Exploration Grants open as the NT welcomes gallium and graphite to critical minerals list

The latest round of grants aimed at encouraging advance mining exploration in the Territory have opened, as the government continues to bill the extractive industry as the key to renewables transition.

The latest round of grants aimed at encouraging advance mining exploration in the Northern Territory have opened, as the government continues to bill the extractive industry as key to the world’s renewables transition.

Round 17 of the government’s Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations program offers up to $3m for advance exploration.

Mineral exploration expenditure in the Territory reached a record $74.4m in the September quarter of 2023, up 30 per cent from the previous year, with critical minerals accounting for more than half the spending.

The exploration grants are part of the $9.5m Resourcing the Territory program and aim to address geoscientific knowledge gaps, advance exploration activity and support the discovery and development of resources in the Territory.

More than half of the $3m funding pool will be directed towards projects targeting commodities on the NT’s critical minerals list.

Gallium and graphite were recently added to the list, increasing the number of critical minerals in the NT from 15 to 17.

NT Geological Survey's Dorothy Close and Mining Minister Mark Monaghan announce another round of advance exploration mining grants. Picture: Fia Walsh.

Director of regional geoscience at NT Geological Survey Dorothy Close said it was largely unknown how much gallium or graphite was in the NT, but adding them to the official list helped the industry to develop.

“The more exploration that happens, the more we’ll be able to understand what the potential is,” she said.

“Which is where the collaborative grant scheme comes in, because it allows industry to actually take on risk and develop their understanding of the resources of the Territory.

“In the historical exploration of the Territory, it’s been mostly for the well known commodities. Now that these critical minerals are being identified, it means that people going back and looking for elements that weren’t just weren’t being explored for previously.

“So as there is more exploration, we’re going to find out more available critical minerals, a wider range and a larger volume of them.”

Recently added to the NT critical mineral list, graphite is a key component of batteries used in technologies such as EVs and solar storage systems.

Gallium is used for several modern technologies including transmitters, integrated circuits, lasers and LEDs, and graphite is one of the key minerals used for batteries.

Last year the NT was ranked as 6th in the world in the Fraser Institute’s global survey of mining jurisdictions Investment Attractiveness Index.

Mining Minister Mark Monaghan said the NT was “standing at the helm of a global critical minerals surge”.

“We have the opportunity to become a leading supplier for the world’s renewable energy transition.

“The really important thing for the Territory Labor government to do is to ensure that going forward these opportunities are enhanced, that we really become the world leader in getting these products to market.”