Darwin set for further growth
Strong yields and housing demand are currently underpinning a market set for further growth, according to Empower Wealth's Ben Kingsley.
With major resource projects set to reinforce the Northern Territory, Empower Wealth’s Ben Kingsley told Smart Property Investment that he favours Darwin’s market for its yields and strong demand for housing.
“I like the underpinning of what the Darwin market has. It has a real shortage of available stock at the moment,” he said.
“We’re seeing the decisions of the US government to put a military base in there and a large $35 billion [Inpex] project being built into that market.”
The final approval of a brand new $8 billion mine has been announced by the Northern Territory government, which is expected to fuel growth in conjunction with other resource projects in the region - this is a further boost to an already tight market.
Australian Ilmenite Resources’ SILL80 Project in the Roper area aims to export 300,000 tonnes of ilmenite annually, with $30 million already spent on exploration and initial development in the area.
The SILL80 Project contains approximately 27 million tonnes of ilmenite valued at around $8 billion.
Jerry Ren, director of Australian Ilmenite Resources, said demand for AA grade ilmenite is very high, and this will be the only mine in the world that is specifically developed for ilmenite production.
“The approval of this mine site will see a brand new mineral industry for the territory,” Mr Ren said.
Minister for mines and energy, Willem Westra van Holthe, said the government plans to expand the mining and energy hub and “return jobs to the bush.”