The world’s ‘largest’ ever iron ore discovery has been uncovered – a treasure trove that could be valued at £4.5trillion and threatens to reshape the global economy.

Scientists say they have unearthed a vast deposit buried deep beneath Western Australia – an estimated 55 billion metric tonnes of ore with iron content exceeding 60%.

Situated in Pilbara’s isolated Hamersley region, the deposit contains iron levels so elevated that it can be extracted more efficiently than other mines and with reduced waste.

Australia already commands global iron ore exports, and a deposit of this magnitude could strengthen its dominance for decades and transform pricing dynamics and supply chains, according to Futura Sciences.

With iron crucial for steel – the foundation of construction, transport and energy – major purchasers such as China will be monitoring developments closely.

The discovery, documented by a team including researchers at Curtin University, doesn’t just contribute a staggering new resource to Australia’s portfolio.

It also overturns aspects of Earth’s history. Using sophisticated imaging and isotopic analysis, the scientists revised the age of key formations from approximately 2.2 billion years to roughly 1.4 billion – a dramatic shift in the geological timeline that links the deposit’s formation to ancient supercontinent cycles.

The buried behemoth was uncovered using state-of-the-art chemical and isotope analysis that measured both the scale and quality of the ore. Previous estimates placed the average iron content at around 30%.

The fresh findings paint a considerably richer – and substantially larger – picture. Even for a nation founded on mining, extracting a resource of this nature isn’t simply switching on a tap.

Any exploitation would require years of exploration, environmental reviews, infrastructure development, and regulatory clearances, and would necessitate discussions with Traditional Owners. Commercial realities also apply: pricing, international demand, and transport logistics ultimately dictate what gets extracted and when.

Nevertheless, a discovery of this scale bolsters Australia’s position in commodity negotiations, could reshape trade partnerships, and may stimulate exploration in comparable ancient geological formations across the globe.