The person who will dig out the last shovel load of iron ore from WA has probably already been born. Based on the best available research, and relying on current levels of production, there is estimated to be 70 years worth of iron ore in the ground across the country.
It’s better than gold — about 30 years — and copper — about a decade — but short of the 90 years worth of black coal or the 130 years of zinc thought to be hiding in the soil.