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 The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aus ...

workforce. 63 businesses are currently engaged in the sector.

History

Prior to European Settlement Indigenous groups mined

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

and other materials for ceremonial activities. With the arrival of the overland telegraph in the 1860s - 70's gold was discovered

Major commodities

Manganese

Manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy u ...

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 The Amadeus Basin is a large (~170,000 km2) intracratonic sedimentary basin in central Australia, lying mostly within the southern Northern Territory, but extending into the state of Western Australia. Origins The Amadeus Basin is named ...

, west of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. The Dingo Field began producing gas in November 2015.

Gold

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile m ...

mining in the Northern Territory was worth A$770 million in 2014.

Uranium

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly ...

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.

References

External links

Department of Mines and Energy website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mining In Northern Territory Economy of the Northern Territory