The NT exploration boom that could help meet worldwide critical minerals demand
The Territory is in the middle of a historic critical minerals exploration boom where worldwide demand will drive production. Read what we have.
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The mining sector is a key driver for regional prosperity and employment opportunities in the
Northern Territory.
In 2021-22, the sector delivered close to $4.9bn in total mineral production value and directly
employed about 3500 people.
Deputy Chief Minister and Mining Minister Nicole Manison’s direction this year that critical minerals exploration applications be expedited acknowledged the world is transitioning to a net zero emissions future at pace, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, war in Ukraine and growing geopolitical competition.
In April, Ms Manison released the Mineral Development Taskforce report and government accepted its recommendations the following month, including a sweeping change to the minerals royalty payment system.
The government will push to adopt an ad valorem royalties model, which imposes a charge based on a percentage of the sales invoice, to replace the so-caled hybrid model which combined ad valorem and profit-based models and was viewed as too confusing.
The current rate was 20 per cent.
Releasing the report in April, Ms Manison said the change would make the Territory more competitive on a global scale, and deliver opportunities to harness sustainable downstream manufacturing.
“The mining industry is the Northern Territory’s biggest contributor to the economy, and we can help tackle climate change by supplying the critical minerals the world needs,” she said.
“The Territory government is sending a loud and clear message to investors that we are a world class destination for mining and we have the resources needed for low emission technologies.”
Mining is critical to providing the materials required for a technology enabled future and the MDT identified opportunities to accelerate private investment in the resources sector and to assist with delivering the government’s economic growth target of a $40bn economy by 2030.
The MDT’s 28 recommendations to drive sustainable development of the Territory’s resources sector included downstream manufacturing initiatives to improve the Territory’s global competitiveness and increase investment attractiveness.
It also recommended measures to accelerate project investment decisions, including impacts of the Territory’s royalty scheme and transitioning from raw material export to sustainable downstream manufacturing to maximise the economic value of the Territory’s mineral resources.
The Territory government has allocated $6m funding over four years to 2025-26 to implement the MDT’s recommendations.
The Territory has been ranked as the leading jurisdiction in the world for best mineral potential and is in the top 10 in the world for its attractiveness for exploration and mining investment.
But to achieve zero emissions, it is accepted more critical minerals need to be produced to support low emissions technologies.
The Territory is a producer of or has defined resources for 15 internationally recognised critical minerals and has geological potential for a further 13 emerging critical minerals.
The Territory is a global leader in manganese and zinc production, is Australia’s only lithium
producer outside of Western Australia, and has significant near-term production opportunities for rare earth elements, cobalt, copper and phosphate.
The rise in exploration expenditure in 2022 to $198.6m can be attributed to significant growth in exploration for critical minerals in the Territory.
About 62 per cent of exploration expenditure was for commodities on the Territory’s critical minerals list and of the Territory’s eight operating mines, six are for commodities on the list. Nine of the 17 Territory projects in approvals are also for critical minerals.
Arafura Rare Earths Ltd, Core and Tivan have proposed significant downstream processing in the NT and Castile Resources is pushing the critical minerals sector forward in the Territory.
The Territory government released the first guide to Critical Minerals in the Northern Territory in March, outlining the Territory’s resource endowment of its current list of 15 critical minerals.
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