THE Territory's Energy Resources of Australia has been named Explorer of the Year at the sixth annual Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

The awards recognise excellence and innovation in the mining industry.

ERA operates the Ranger uranium mine near Jabiru, 260km east of Darwin, and is one of the world's largest uranium producers -- it delivered about 10 per cent of global uranium oxide supplies last year.

Resources group Rio Tinto owns 68.4 per cent of the company.

ERA's exploration program last year identified a ``very significant'' uranium deposit next to the existing Ranger 3 operating pit.

The area, known as Ranger 3 Deeps, is estimated to contain 34,000 tonnes of uranium oxide, which would make it one of the world's biggest uranium discoveries in recent years.

ERA is conducting feasibility studies into an exploration decline to enable underground exploration drilling.

The company has also been working on the development of new hard rock seismic survey techniques.

The techniques were trialled for the first time in Australia for uranium at Ranger last year.