The Australian Plate

The Australian plate is heading north while the Pacific plate is heading west. The combination of these motions means that the Pacific plate, which includes much of the South Island, is moving relative to the Australian plate at a rate of about 40 millimeters each year

                         

Australia Minerals & Rocks

Surprisingly Australia has a abundance of minerals, rocks and metals. 

Copper which is found in the states northern territory. Australia is also the worlds 6th largest producer of copper


Australia is the world’s largest producer of bauxite and a significant global supplier of high value downstream products, including refined alumina and smelted aluminium metal.
Australia has substantial gold resources which are located in all States and the Northern Territory. Gold attracts Australia’s second largest exploration expenditure.Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coke and coal for steel-making, and we are one of the world’s two largest exporters of iron ore. As well, we’re the world’s second-largest producer of gold and we’re really preeminent in mineral-sands exports, that’s both for titanium and zircon.
Iron constitutes about five per cent of the Earth's crust and is the fourth most abundant element in the crust. Australia is one of the world’s major iron ore producers.
theirs also metals like: 

• Tin
• Tungsten
• Tantalum
• Lithium
• Niobium
• Magnetite
• Molybdenum
• Vanadium
• Phosphate rock
• Zinc
• Lead
• Silver'

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Australia’s substantial diamond resources are mostly associated with the world-class Argyle deposit in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. Other smaller resources are associated with small diamond pipes at Ellendale in Western Australia and Merlin in the Northern Territory with each containing about five million carats.

                                                  

sources : http://www.ga.gov.au/
http://museumvictoria.com.au/