Mining in the Northern Territory accounts for 16.4% of the gross domestic product, inclusive of both the minerals and petroleum industries. In 2015, it was valued at A$3,436 million. It accounts for 4.3% of the Northern Territory workforce. 63 businesses are currently engaged in the sector.[1]
Prior to European Settlement Indigenous groups mined ochre and other materials for ceremonial activities.[2] With the arrival of the Overland Telegraph Line in the 1860s-70's gold was discovered in small quantities at a number of locations when the Northern Territory was being administered by South Australia.[3]
The first large find of gold in the region was made at Pine Creek, about 250kms south of Darwin in 1872. Its discovery led to an influx of prospectors to the region, including a large number of Chinese migrants. Soon Chinese migrants outnumbered 'white' miners, those of European backgrounds, and tensions arose with many white miners being angered that Chinese workers were 'undercutting the existing labour force.[4] This tension ultimately led to the creation of South Australia's Chinese Restriction Act 1868 which brought in tonnage restrictions and a poll tax on each Chinese arrival and dramatically reduced the number of arrivals to the region.[5]
The next major gold discovery was made at Arltunga, 110kms east of Alice Springs, in 1897 where a battery and cyanide plant were established to process the ore.[3]
Despite these discoveries there were few early mining successes during this early era, in large part, because conditions on the goldfields and mines were harsh and often the mines were located long distances from the larger settlements, harsh weather conditions, high prices for goods and services and fluctuating metal prices.[3]
Major commodities
Manganese
Manganese mining in the Northern Territory in the financial year 2013-14, was worth A$1,024 million.[1]
Petroleum
Petroleum, like mining, falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Mines and Energy. It was worth $214 million in 2014.[1] The NT onshore area is over 1.35 million km2. There were 54 active exploration permits, three retention and five productions licences. Hydrocarbons have been produced since the 1980s.[6]
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. The city has nearly 53% of the Northern Territory's population, with 139,902 at the 2021 census. It is the smallest, wettest, and most northerly of the Australian capital cities and serves as the Top End's regional centre.
The Northern Territory is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Australia to the west, South Australia to the south, and Queensland to the east. To the north, the territory looks out to the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria, including Western New Guinea and other islands of the Indonesian archipelago.
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Greece, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, the United States, and Canada while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.
The Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor consists of the 2975-kilometre (1849-mile) long 1435 mm standard-gauge main line between the South Australian capital city of Adelaide and the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, and the lines immediately connected to it. Preceded by a number of other shorter railways, a transcontinental line through to Darwin was only fully realised in 2004, when the final link from Alice Springs was opened. The line is used by interstate freight trains operated by Aurizon and by The Ghan passenger train operated by Journey Beyond.
Tennant Creek is a town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western terminus of the Barkly Highway. At the 2021 census, Tennant Creek had a population of 3,080 people, of which 55% (1,707) identified themselves as Indigenous.
The Ranger Uranium Mine was a uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. The site is surrounded by, but separate from Kakadu National Park, 230 km east of Darwin. The orebody was discovered in late 1969, and the mine commenced operation in 1980, reaching full production of uranium oxide in 1981 and ceased stockpile processing on 8 January 2021. Mining activities had ceased in 2012. It is owned and operated by Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), a public company 86.33% owned by Rio Tinto Group, the remainder held by the public. Uranium mined at Ranger was sold for use in nuclear power stations in Japan, South Korea, China, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the United States.
Pine Creek is a small town in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory, Australia and is situated just off the Stuart Highway; it is 90kms north of Katherine. As at the 2021 Census there were 318 residents of Pine Creek, which is the fourth largest town between Darwin and Alice Springs.
Rum Jungle or Unrungkoolpum is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 105 kilometres south of Darwin on the East Branch of the Finniss River and it shares a boundary with Litchfield National Park. It is 10 kilometres west of Batchelor.
Konstantine Vatskalis is a Greek-Australian politician and the current Lord Mayor of Darwin. Before becoming Lord Mayor in 2017 he was a Labor Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from September 2001 to October 2014, representing the Darwin-based electorate of Casuarina. He was Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Defence Support, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Essential Services, Minister for Health, Minister for Mines and Energy, Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries and Minister for Children and Families.
