Australia to become critical minerals powerhouse by 2030

Will grow sector and expand downstream processing

THE Australian Government has announced an updated strategy which it expects will make the nation a critical minerals powerhouse by 2030, as part of measures to unlock the sector’s significant potential.

News of these measures came on the same day that Government announced A$243m of critical minerals project support through a key initiative of the A$1.5bn Modern Manufacturing Strategy (MMS), an action plan to develop manufacturing to deliver positive economic outcomes and create jobs.

Australia boasts large reserves of critical minerals many sectors rely on, including aerospace, agritech, automotive, defence, energy, and telecommunications. It produces about half the world’s lithium, is the second-largest producer of cobalt, and the fourth-largest of rare earths. But Kevin Pitt, Minister for Resources and Water, says the nation has the potential to do “so much more”.

The recently-launched 2022 Critical Minerals Strategy sets out to grow Australia’s critical minerals sector, expand downstream processing, and help meet future global demand.

Towards its vision of becoming a critical minerals powerhouse, Government will undertake three actions, including reducing the risk of investing in projects. This will be through project facilitation, providing technical support, and making strategic investments to scale up processing and lock in finance and offtake for production.

The A$200m Critical Minerals Accelerator Initiative will bring new sources of supply online by providing grant funding to strategically significant projects at the early- to mid-stage, to accelerate these projects to market, attracting private sector finance and investment.

Government will create an enabling environment, including through research and development. It has committed A$50m over 3 years to establish a virtual National Critical Minerals Research and Development Centre, which will build Australia’s critical minerals processing capability, target technical bottlenecks in strategic supply chains, and drive breakthrough collaborative research.