Australia joins Western alliance on critical minerals

Australia has joined an international partnership that seeks to develop and secure global supply chains for critical minerals crucial to clean energy technology and global decarbonisation.

The Federal Government will join the US, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the UK and the European Commission in the partnership of Western nations.

Resources Minister Madeleine King and Trade Minister Don Farrell announced the partnership on the sidelines of the Sydney Energy Forum on Tuesday, which was also attended by US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

“The US has taken a strong lead on the new partnership, which will help member countries build links with key markets in our region and globally, and help embed Australia in international critical mineral supply chains and technologies crucial to the global economy,” Mr Farrell said.

“The partnership seeks to catalyse public and private investment for mining, processing and recycling projects that adhere to the highest environmental, social and governance standards.”

Ms King and Secretary Granholm held a bilateral meeting to discuss the importance of critical minerals for the transition to clean energy and the manufacture of new battery, solar and electric vehicle technologies, and how to improve co-operation on critical minerals.

“We agree that ongoing and secure supplies of critical minerals will be crucial to the modern renewable technologies that will ultimately help our two countries, and the world, achieve our net-zero ambitions,” Ms King said.

Secretary Granholm said critical minerals were an integral part to the US and Australia’s shared climate objectives, and bolstering the diversity of and elevating responsible standards for their associated supply chains was an area ripe for enhanced bilateral co-operation.

The pair agreed that officials from the two countries would meet within three months to make further progress on the recently signed Australia-United States Net Zero Technology Acceleration Partnership.

Mr Farrell, Ms King and Secretary Granholm also attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Australia’s Arafura Resources and US giant General Electric.

The MOU will see GE progress negotiations to purchase rare earths materials from Arafura’s Nolans project in the Northern Territory as a key component of wind turbine renewable energy generators.

Australia hosts vast reserves of critical minerals, such as lithium and cobalt, which are crucial for clean energy technologies such as batteries and electric vehicles, as well as mobile phones and computers.