The Project
McArthur River Mining (MRM) is located in the Northern Territory approximately 970 kilometres south-east from Darwin and 60 kilometres south-west of its closest township, Borroloola. MRM mines one of the world’s largest zinc and lead deposits. Established as an underground operation in 1995, MRM converted to open-pit mining in 2006. MRM produces zinc and lead in concentrates which are primarily exported through Bing Bong loading facility on the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The current mine life extends to 2038 with an additional 10 years reprocessing tailings.
The mine provides direct employment to about 1,000 people, including contractors. In 2019, the mine spent $89 million on wages, $76 million on capital projects, $333 million on goods and services – much of which were sourced locally – and $1.8 million on community investment projects.
