Critical Minerals

Antimony: Antimony occurs as a potential by-product in a number of gold deposits in the Northern Territory, and potential of recovering antimony from tailings, particularly in Pine Creek Orogen, which is currently untested. In 2025 iTech Minerals Ltd reported high-grade antimony rock chip samples from the Reynolds Range project in the Aileron Province and subsequently completed a maiden drilling program testing beneath high-grade, outcropping antimony, gold (and copper) mineralisation at the Sabre, Falchion and Lander prospects. Early results at Sabre include 4 m @ 4.54 g/t Au and 1.48% Sb from 24 m, and 5 m @ 4.7 g/t Au and 2.13% Sb from 78 m. Early results from Falchion include 6 m @ 10.2 g/t Au and 0.93% Sb from 18 m.

Beryllium: Beryllium is usually associated with felsic intrusions and pegmatite bodies, or where rare-metal enriched magmas interact with adjacent country rocks, forming skarn or greisen systems. The thermally stable, conductive, strong, lightweight metal, stronger than steel and lighter than aluminium, is an essential material in the aerospace, telecommunications, information technology, defence, medical, and nuclear industries. Lithium Plus Minerals Ltd have identified beryllium in the drilling of pegmatites at the Spotted Wonder prospect in the Aileron Province, with near surface intersections including 11 m @ 0.11%BeO. In 2024, URO Corp’s exploration at the Beryllia Project in the southern Southwark Granites has identified beryllium-rich rock outcrops associated with fluorspar-rich granites, and fluorite-rich veins with indications of Sn, F, Rb, Bi, Cu, Zn, Au, and Ag, with exploration ongoing.

Fluorine: The Oorabra reefs in the north-eastern Aileron Province comprise fluorite-bearing quartz veins up to 13 km long and up to 7 m wide. A historic resource of 85 000 tonnes of fluorite was defined at the three reefs in the 1970's. In late 2025,  Tivan Ltd uundertook an extensive drilling program to establish the extent of the fluorite veins and assess the potential for an economic deposit. Early results include 20.3 m at 18.9% CaF2 from 24 m, and  15.5 m at 22.4% CaF2 from 56.5 m. The project is subject to a Memorandum of Understanding with Sumitomo Corporation to outline a potential development pathway.

Gallium: The demand for gallium is forecast to rise as a critical component for semiconductors, electronics, and LEDs. Anomalous gallium has been associated with Barkly Rare Earth Ltd's. Further test work in 2026, will investigate the distribution and continuity of gallium through the deposit. Kingsland Minerals Ltd have also announced the presence of elevated gallium as a potential by-product at the Leliyn graphite discovery near Pine Creek, with intersections up to 285 m @ 23.7 ppm Ga₂O₃. Metallurgical testwork is underway. Gallium may also occur associated with zinc deposits in the McArthur Basin.

Germanium: Germanium is known to occur as a by-product in zinc deposits, with potential to occur associated with zinc in the McArthur Basin.

High Purity Alumina: Enova Mining Ltd have production of high purity alumina from saprolite and clays as a by-product of processing at the Charley Creek rare earths project

Niobium: Lithium-bearing pegmatites in the Northern Territory locally also have high values of niobium, with the potential for economically significant deposits to occur.  In 2025, New Frontier Minerals Ltd announced rock chip samples with high-grade niobium, dysprosium and terbium in outcropping pegmatites from the Cusp prospect in the Harts Range in Central Australia. Results of drilling from this prospect are pending. High grade niobium (with rare earths) has also been discovered in mineralised carbonatites in the Aileron Province in adjacent regions of Western Australia, with potential extending into western regions of the NT.

Platinum Group Elements: The Coronation Hill deposit (now inaccessible) contains 5.7t palladium and 1.7t platinum. Other PGE-gold occurrences occur in the Pine Creek area.  PGEs have also been intersected in drilling of mafic intrusions in the Aileron Province in central Australia, including indications of anomalous PGEs in the vicinity of Oonagalabi prospects in the Aileron Province, currently being explored by Litchfield Minerals Ltd.

Scandium: Enova Mining Ltd have reported elevated scandium oxide from saprolite and clays as part of the Charley Creek rare earths project. Scandium may potentially be associated with other weathered regolith hosted rare earth deposits. No scandium resource has been announced to date.

Selenium: An estimated 220 t of selenium was produced as a by-product of historic gold and copper mining at Tennant Creek. It’s presence as bismuth-bearing selenide minerals has been recorded at Juno and Golden Forty, often in close association with gold. Bismuthinite from the Peko and Orlando deposits was found to contain up to 7% selenium. A selenium-bearing mineral has also been noted to occur with chalcopyrite. Selenium is thought to have been deposited in the second mineralisation stage, with gold and bismuth. The association with bismuth and gold lead it to being a potential by-product of future mining of iron oxide copper-gold deposits throughout the Warramunga Province. Selenium has also been reported associated with gold in the Pine Creek Orogen, and with platinum and palladium-bearing minerals associated with gold and selenides at Coronation Hill. It occurs as a range of PGE and Bi-Pd-Sb selenide minerals.

Silicon: Territory Sands Pty Ltd are currently exploring for high-purity silica sand in the Sturt Plateau region. adjacent to the railway between Katherine and Tennant Creek. In 2024, Australasian Metals announced a maiden Exploration Target for the Dingo Hole project in the Georgina Basin, estimating 10.4–42.6 Mt of quartz at a post-leach SiO₂ grade of 99.37–99.85%. There is also untested potential for high purity silica in quartz blows and veins in metamorphic terranes in the NT, including the Pine Creek Orogen and Aileron Province.

Tantalum: The Territory has a history of tantalum (and tin) mining throughout the outcropping pegmatite fields of the Pine Creek Orogen and northern Aileron Province. Significant exploration potential exist in these regions and undercover, while production is possible in association with lithium from pegmatite fields in the Bynoe region.

Tellurium: Elevated levels of tellurium (100–1000 times average crustal abundance) has been identified in tailings and other waste from historical mining in the Pine Creek region including in work undertaken with the University of Queensland and NTGS.

Tin: The Territory has a history of tin mining in the Pine Creek Orogen and northern Aileron Province. The Mount Wells project in the Pine Creek Orogen includes an historic Inferred Mineral Resource of 3000 t of contained tin, with further exploration potential. URO Corp recently discovered highly anomalous tin and other critical minerals in greisens associated with the Southwark Granites in the northwest Aileron Province.

There is no current known resources or exploration for Chromium, Hafnium, Indium or Rhenium in the Northern Territory, but the Territory remains largely unexplored for these commodities.