[4][5] Iron ore was, in 2019–20, the most important commodity in Western Australia, accounting for 60 percent of sales in the state's mineral and petroleum industry.

Alumina, nickel, and base metals (copper, lead and zinc) followed in order of importance, each achieving a value in excess of A$1 billion.

Other major commodities included lithium, mineral sands, salt, coal, cobalt, rare earths, and diamonds.

Gold mining declined after 1904, and Western Australia went through a painful period of structural adjustment over the course of the following three decades during which time two world wars, an international depression and a major drought complicated the state's economic development.

Mining began to take off again in the 1930s, however at the time the state governments' focus was on agricultural expansion and manufacturing initiatives.

The period after 1945 has been characterised by the development of the state's mining sector into a world-scale industry and Western Australia's increasing access to the rest of the world.

Communication and transport advances brought Western Australia much closer to the rest of the world, providing opportunities for local producers to access markets in other countries much more easily.

The outcome has been a highly specialised and trade-dependent Western Australian economy (with mining and mineral processing the dominant industries), using income derived to import many other goods and services.

The state's second major resource boom was stimulated when, in 1960, the Commonwealth Government lifted the iron ore export embargo that had been in place since 1938.

While Asia had previously been a market for Western Australian products (notably sandalwood and wool), the export of iron ore to Japan marked a fundamental shift in Western Australia's trade dynamic and paved the way for the development of Asia as the state's most important trading region.

Prior to the resurgence of the resource sector, economic conditions had been relatively subdued, with constant-price household income per capita roughly the same in 1960–61 as in 1948–49.

[5] In the calendar year 2019, the Western Australian Government received A$4.9 billion in royalties from the iron ore mining industry in the state, 288% more than a decade ago in 2009.

[11] In 2018–2019, gold production in the state was steady on the previous year, at 211 tonnes (6.8 million troy ounces), 6.4% of world production, although an improving gold price delivered a 4.6 percent increase in value, from $11.4 billion in 2017–18, to a record annual value of $11.9 billion.

Spodumene concentrate production in the state increased to 2.05 million tonnes, resulting in a record value of A$6.8 billion.

The state's largest export markets for alumina are United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, South Africa and Mozambique.

[6][needs update] A large number of nickel mines in the state were placed in care and maintenance at the end of 2008 because of falling international prices.

[6] In 2021-22, the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety registered no production for lead in the state while, in the previous period, it had been 1,266 tonnes at a value of A$3.787 million.

[21] In 2021-22, Western Australia produced 74,049 tonnes of Zinc at a value of A$355 million, both increased figures compare to the previous period.

While production remained steady in comparison to the previous year, the value almost doubled as market prices for the commodity rose from US$44,248 per tonne in 2021 to US$81,539 in April 2022.

Of the state's production, 66 percent originated from Rio Tinto's operations at Dampier, Port Hedland and Lake MacLeod in the Pilbara.

Ninety percent of all coal mined at Collie is used in power stations, the remainder in the mineral sands production.

While a small amount of Western Australian coal has been exported to India and China in recent years, the majority goes to the coal-fired power stations, mainly located in the Collie area.

Like production, the value of the Western Australian coal industry has remained reasonably constant, too, with a slight increase in sales to A$319 million in 2019.

[24] Although no uranium mining is currently taking place, Western Australia is proposed for permanent disposal of nuclear waste from around the world.

[29] The majority of Western Australian mining operations are located in remote, thinly populated parts of the state.

Those inspections that did take place focused on the Goldfields and southern regions, with none conducted in the north of the state in the 2021–22 financial year.

Bauxite mining takes place as close as 300 metres to Serpentine Dam, one of the city's drinking water supplies.

In the five years prior to 2023, 227 drainage failures across Alcoa's Western Australian mines were recorded, with sediment flowing into Serpentine Dam 46 times during 2021.

Bauxite mining takes place in the Northern Jarrah Forest, an ecosystem already under threat because of reduced rainfalls and temperature increase.

While rehabilitation of the previously mined land takes place, until 1988 by planting dieback-resistant eucalypts from Eastern Australia, now by planting jarrah and marri trees, native forests take up to 200 years to fully recover as a habitat for native bird life.