Mining in Australia has long been a significant primary sector industry and contributor to the Australian economy by providing export income, royalty payments and employment. Historically, mining booms have also encouraged population growth via immigration to Australia, particularly the gold rushes of the 1850s. Many different ores, gems and minerals have been mined in the past and a wide variety are still mined throughout the country.
Southport is an outer rural locality in Darwin. It is based on the site of the abandoned Town of Southport, a thriving river port during the Pine Creek gold rush of the 1870s. It is located at the junction of the Blackmore and Darwin Rivers.
Mining in Afghanistan was controlled by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, prior to the August 15th takeover by the Taliban. It is headquartered in Kabul with regional offices in other parts of the country. Afghanistan has over 1,400 mineral fields, containing barite, chromite, coal, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, natural gas, petroleum, precious and semi-precious stones, salt, sulfur, lithium, talc, and zinc, among many other minerals. Gemstones include high-quality emeralds, lapis lazuli, red garnet and ruby. According to a joint study by The Pentagon and the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan has an estimated US$1 trillion of untapped minerals.
In 2006, Cambodia's mineral resources remained, to a large extent, unexplored. Between 2003 and 2006, however, foreign investors from Australia, China, South Korea, Thailand, and the United States began to express their interest in Cambodia's potential for offshore oil and gas as well as such land-based metallic minerals as bauxite, copper, gold, and iron ore, and such industrial minerals as gemstones and limestone.
Radioactive ores were first extracted in South Australia at Radium Hill in 1906 and Mount Painter in 1911. 2,000 tons of ore were treated to recover radium for medical use. Several hundred kilograms of uranium were also produced for use in ceramic glazes.
Grove Hill is a ghost town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Once a centre for mining operations, today only a hotel with a few outbuildings survive. Grove Hill is located within the Victoria Daly Region and for administrative purposes is considered to be part of the locality of Burrundie. Both the defunct North Australia Railway and the modern Adelaide–Darwin railway pass through Grove Hill.
Beetaloo is the name of a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory, known as Beetaloo Station. It is also the name of an area in the Sturt Plateau, known as the Beetaloo Sub-Basin or Beetaloo Basin, around 500 kilometres (310 mi) south-east of Darwin, between Mataranka to the north and Elliott to the south. This area is rich in natural gas, which can be exploited by fracking, which has caused controversy.
Arltunga Historical Reserve, known also as Arnerre-ntyenge is a deserted gold rush town located in the Northern Territory of Australia in the locality of Hart about 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of Alice Springs. It is on the lands of the Eastern Arrernte people who are the Traditional Owners.
The Amadeus Gas Pipeline is a bi-directional natural gas pipeline running north–south through the Northern Territory of Australia. Its southern extent is the Amadeus Basin gas fields west of Alice Springs. The Amadeus pipeline is owned and operated by APA Group, and regulated by the Australian Energy Regulator.
Mereenie is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is about 250 km west of Alice Springs and northeast of Uluru. It is on the "Inner Mereenie Loop" road which was completed as a sealed road in 2016 providing access for caravans and two-wheel-drive vehicles.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Northern Territory is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
1 2 3 Department of Mines and Energy, Energy Directorate (January 2016). "energyNT 2015"(PDF). Department of Mines and Energy. Darwin: Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
↑ Geoscience, Australia. "Australian Mines Atlas". Australian Mines Atlas. Canberra, Australia: Geoscience Australia. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
↑ Hofstra, A.; Lisitsin, V.; Corriveau, L.; Paradis, S.; Peter, J.; Lauzière, K.; Lawley, C.; Gadd, M.; Pilote, J.; Honsberger, I.; Bastrakov, E.; Champion, D.; Czarnota, K.; Doublier, M.; Huston, D.; Raymond, O; van der Wielen, S.E.; Emsbo, P.; Granitto, M.; Kreiner, D. (2021). "Deposit classification scheme for the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative Global Geochemical Database". U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report. Open-File Report. 2021–1049: 1-60. doi:10.3133/ofr20211049. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
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Northern Territory 
Australia 
A$3,436 million
