Editing Outback (section)

===Mining===
Other than agriculture and tourism, the main economic activity in this vast and sparsely settled area is mining. Owing to the almost complete absence of mountain building and glaciation since the [[Permian]] (in many areas since the [[Cambrian]]) ages, the outback is extremely rich in iron, aluminium, [[manganese]] and uranium ores, and also contains major deposits of gold, nickel, copper, lead and zinc ores. Because of its size, the value of grazing and mining is considerable. Major mines and mining areas in the Outback include opals at [[Coober Pedy]], [[Lightning Ridge]] and [[White Cliffs, New South Wales|White Cliffs]], metals at [[Broken Hill]], [[Tennant Creek]], [[Olympic Dam mine|Olympic Dam]] and the remote [[Challenger Mine]]. Oil and gas are extracted in the [[Cooper Basin]] around [[Moomba, South Australia|Moomba]].

In Western Australia the [[Argyle diamond mine]] in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] was once the world's biggest producer of natural diamonds and contributed approximately one-third of the world's natural supply, but was closed down in 2020 due to financial reasons.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gomelsky |first=Victoria |date=2020-11-17 |title=Shopping for a Diamond Is About to Change |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/fashion/jewelry-diamonds-argyle-mined-lab-grown.html |access-date=2024-04-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |archive-date=10 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510190428/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/fashion/jewelry-diamonds-argyle-mined-lab-grown.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Pilbara]] region's economy is dominated by mining and petroleum industries. The Pilbara's oil and gas industry is the region's largest export industry, earning $5.0 billion in 2004/05 and accounting for over 96% of the State's production.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080719184734/http://www.pdc.wa.gov.au/industry/types-of-industries/oil-and-gas.aspx Oil & Gas] [[Pilbara Development Commission]]</ref> Most of Australia's [[iron ore]] is also mined in the Pilbara and it also has one of the world's major [[manganese]] mines.