The Northern Territory (NT) Government has unveiled its 2025–26 Budget, revealing key investments in the NT’s mining and resources sectors.
According to the NT Government, the mining industry made up 28.5 per cent of the Territory’s gross state product for the 2023–24 period, which equalled $34.6 billion.
In recognising the sector as the largest economic contributor for the Territory, the NT Government has revealed key investments for the 2025–26 period to unlock untapped mineral potential.
Such investments include a record $2.74 billion on infrastructure. The expenditure is expected to cover projects such as the ongoing works to upgrade the Carpentaria highway for $8.5 million, which is a key route for the transportation of supplies for Glencore’s McArthur River zinc-lead mine.
Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) Northern Territory executive director Cathryn Tilmouth welcomed the record funding allocated to infrastructure.
“(It) will help to address infrastructure deficits and unlock some of the Territory’s untapped mineral potential in the regions,” Tilmouth said.
Off the back of introducing its Critical Minerals Strategy, the NT Government has also committed to continuing its annual $9.5 million investment in the ‘Resourcing the Territory’ initiative.
The Resourcing the Territory initiative is undertaken by the NT Geological Survey and provides pre-competitive geoscience, investment attraction and exploration stimulus programs designed to increase exploration activity, drive success rates, and open new areas for exploration.
“The MCA welcomes the ongoing investment in exploration through the Northern Territory Geological Survey at $9.5 million per annum including co-funding of projects and pre-competitive geoscience information to encourage exploration,” Tilmouth said.
“These co-funding programs are vital to increasing the Territory’s attractiveness to explorers which can potentially lead to unlocking full scale operations down the line.”
The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) chief executive officer Warren Pearce echoed similar sentiments.
“The (NT) Government is sending a strong signal to the market by continuing to fund Resourcing the Territory,” Pearce said.
“This program opens up regions to increased mineral exploration by delivering a targeted geophysics program that reduces entry costs through early-stage, landscape-scale work.”
Pearce also welcomed the $1.5 million budget for the Department of Mining and Energy, which is set to aid mineral industry development and streamline related processes.
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