Federal minister advocates for higher prices of Australia’s critical minerals in global markets
Just weeks after telling Australians how important its critical minerals are to the country and the globe’s future, the federal government is informing audiences in Canada and the US that the world needs to pay more for the nation’s nickel and lithium.
Australia’s Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King is touring Canada and the US to highlight Australia as a leading supplier of the “green” minerals the world needs to reach net zero.
Speaking at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto, Ms King said the market should pay more attention to critical minerals from Australia and Canada that have a strong environment, social and governance (ESG) background.
Highest standards
“Minerals mined in Australia and Canada are produced by workers who are properly paid, rightly enjoy good conditions and work within an exceptional safety-focussed environment so they can return home at the end of a shift or a long swing away from home,” minister King said.
“That is something every worker should expect.”
“Australia’s resources are mined and processed to the highest standards – making them the cleanest and greenest in the world.”
Just weeks after pointing the finger at China and Indonesia for the over-production of nickel and the decimation of the nickel market, minister King told the PDAC audience that both Canada and Australia take their ESG responsibilities seriously.
“It is important we help the world understand the importance of the provenance of the minerals we extract and process which are essential to decarbonising the global economy.”
“If the goal of this economic transformation is to help the planet, we need to be careful to ensure that the materials we use to build renewable technologies are as clean and green as they can be.”
“Prices paid for Australian minerals need to recognise the high ESG standards the Australian industry adheres to and the fact that Australian workers enjoy good working conditions and the highest safety standards.”
Australia a world leader
The minister also said Australia’s geology means it is home to globally-significant deposits of minerals that will be crucial as the world turns to renewable technologies to decarbonise.
“The road through net zero runs through Australia’s resources sector,” Ms King has often said.
“Government investment in pre-competitive geoscience is critical to understanding quite literally what Australia is made of and to maintaining a pipeline of new critical mineral investment opportunities into the future.”
Australia produced 27 different minerals in 2022, 15 of which ranked in the top five for global supply.
Of these 15, Australia ranked number one in the world for economic resources of gold, iron ore, lead, nickel, rutile, uranium, zinc and zircon.
Exploration spending up
Minister King released a new report at PDAC that found new investment in mineral exploration in Australia had increased by 13% to $4 billion.
It also confirmed that Australia remained the world’s largest producer of lithium (52% of the global total), with lithium production up 36% to a record 75 kilotonnes.
Australia also ranked as the world’s largest producer of bauxite, iron ore and rutile, while uranium production was up 20%.
“Additionally, 13 critical minerals saw their economic demonstrated resources increase significantly during 2022,” the minister noted.
“This included manganese ore (up 79%), platinum group elements (up 45%) and rare earth elements (up 34%).”
Ms King is now off to Washington DC, where she will co-chair the principals meeting of the Critical Minerals Taskforce alongside senior adviser to the President for energy and investment Amos Hochstein.
She will also have talks with senior officials in other departments across the administration.