The Northern Territory is underexplored for critical minerals and the demand for these minerals is only expected to grow to support renewable energy, battery storage and high-technology industries.
To promote the Territory's critical minerals potential, NTGS has released Critical Minerals in the Northern Territory 2023 documenting the current resource endowment and emerging exploration potential for critical minerals in the Territory. The guide outlines the current list of the Territory's 15 critical minerals including – aluminium (as bauxite), cobalt, copper, lithium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, phosphate, rare earth elements, titanium (as ilmenite), tungsten, vanadium, zinc and zirconium (as zircon) – as well as its geological potential for a further 13 emerging critical minerals.
The Territory has world-class manganese and zinc production, is an emerging lithium producer, and is expected to host Australia’s first integrated rare earths mine and separation plant. There are numerous critical minerals projects at varying stages of the development pipeline, many of which are proposing downstream processing to advanced chemical products, making the Territory well-placed to become an important player in the global supply chains for critical minerals.
For the latest guide to critical minerals in the NT, visit NT Critical Minerals guide | Resourcing the Territory.