Gold in the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory has a longstanding mining history, with gold production dating back to the 1800s and remains one of Australia’s most prospective regions for gold.

Established goldfields such as Tanami, Tennant Creek, and Pine Creek have collectively produced millions of ounces of gold.

Ongoing exploration continues to unlock value in these historic regions, while underexplored areas offer highly prospective greenfield opportunities.

Tanami

The Tanami region has seen more than 10 million ounces of gold produced since 1986 and remains the Territory’s most significant gold producing province. It is home to Newmont's Tanami Operations.

Newmont’s expansion project is expected to unlock approximately 600,000 ounces of gold per annum from 2027, positioning it as Australia’s second-largest gold mine after Boddington Gold Mine in Western Australia.

Despite its proven endowment, much of the Tanami remains underexplored.

Tennant Creek

The Warramunga Province hosts the Tennant Creek and Rover mineral fields. Historic gold production from the Tennant Creek field totals more than 5 million ounces of gold.

Tennant Creek is re-emerging as a key mining district in the Northern Territory.

Tennant Mines has commenced gold production at Nobles Nob and is progressing a pipeline of projects with potential for more than 10 years of operations.

Alongside gold, Tennant Mines and other explorers are evaluating near-term opportunities for copper, bismuth, and cobalt production. The company's case study on the next page illustrates how recent investment and consolidation have enabled the re-commencement of mining operations in one of Australia’s highest-grade goldfields.

Pine Creek

Located close to Darwin, the Pine Creek Orogen has a 150-year history of gold mining with more than 4 million ounces of gold produced. The region is known for its rich polymetallic terranes.

With more than 10 million ounces in remaining gold resources, Pine Creek is the focus of renewed interest.

The number of gold projects in the region are well advanced towards potential production, including a high-grade underground project at Toms Gully, the 8 million ounce Mount Todd gold project near Katherine, and the polymetallic Hayes Creek project.

The Northern Territory Geological Survey is supporting this potential through pre-competitive geoscience designed to support exploration, including upgraded geophysical data and an updated regional geological framework.

For more information, go to the Resourcing the Territory website.

Gold at-a-glance