# Australian sulfur producers



## charttv (14 July 2008)

Are there any australian sulfur producers?


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## roland (14 July 2008)

As far as I am aware, we have no significant sulphur resources in Australia. Most sulphur is a result of volcanic activity - and as you know, we don't have many volcanoes in Australia. (yes, I know that we don;t have any 

from wiki>



> Elemental sulfur can be found near hot springs and volcanic regions in many parts of the world, especially along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Such volcanic deposits are currently mined in Indonesia, Chile, and Japan. Sicily is also famous for its sulfur mines.
> 
> Significant deposits of elemental sulfur also exist in salt domes along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and in evaporites in eastern Europe and western Asia. The sulfur in these deposits is believed to come from the action of anaerobic bacteria on sulfate minerals, especially gypsum, although apparently native sulfur may be produced by geological processes alone, without the aid of living organisms (see below). However, fossil-based sulfur deposits from salt domes are the basis for commercial production in the United States, Poland, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine.


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## So_Cynical (14 July 2008)

I had a look at sulfur the other day...after becoming aware of the MRE situation.

I couldn't find any Aussie producers...however i did find many historic Aussie 
producers that closed operations due to a world glut in the 60's or 70's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur

Sulfur is an interesting substance.


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## roland (14 July 2008)

So_Cynical said:


> I had a look at sulfur the other day...after becoming aware of the MRE situation.
> 
> I couldn't find any Aussie producers...however i did find many historic Aussie producers that closed operations due to a world glut in the 60's or 70's.
> 
> ...




Sulphur miners or suphuric acid producers? I believe that you can "harvest" sulphur from oil as a byproduct in the refining process.


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## So_Cynical (14 July 2008)

roland said:


> Sulphur miners or suphuric acid producers? I believe that you can "harvest" sulphur from oil as a byproduct in the refining process.



Sulfur, as in the sulfur MRE imports to use in there nickel/cobalt production.

However its seems that they actually use the sulfur to make Sulfuric acid according to this web site. http://www.chemlink.com.au/sulfuric.htm

I did find some info on a few Sulfur mines that used to operate in the Adelaide hills...sounded a bit nasty because the sulfur was recovered after exposing the deposit/ore to the air and waiting for the sulfur/acid to form.:dunno:

Something like that.


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