Queensland is a global leader in the development of mines and is the world's largest exporter of coal. The State is also Australia's largest producer of base metals. Queensland is geographically close to the largest developing markets in the world and has a proven capability to provide quality resources via cost effective and efficient infrastructure.

National and international mining and resource companies have long recognised Queensland's vast resources and world-class mining technology and service expertise. Highly developed industry clusters including mining engineering, mining equipment manufacturing, mine management and commodity transportation exist to further solidify Queensland as a global hub for mining services.

Fast facts

The mining services sector:

• contributed A$26.4 billion to Queensland's economy in 2006-07
• Queensland's recoverable mineral and energy resources include coal, gold, lead, copper, zinc, silver, nickel, tin, bauxite, industrial minerals, oil and gas
• Queensland leads Australia in the production of base metals, including copper, lead and zinc.

Queensland's mining services advantages

• location options
• proximity to over 50 major coal mines and over 100 metalliferous mines.
• the mining and related services sector employs over 100,000 people, geographically dispersed across Queensland with major centres in Brisbane, Mount Isa, Mackay, Townsville, Gladstone and Rockhampton
• new centres are developing with the growth of new mineral and energy resources, such as coal seam methane
• infrastructure
• Brisbane International Airport has over 2,700 flights per week which offer daily connections to regional centres as well as 28 direct international destinations
• reliable and cost-efficient power as a result of our significant coal deposits, coal seam methane, thermal energy, a reliable state transmission service and several base load power stations
• access to comprehensive geological survey information
• education and training
• 10 universities in Queensland offer a range of mining related courses and research
• a number of research organisations focused on mining including:
• Cooperative Research Centre for Mining
• Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland
• Process Engineering and Light Metals Centre, Central Queensland University
• CSIRO Mining, Exploration and ICT clusters, Queensland
• Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies.

Who else is here?

• Anglo Coal - Australian headquarters
• Ausenco - global headquarters
• Bechtel (Metals and Minerals Division) - global headquarters
• Callidan Instruments - global headquarters
• GroundProbe - global headquarters
• Hatch - Asia Pacific headquarters
• Harmony Gold - Australian headquarters
• Lihir Gold - Australian headquarters
• Ludowici - global headquarters
• Mincom - global headquarters
• Rio Tinto - Australian Coal headquarters and global centre for aluminium research and development
• Runge Group - global headquarters
• Russel Mineral Equipment - global headquarters
• Sandvik - Australasian headquarters
• SNC Lavalin - Oceania headquarters

More information

For more information on Queensland's mining services industry, visit the Queensland Government's mining technologies and services industry development webpage.

For more information about investing in Queensland, contact us