Thanks to its geographical location, the city has become part of the supply chain during numerous infrastructure booms over the past 150 years.

Copper, zinc, lead and silver from Mount Isa and Cloncurry are transported to the coast by rail, road and even air, thanks to the labour employed there. Townsville, on the other hand, is close to the Galilean Basin.

However, increased investment in key minerals, rare earths and vanadium, will also mean that other outback communities, such as Richmond, will generate additional wealth.

All of this has to stop in Townsville at some point, whether for value-adding, refining or manufacturing, or for the raw product to be shipped and then transported through the port, meaning there is more disposable income circulating in the city’s businesses.

The Queensland auditor’s report, released during the state’s budget week, identifies Townsville and the outback as big contributors to the state treasury, with areas contributing $85.8 billion and 18 per cent of gross domestic product.

Townsville, along with Mackay, Isaac and Central Queensland, also play a significant role in the manufacturing sector, with a combined contribution of $26.6 billion.

The state government recognised Townsville’s importance by allowing local MP Scott Stewart to become Minister for Resources and then committing to the $5 billion Copper String project, which will increase energy availability along the North Queensland corridor.

The company has also chosen Townsville as the home of its Critical Minerals Queensland office.

Recently appointed chief executive Paul Holden, who has championed the city’s growth in the past as director of Townsville Enterprise, said the sector was one of Townsville’s largest employers, taking into account the port and refineries, and was expected to continue to grow, particularly with developments in vanadium and battery technology.

The city was chosen as the location for CMQ due to its central connectivity to north Queensland.

“If you look at where the key mineral resources are, particularly in Queensland, and where the metals processing and fabrication talent and infrastructure is, then north-west Queensland and Townsville are the centre of that,” Mr Holden said.

“The North West and Townsville are directly connected, they are closely linked because of the corridor and Townsville is the main hub for technical support and maintenance for everything that happens in the North West.

“It makes perfect sense that Critical Minerals Queensland is headquartered in Townsville as this is where the industry will be developed.”

Natural Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the closure of the Queensland Nickel refinery in 2016 showed the impact the mining sector had on the Townsville economy.

“We’ve seen about 3,500 jobs disappear from our economy, and the influx of those jobs back … has really weakened our local economy and our labor market in particular,” Mr. Stewart said.

“The unemployment rate has risen to 13.4 per cent and youth employment has increased, I think, by about 22 per cent.

“So if I use that as an indicator of the impacts, it will actually have a big impact on us if we don’t have the minerals we need.”

Mr Stewart wanted Townsville to become a major player in the global raw materials supply chain and recognised that north Queensland was competing with Western Australia for vanadium resources and with other countries for investor money.

“We are a very strong raw materials city and certainly an exporter of raw materials. I think this trend will only continue to grow in the near future,” he said.

“Think about the work that goes into it and the number of people living here in Townsville and raising families here who are either FIFO or DIDO, commuting in and out of our mines, it’s an absolutely huge number.”

At a recent Mining and Critical Minerals Forum, Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith looked back at North Queensland’s 150-year mining history, dating back to the Charters Towers gold rush.

She said the discovery was a “catalyst for exploration” of other resources, prompting the development of ports, highways, railways, hospitals and, eventually, from the 1970s, refineries.

“Our region is rich in all sorts of resources and mining has helped to create an increase in wealth and prosperity, and that is a history the region is very proud of,” Ms Brumme-Smith said.

She predicted a “green rush” for Townsville as renewable energy investment continues to grow and said six new major refineries were planned for the region.