Mineral production figures for 2019-20 have been released by NTGS, and show a total value of mineral production in the NT of $4.4 billion. This is an 11% reduction from 2018-19’s record figure of $4.92 billion, but is still the third highest level of production ever recorded in the Territory. The two most valuable commodities for the Territory were manganese (with 6.3 million tonnes produced with a value of $1.61 billion) and gold (with 15.8 tonnes produced with a value of $1.19 billion). View the mineral production statistics.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures on mineral exploration expenditure have also been released, showing that $123 million was spent on mineral exploration sector in 2019-20. This is a 7% drop on 2018/19, but is still 56% higher than the expenditure three years earlier, in 2016-17. The figures showed exploration activity was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions in the June quarter, with activity down 25% on the June quarter the previous year.