Generally Australian bauxite ore is not sold, but is processed to alumina for sale or for conversion to aluminium. Bauxite mining employed 1,662 people nationally at the end of June 1998. Large quantities of black coal are mined in New South Wales and Queensland for both domestic and overseas consumption. Significant brown coal deposits occur in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.
Brown coal is mined only in Victoria where it is used predominantly for electricity generation.
Another important use is for the production of briquettes used for industrial and domestic heating in Australia and overseas. In 1998, Australian brown coal production was about 65 Mt, up from 61 Mt in 1997. Planning to develop a brown coal mine at Maryvale in the LaTrobe Valley continues, Victoria's first new coal mine in almost two decades. The first coal is expected to be mined in 2004. Copper Established copper provinces, such as northwest Queensland and other areas of the country, are continuing to support new discoveries as well as extensions of resources at known deposits.