Momentum across the Territory’s energy and resources sector continued to build this month, highlighted by the Final Investment Decision for the Nolans Rare Earths Project. This milestone moves the project into execution and opens a substantial pipeline of work for Territory businesses. With new work packages now live on ICN Gateway, local suppliers can position early and engage with one of the NT’s most significant critical minerals developments.
Throughout May, our team participated in a range of industry events across the energy, business and defence sectors. These forums reinforced the value of early visibility, strong relationships and clear communication between proponents, contractors and local suppliers. They also highlighted the growing interest in understanding what Territory businesses can deliver and how local capability can be integrated into project planning from the outset.
This included increased participation in NT Defence Week and associated roundtable events, which brought together senior representatives from government, industry and the diplomatic community to discuss strategic positioning and the Territory’s role in national capability. These discussions underscored the need for coordinated advocacy and clear pathways that connect local suppliers to emerging opportunities across defence and critical infrastructure.
In May, we reset the Arafura Nolan's ICN Gateway sourcing portal in preparation for delivery phase work packages following the project’s FID. We also published two new project sourcing portals; Duratec's Darwin Ship Lift Project - Multiple Subcontracts portal and Halliburton Australia Northern Territory Operations portal.
Businesses interested in working with any of these proponents are encouraged to register their interest through the ‘Keep Me Updated’ work packages on each project landing page and to monitor ICN Gateway for relevant opportunities as they become available.
Across our engagements, one message has been clear: governments and project owners want reliable, evidence-based insight into local business capability. Over recent years, ICN NT has invested significantly in systems and processes that support supply chain mapping for our project clients and the Northern Territory Government. These capabilities, developed in the Northern Territory, were recently leveraged at a federal level through the Hunter and Central Coast Supplier Showcase, featured in this edition.
With ICN NT serving as the technical lead, the Showcase maps hundreds of suppliers across 68 work types and demonstrates the depth of analysis and practical industry insight our team provides. This structured approach is becoming increasingly important as the Northern Territory prepares for large-scale energy and infrastructure investment, particularly in regional areas.
Across all these activities, the message remains consistent: capability must be visible. Maintaining an accurate and detailed ICN Gateway profile is one of the most effective ways to stay opportunity-ready. Up-to-date capability information enables us to advocate on your behalf and ensures your business remains visible as new work packages are released.
Thank you for your continued engagement. With major project milestones such as the Nolans FID and strong momentum across the energy sector, Territory businesses are well placed to benefit from the opportunities ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel McCormick
Chief Executive Officer