Northern Territory zinc deposit defined as one of world's largest

One of the world's largest zinc bodies has been defined in the Northern Territory's Gulf of Carpentaria.

A 58-million-tonne ore body has been found, comprised of 12.7 per cent lead and zinc combined, 11.1 per cent zinc and 1.6 per cent lead.

The drill site, known as Teena, is located just 10 kilometres from Glencore's controversial McArthur River mine.

The find is estimated to be the seventh biggest in Australia and in the top 20 or 30 zinc deposits in the world.

Rox Resources managing director, Ian Mulholland said after several preliminary drill results, the ore body could now be classified as a resource.

However, he said there were still many steps before the potential of a mine could be considered.
"It establishes that this deposit is definitely worth proceeding with," Mr Mulholland said.

"Eventually I imagine it will be a mine; I don't know exactly when but certainly, the resource is big enough to support [a mine]."

Mr Mulholland said there was currently strong demand for zinc, which looked to continue for the near future.

"There is a deficit of zinc at the moment; it is starting to take effect, and it is predicted to be a significant deficit in zinc supply, which is going to put fairly strong upward pressure on the zinc price," he said.

"This is because a number of fairly big mines have closed around the world.

"This has led to zinc smelters around the world dropping their treatment charges to try and attract more material into the smelters."

Any zinc mined at a future Teena mine site would be sent to offshore markets, similar to Glencore's nearby mine.
"The current production from McArthur River mine goes out through the Bing Bong Port and that is exported to Europe," Mr Mulholland said.

"It is a little too early for us to say where we might send our material but I imagine it will be offshore somewhere.

"China is a big consumer [of zinc and] Europe and the United States are still consumers of base metals, so any of those markets — and we expect markets to remain strong."

Mr Mulholland said the next step for the company was to produce mining and feasibility studies for a potential mine.
"They will take time, and of course they cost money, so we have to fund it as well," he said.

"I can't see that a mine will be established in the near future, but certainly within a five- to 10-year time frame."