Borroloola, Northern Territory

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The Borroloola rodeo is held in August each year

Location of Borroloola in Northern Territory (red)

Borroloola is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located on the McArthur River, about 50 km upstream from the Gulf of Carpentaria. At the 2001 census, the population of Borroloola and surrounds was 2,074, of whom 1,086 declared themselves indigenous and 705 non-indigenous (283 did not state their indigenous status). These figures include Robinson River, a small mostly indigenous community 140 km by road south-east of Borroloola.

Borroloola lies on the coastal plain between the Barkly Tablelands and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Rivers that run from the Tablelands escarpment to the Gulf usually flood in the wet season, making travel on the unsealed section of Highway One along the coastal plain to Queensland impossible. These rivers have carved some spectacular gorges, particularly in their upper reaches. The rivers and the coastal areas are host to barramundi, earning Borroloola a reputation among sports fisherman, and also the deadly saltwater crocodile. The region has little rain from May to September, and is characterised by lightly treed Savanna grasslands.

The King Ash Bay fishing club is situated on the McArthur River about 30km downstream from Borroloola, just over 50km from Borroloola by road. Their boat ramp provides access to the mangrove-lined waterways of the McArthur estuary and the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The largely self-contained village houses a small permanent population during the wet season, but numbers swell as tourists, mostly retired and semi-retired, arrive in April and May to enjoy the mild dry season weather. The Fishing Classic competition, held over the Easter weekend each year (weather and road access permitting), marks the end of the wet season.

McArthur River Mine, a zinc, lead and silver mine about 70kms south-west of Borroloola, is operated by McArthur River Mining (MRM), which is wholly owned by the Swiss mining company Xstrata. MRM has recently (October 2006) had an application approved by the Northern Territory Government to expand the mine to include a large open-pit excavation. This expansion will include a diversion of part of the McArthur River. Some local indigenous people, mainly the Yanyuwa saltwater people living in the Pellew Group of islands, protested the expansion application on environmental grounds.

The Merlin diamond mine, adjacent to the McArthur River Mine, may be resuming operations after a period of inactivity.