Mining in the Northern Territory
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.
History
Prior to European Settlement Indigenous groups mined ochre and other materials for ceremonial activities. 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.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. 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.
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.
Other mineral discoveries, besides gold, were also made during this period including copper at Pine Creek in 1872 and the Daly River region in 1882. Mica was discovered at Hart Range from 1892 and wolfram at Hatches Creek.
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.
Major commodities
Manganese
Manganese mining in the Northern Territory in the financial year 2013-14, was worth A$1,024 million.Petroleum
Petroleum, like mining, falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Mines and Energy. It was worth $214 million in 2014. 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.Onshore gas was produced at the Mereenie and Palm Valley gas fields in the Amadeus Basin, west of Alice Springs. The Dingo Field began producing gas in November 2015.
Gold
Gold mining in the Northern Territory was worth A$770 million in 2014.Uranium
Uranium mining in the Northern Territory in the financial year 2013-14, was worth A$136 million.Geothermal
There are no granted geothermal permits in the NT at the time of producing this report. The last permit was surrendered in 2014.Table of Mines in the Northern Territory
| Name | Alternate Names | Coordinates | Status | Commodities | Geological Province | Geological Age | Deposit Model |
| Millars/Big Tree/PingQue | Union Reefs Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | Paleoproterozoic | ||
| MLS167 | Carbine, Central Tanami Project, Dogbolter, Harleys, Phoenix, Redback SE | Historic Mine | Gold | Tanami Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| MLS168 | Camel Bore, Central Tanami Project, Jims Main | Historic Mine | Gold | Tanami Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| MLS180 | Banjo, Beaver, Bonsai, Central Tanami Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Tanami Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: unknown, Group: unknown, Type: unknown | |
| ML 22934 - Groundrush | Central Tanami Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Tanami Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| Tanami - Newmont | Callie, Dead Bullock Soak, Tanami Project, The Granites | Operating Mine | Gold | Tanami Orogen | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Mesozonal orogenic Au | |
| Ammaroo Phosphate | Barrow Creek 1 | Under Development | Phosphate, | Georgina Basin | |||
| Davies | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | ||||
| Coronation Hill | Historic Mine | Gold, | Pine Creek Orogen | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Basin hydrothermal, Group: Unconformity-related, Type: Unconformity-related U | ||
| Nabarlek Uranium Mine | Nabarlek | Historic Mine | Uranium oxide, Uranium | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: Basin hydrothermal, Group: Unconformity-related, Type: Unconformity-related U | |
| Eldorado | Tennant Creek | Historic Mine | Gold | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: Metasomatic iron, Type: Iron oxide Au | |
| Woodcutters | Historic Mine | Lead, Copper, Antimony, Silver, Cadmium, Zinc | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Orogenic Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu-Sb | ||
| Woolwonga | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Mesozonal orogenic Au | ||
| Nobles Nob | Historic Mine | Gold, | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: Metasomatic iron, Type: Iron oxide Au | ||
| Hatches Creek | Historic Mine | Tungsten trioxide, Copper, Bismuth, Tungsten | Davenport Province | Proterozoic | |||
| Roper River Iron | Care And Maintenance | Iron ore, | McArthur Basin | ||||
| Moline | Northern Hercules | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Mesozonal orogenic Au | |
| Mount Wells | Historic Mine | Tin, Copper | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: unknown, Group: unknown, Type: unknown | ||
| Callie | Tanami Project | Operating Mine | Gold | Tanami Orogen | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Mesozonal orogenic Au | |
| Tiwi | Historic Mine | Zircon, Rutile, Ilmenite, Leucoxene | |||||
| Quest 29 | Mount Bundy Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| Toms Gully | Mount Bundy Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | ||
| Bootu Creek | Chugga, Gogo, Shekuma, Tourag, Xhosa | Care And Maintenance | Manganese ore, | Tomkinson Province | |||
| Mls119-133 | Central Tanami Project, Tanami Mine JV | Historic Mine | Gold | Paleoproterozoic | |||
| Zapopan | Historic Mine | Silver, Gold, Lead | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | |||
| Dead Bullock Soak | Colliwobble Ridge, Dead Bullock Ridge, Fumarole, Tanami Project, Villa | Historic Mine | Gold | Callie, The Granites-Tanami Block | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Mesozonal orogenic Au | |
| Rustlers Roost | Mt Bundy Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | ||
| Gove | Operating Mine | Bauxite, | Carpentaria Basin | Cenozoic | |||
| Orlando | Tennant Creek | Historic Mine | Copper, Gold, Silver, | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: Metasomatic iron, Type: Iron oxide Au | |
| Glencoe | Burnside project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | ||
| Mount Bonnie | Historic Mine | Zinc, Silver, Gold, Lead, | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | |||
| Molyhil | Under Development | Molybdenum, | Arunta Orogen, Aileron Province | Proterozoic | |||
| Juno | Historic Mine | Gold, Silver, | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: Metasomatic iron, Type: Iron oxide Au | ||
| Frances Creek | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6/7, 9, Elizabeth Marion, Extended, Helene 1, Rosemary, Thelma | Operating Mine | Iron ore, | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| Bridge Creek | Burnside Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | ||
| Brocks Creek | Burnside Project | Historic Mine | Gold, Silver | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | ||
