The destination: Mount Isa, the deepest mine in Australia, 5,187 kilometers (3,223 miles) away. The trip involved a four-hour hop across the continent to Brisbane, an overnight stay, followed by a two-and-a-half hour flight deep into Queensland, Australia's great north west.
The Mponeng gold mine located in the Gauteng province of South Africa, is the deepest operating mine in the world. It was the last underground operation by AngloGold Ashanti in South Africa.
Today, mining at Gwalia has reached a depth of 1,660 metres below the surface and the plan is to reach 2,300 metres by 2031. The mine's name can be traced back to its Welsh heritage with former owners, Sons of Gwalia, translating to Sons of Wales.
South Africa's Steenkampskraal Mine has one of the highest grades of rare earth elements in the world. It contains 15 elements and 86,900 tons of total rare earth oxides, with large deposits of neodymium and praseodymium.
The Super Pit, in Kalgoorlie, is the largest open-pit gold mine in Australia, and one of the largest in the world. A canyon-size hole dug by house-size machines, it's large enough to be visible from space.
The Lynas Mt Weld mine in Western Australia is acknowledged as one of the world's premier rare earths deposits.
The Mine Experience Tour and the Underground Adventure Tour which go to level 2 (61 metres) and level 3 (85 metres) respectively. The Nine Levels of Darkness Tour on the other hand goes 228 metres underground! That's below sea level. Here's an illustration that might help grasp how deep 228 metres really is.
Part of state-run Codelco, 55 kilometers east of Rancagua, El Teniente is the world's largest underground mine. Its more than 2,400 kilometers of tunnels yield more than 400,000 metric tons of refined copper per year.
The Kiruna mine is the largest and most modern underground iron ore mine in the world. The mine is located in Kiruna in Norrbotten County, Lapland, Sweden.
Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest artificially made excavation in the world, and is visible to the naked eye from an orbiting space shuttle. Employing some 2,000 workers, 450,000 short tons (400,000 long tons; 410,000 t) of material are removed from the mine daily.
According to some, this is the entrance to hell. This is the Kola Superdeep Borehole, the deepest manmade hole on Earth and deepest artificial point on Earth. The 40,230ft-deep (12.2km) construction is so deep that locals swear you can hear the screams of souls tortured in hell.
Mount Lyell copper mine: Look back at key dates in the history of Australia's oldest mining field. The Mount Lyell copper mine is the country's oldest continually operating mining field and has also long been the lifeblood of Tasmania's west coast mining region.
Australia's mining industry is 86% foreign owned, Although many people think BHP and Rio Tinto as Australian companies, BHP is 76% foreign owned, and Rio Tinto is 83%. Between them they constitute 70% of listed mining company resources.
"I estimate there is somewhere between three and 10 million ounces left in the Bendigo goldfield," he said. That is based on information compiled in the last decade, some of which had been closely studied after former owners Unity Mining shut down Bendigo operations in 2011.
Bendigo is one of history's most incredible quartz mining goldfields, where visitors today can still see extensive remnants of the region's prosperous gold mining heritage!
During the folding, gaps occurred between the layers of sandstone and slate. These gaps were filled by molten gold bearing quartz (also known as hydrothermal fluids or silica) which pushed its way up from deep in the Earth's crust.
BHP. Needing no introduction, BHP Group comes in at number one. The Australian mining giant works in over 90 locations over six continents, but is mainly concentrated in Australia and Canada. BHP produces essential commodities through their assets, including iron ore, copper, nickel, potash and metallurgical coal.
By volume, Australia's two most important mineral commodities are iron ore (29 mines) – of which 97% is mined in WA – and coal (over 90 mines), which is largely mined on the east coast, in the states of QLD and NSW.
The Boddington gold mine is a gold and copper mine located 13 km (8.1 mi) northwest of Boddington, Western Australia. Officially reopened on 3 February 2010, the mine has now become Australia's largest gold mine, eclipsing the Super Pit.
1. North Antelope Rochelle, US – 1.7 billion tonnes. The largest coal mine in the world by reserves is the North Antelope Rochelle coal mine in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, US.
China is the top producer of rare earths and also holds the largest rare earths reserves.
As of today, China accounts for 63 percent of the world's rare earth mining, 85 percent of rare earth processing, and 92 percent of rare earth magnet production.