these resources are reported in Australia, Russia, Peru and Canada alone. The reported Pb-Zn resources appear to be sufficient to meet global demand for both Pb and Zn until 2050, although this estimate is most certainly a minimum, as our case studies indicate a prevailing trend of deposits cumulatively producing well beyond their reported resources over time. Indeed, despite increasing historical production of Pb and Zn, estimated reserves and resources have also increased, and this is expected to continue. We also present an analysis and review of additional aspects affecting the future sustainability of Pb-Zn resources, including an account of the history of Pb-Zn mining, case studies and trends in reporting, classifications of the dominant Pb-Zn mineral deposit types, analysis of reported by-product companion metals, review of tailings resource potential and case studies on the numerous challenges in environmental management historically faced for Pb-Zn mining. These analyses, alongside our comprehensive resource data, indicate that t Subject Environmental Engineering not elsewhere classified Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy not elsewhere classified Keyword(s) Detailed Assessment Porphyry Copper Mount-Isa Deposits Metals Trends Origin Health Sustainability Endowments DOI - identifier 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.08.010 Copyright notice © 2016 Elsevier ISSN 0169-1368 Related Links Link Description https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.08.010 Link to Published Version   Versions Version Filter Type Mon, 10 Dec 2018, 14:23:22 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 32 times in Thomson Reuters Web of Science Article | Citations Cited 0 times in Scopus Article Altmetric details: Access Statistics: 64 Abstract Views  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Thu, 06 Dec 2018, 10:55:00 EST by Catalyst Administrator