| Gecko | K44 | Historic Mine | Copper, | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: IOCG, Type: Magnetite-dominant IOCG | |
| Tanami | Central Tanami Project | Historic Mine | Gold, Silver | Callie, The Granites-Tanami Block | Proterozoic | ||
| Howley | Burnside Project | Care And Maintenance | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | ||
| Fountain Head | Burnside Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| Groote Eylandt | Operating Mine | Manganese ore, | Carpentaria Basin | ||||
| Chinese Howley | Burnside Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | ||
| Eva | Pandanus Creek | Historic Mine | Uranium, Gold, | Mount Isa Orogen, Murphy Inlier | |||
| Union Reefs | Union Reefs Project | Care And Maintenance | Gold, | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Mesozonal orogenic Au | |
| Mount Porter | Under Development | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | |||
| Chariot | Tennant Creek Mineral Field | Historic Mine | Gold | Warramunga Province | Proterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: Metasomatic iron, Type: Iron oxide Au | |
| McArthur River zinc mine | McArthur River, HYC | Operating Mine | Zinc, Lead, | McArthur Basin | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Basin hydrothermal, Group: Sediment-hosted, Type: Siliciclastic-carbonate Zn-Pb | |
| Spring Hill | Spring Hill Gold Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | ||
| Mud Tank | Closed | Vermiculite | Arunta Orogen, Aileron Province | Neoproterozoic | Environment: Supergene, Group: Laterite, Type: Carbonatite laterite REE | ||
| Goodall | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | |||
| Pine Creek | Czarina, Enterprise, Gandy's Hill, International, South Gandy | Historic Mine | Gold, | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | Environment: unknown, Group: unknown, Type: unknown | |
| Ranger Uranium Mine | Ranger | Closed | Uranium, | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: Basin hydrothermal, Group: Unconformity-related, Type: Unconformity-related U | |
| Warrego | Historic Mine | Gold, Copper, Bismuth, Iron ore, Silver, | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: IOCG, Type: Magnetite-dominant IOCG | ||
| Maud Creek | Gold Creek, Maud Creek Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| Central Tanami | Historic Mine | Gold | Tanami Orogen | Proterozoic | |||
| Roper Bar | Area D, Area E, Area F, Gum Creek | Operating Mine | Iron ore, | McArthur Basin | |||
| Browns polymetallic ore deposit | Browns | Historic Mine | Lead, Cobalt, Silver, Nickel, Zinc, Copper | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Orogenic Cu ± Au | |
| Iron Blow | Burnside Project | Historic Mine | Zinc, Gold, Silver, | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | ||
| Cosmo Howley | Burnside Project, Cosmopolitan Howley | Care And Maintenance | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | ||
| Redbank | Azurite, Bluff, Punchbowl, Roman Nose, Sandy Flat | Care And Maintenance | Copper | McArthur Basin | Proterozoic | ||
| Merlin diamond mine | Merlin, Excalibur, Launfal, Palomides, Sacramore, Tristram, etc | Operating Mine | Diamond - undifferentiated, | McArthur Basin | |||
| Czarina | Pine Creek Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| Esmeralda | Union Reefs Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | Paleoproterozoic | ||
| Enterprise | Pine Creek Project | Historic Mine | Gold | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: Metamorphic hydrothermal, Group: Orogenic, Type: Mesozonal orogenic Au | |
| Wauchope | Historic Mine | Tungsten, Tungsten trioxide | Davenport Province | Proterozoic | |||
| Rum Jungle, Northern Territory | Rum Jungle Creek South | Historic Mine | Uranium, Uranium oxide | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: unknown, Group: unknown, Type: unknown | |
| Mucketty | Historic Mine | Manganese, Manganese ore | Tomkinson Province | Environment: Basin chemical, Group: Manganese, Type: Sedimentary Mn | |||
| El Sherana | Historic Mine | Gold, Uranium oxide, Uranium | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | Environment: Basin hydrothermal, Group: Unconformity-related, Type: Unconformity-related U | ||
| Mount Burton | Historic Mine | Copper, Uranium, Uranium oxide | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | |||
| Ivanhoe | Tennant Creek | Historic Mine | Gold, Bismuth, Copper | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: Metasomatic iron, Type: Iron oxide Au | |
| Argo | Explorer 46, Tennant Creek | Historic Mine | Gold, Bismuth, Copper | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: Metasomatic iron, Type: Iron oxide Au | |
| TC8 | Historic Mine | Copper, Silver, Gold | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: IOCG, Type: Magnetite-dominant IOCG | ||
| White Range | Arltunga | Historic Mine | Gold | Arunta Orogen, Arltunga Gold Metallogenic Province, Georgina Basin | Paleozoic | ||
| Norris | Historic Mine | Copper | Mount Isa Orogen, Murphy Inlier | Proterozoic | |||
| White's | Historic Mine | Uranium, Copper, Uranium oxide, Lead, Cobalt | Pine Creek Orogen, Mount Todd Gold Metallogenic Province | Proterozoic | |||
| White Devil | Eldorado | Historic Mine | Gold, Selenium, Bismuth, Copper | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: IOCG, Type: Magnetite-dominant IOCG | |
| Mount Fitch (Northern Territory) | Mount Fitch | Historic Mine | Nickel, Copper, Cobalt, Uranium, Uranium oxide | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | ||
| Northern Star | Tennant Creek | Historic Mine | Gold | Tennant Creek Block, Warramunga Province, Warrego Metallogenic Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Regional metasomatic, Group: Metasomatic iron, Type: Iron oxide Au | |
| Roper Heavy Minerals | Operating Mine | Mineral sands, Heavy minerals, | |||||
| Mount Bundey | Historic Mine | Iron ore, | Pine Creek Orogen | Proterozoic | |||
| Home of Bullion | Historic Mine | Copper, Zinc, | Aileron Province | Paleoproterozoic | Environment: Volcanic basin hydrothermal, Group: Volcanogenic massive sulfide, Type: Bimodal-felsic VMS | ||
| Finniss Lithium Project | Operating Mine | Lithium, Lithium oxide |