Precious Metal Production by Mine Type
Mine infrastructure shows which types of mine produce gold and silver.
Mines producing precious metals have been classified into one of the following categories:
- Gold (no silver)
- Gold/Silver
- Silver, designated |Ag| (no gold)
- Copper, designated |Cu| or |IOCG| (gold and/or silver, sometimes only silver or only gold, as a by-product. Includes IOCG – Iron oxide copper gold deposits)
- Lead/Zinc, designated |Zn| (primarily silver, sometimes gold or both, as a by-product.)
- Other (inc. PGM), designated |PGM|, |Ni| or |Sn| (PGM – platinum group metals, nickel and tin, as a by-product.)
- ASM (primarily gold, sometimes gold and silver)
Many poly metallic mines do not fit easily into one of these categories. The primary output of the mine is the key factor in determining the appropriate category.
Mines and Projects
Infrastructure consists of named deposits (concentrations of precious metals which are significant enough to have economic value) which are grouped into either mines (producing) or projects (by definition, not currently producing, but believed to have the economic potential to produce in the future).
For measurement definitions relating to infrastructure, refer to the definitions page.
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