Northern Territory mining: New PR campaign, critical minerals added in bid to bed down social licence
It is an industry worth $6.2bn to the Territory economy but has been freighted with anxieties around climate change and lax regulation. The NT Government says it wants to tell the real mining and resources story.
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Chief Minister Eva Lawler has issued a full-throated defence of the Territory’s mining industry, worth an estimated $6.2bn to the local economy, amid ongoing environmental campaigns seeking to prevent development of the Beetaloo and Barossa gas basins.
Speaking at the Darwin Mining Club on Friday, Ms Lawler unveiled a new PR campaign aimed at reassuring investors and building the industry’s social licence by asserting the Territory’s local regulatory scheme was up to scratch.
Ms Lawler also announced the addition of two more minerals, graphite and gallium (a soft, silvery metal used in electronic circuits, semiconductors and LED screens) to the Territory’s critical minerals list following recent discoveries, taking the total to 17.
In a statement, the Territory Government said providing Territorians with the easily accessible information they need to make informed decisions about the local mining and resources industry was critical.
“The mining and resources industry creates more direct and indirect jobs for Territorians than any other, currently directly employing over 5300 people and contributing close to a quarter of the Territory’s gross state product,” the statement read.
“To ensure the success of the Territory’s resources sector, both now and in the future, the Territory Labor Government is focused on building community trust through regulation, and providing information on the value of resources.
“The Mineral Development Taskforce reinforced the importance of government working with industry to build credibility, legitimacy and a level of acceptance in the Territory, as well as informing public commentary with correct facts.
“Starting this month, the Territory Government will roll out informative and factual content about industry regulation and the importance of the sector for Territorians.”
The social licence campaign will be underpinned by a new website, northernterritoryresources.com.au, and a 60-second advertisement to run on prime time television and online.
“Mining and resources companies employ thousands of Territorians right across our cities and regions, and contribute millions of dollars in royalties that go towards local services like schools, hospitals and frontline workers,” the narrator states.
She goes on to say that “regulation is about ensuring that things are done properly and that our industry is doing right by Territorians for today and for tomorrow”.
Ms Lawler said her government was “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”.
The addition of gallium to the critical minerals’ list, Ms Lawler said, was driven by Transition Minerals’ discovery of what appears to be a significant gallium resource during testing at its Barkly rare earth elements project.
If commissioned, it would be Australia’s first gallium resource development.
The Territory’s resources and mining sector, which the government says is worth $6.2bn to the local economy, has been weighed down of late over continuing climate change anxieties around unlocking the Beetaloo and Barossa gas fields.
Developer Santos says it has a plan to capture carbon dioxide emitted from the development of Barossa by piping it into the depleted Bayu-Undan field for storage deep within the geological formation.
Critics of carbon capture and storage (CCS) say there are almost no examples worldwide where CCS has worked at a commercial scale.