Business news from across the Northern Territory: Latest highlights include the GRA calling for the NT’s online gambling laws to be strengthened and an NT-based company pioneering IKEA-inspired homes to boost affordability and availability. Also, making resource news, is new exploration grants opening after gallium and graphite were added to the critical minerals list, and a high-grade lead discovery at Sandover mine expected to help boost the NT’s economy.

Construction

NT-based company pioneers IKEA-inspired homes to boost affordability

Indigenous company Warle Construction is pioneering the development of IKEA-inspired houses to tackle housing affordability and availability problems in the NT. Warle said the move aims to provide cost-effective housing solutions and create local employment in remote and rural areas.

The innovative approach involves utilising roll-forming technology for light gauge steel in a manufacturing process akin to assembling IKEA kits. The project, supported by a $392,470 co-investment from the NT Advanced Manufacturing Ecosystem Fund, administered by the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, signifies a concerted effort to augment manufacturing capabilities in the NT.

The collaboration is part of a comprehensive five-year $8.75 million alliance between the NT Government and AMGC, which aims to foster regional economic growth and innovation.

Local business

GRA wants NT’s online gambling laws strengthened

Alliance for Gambling Reform CEO Carol Bennett has called on the Commonwealth to overhaul the NT government’s dismal regulation of online gambling advertising and cease offering a tax haven to multi-billion dollar foreign operators.

“The NT Government, which benefits from large revenues generated from online gambling, has now given itself the power of veto over the decisions of all other authorities,” Ms Bennett said. “This not only reduces transparency but also gives people no confidence that the government will act to reduce gambling harm, especially given significant regulatory failures already identified by the national online gambling inquiry.”

She added that the 2024 Racing and Wagering Bill put to Parliament by the NT Government will only create a dedicated commission and director to be appointed by the Chief Minister, funded by a new fund levy. As a result, the Chief Minister can intervene in decisions about which probity assessments or complaints will be referred to the NT Racing Commission (NTRC).

“The bill tries to paint a rosy picture of the Northern Territory’s ‘tough approach’ to online gambling regulation while making minimal changes that don’t address the current regulatory failure,” Ms Bennett said.

Resources

New exploration grants open in NT as gallium and graphite added to critical minerals list

Round 17 of the NT Government’s Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations program offers up to $3 million in grants for advanced explorations. The move came about as gallium and graphite were added to the list, growing the total number of critical minerals in the NT from 15 to 17.

The latest round of endowments aims to encourage mining exploration in the NT as the government continues to bill the extractive industry as a crucial factor in the world’s transition to renewables. More than half of the $3 million funding pool will be directed towards projects targeting commodities on the NT’s critical minerals list.

Exploration grants are part of the $9.5 million Resourcing the Territory program and aim to address geoscientific knowledge gaps, advance exploration activity and support the discovery and development of resources in the Territory.

The NT’s mineral exploration outlay reached a record $74.4 million in the September quarter of 2023, up 30 per cent from the previous year, with critical minerals accounting for more than half the spending.

High-grade lead discovery at Sandover mine to boost NT’s economy

Tivan, which has entered an exploration alliance agreement with Earth AI, reported a potentially historic high-grade lead strike at its Sandover Project, located 100km north of Alice Springs. Tivan and Earth AI said they had identified a 12.2 Pb lead resource with a field span area of 1km by 0.5km, with “prominent signs of hydrothermal activity and four additional lead-enriched samples”.

Aside from the 12.2 Pb lead return, phosphorous enrichment of 2.9 per cent was also identified, consistent with the presence of lead phosphates such as pyromorphite or cerussite, which are both associated with primary lead deposits.

The company will now undertake systematic geological mapping and further surface sampling to accumulate detailed geological research of the newly identified hydrothermal system.

“The significance of the high-grade lead target will lead to re-prioritisation of the drill targets … including the mine management plan. Tivan is on track to commence drilling in quarter two, 2024, subject to relevant approvals and agreements,” Tivan executive chairman Grant Wilson said.