In 2005-06 the mining industry (comprising mineral ore and energy production) continued to be a major contributor to the Northern Territory economy, with a total value of $1.93 billion. The components of this total value include: metallic mineral production with a value of $1677.4 million; non metallic mineral production with a value of $17.8 million; and, energy minerals with a value of $233.8 million.
The largest proportion of the NT's mineral production value was sourced from the East Arnhem region, where large mines are located at Nhulunbuy and Groote Eylandt. This production largely consisted of ten million tonnes of manganese, bauxite and alumina with a value of $1.03 billion. This is slightly lower than the 10.7 million tonnes mined from the region in the previous year.
The Statistical Subdivision of the Lower Top End NT was the next largest contributor to the NT's mineral production value with $376.1 million. Ninety-eight percent of this value was from the production of lead/zinc concentrate which totalled 224 276 tonnes. This region also supports the NT's only diamond mine, which produced 12 980 carats of diamonds with a value of $1.6 million.
The Alligator region supports one of Australia's uranium mines and produced 4955 tonnes of uranium oxide with a value of $233 million. This is a decrease of 14% in production from the previous financial year and can be partially attributed to flooding caused during the wet season.
Value of mineral production- Five highest, Northern Territory
: 2005-06
Further information about mining in the Northern Territory is available from the following sources:
Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines
Mineral and Petroleum Exploration, Australia (cat. no. 8412.0)
Mining Operations, Australia (cat. no. 8415.0)
Directory of Mining Statistics, 2002 (cat. no. 1144.0)
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