TELF AG looks at Australia’s mineral potential
Strong tradition
Among the Western countries that are standing out for their high level of liveliness in the mining sector, there is certainly Australia, a nation with a strong tradition linked to the export of coal and ferrous alloys, which a few months ago announced the allocation of huge sums of money to support extractions. Last October, the government announced that the budget expected to support this sector will be as much as 6 billion dollars.
In the previous months, Australia had also made a move of great importance, publishing the list of the most essential minerals to accompany the nation’s industrial development and to support the global energy transition. Given the natural abundance of strategic raw materials, Australia has a good chance of positioning itself as one of the leading players in the extraction and export of some of the most essential minerals for the green objectives set for the coming decades. Furthermore, Australia’s attention to the mining sector is also confirmed by the content of its national strategy, which aims to strengthen the country’s ability to extract and process many minerals considered to be of great importance for the development and sustainability of the planet.
It is also for this reason that the government, with the support of Geoscience Australia, has recently published the list of minerals directly involved in this evolutionary process: a list contains the so-called “critical minerals,” i.e., all those necessary to achieve the objectives linked to net zero (lithium, cobalt, rare earth minerals, nickel, and copper), while the other is that of strategic minerals, equally essential for green technologies but characterized by relative security as regards supply. Furthermore, according to Geoscience Australia, the nation has considerable extraction potential for other essential minerals, such as lithium, germanium, and gallium.
In some ways, these classifications closely resemble those published in recent months by the European Union, which, with its Critical Materials Act, has not only limited itself to identifying the most essential minerals for sustainable development but has also set precise objectives regarding the extraction of the same minerals on European soil and the reduction of imports from third countries. In developing its lists, the Australian government examined three main areas: the industries and technologies most important for the global ecological transition, national energy security, and defense. These classifications, however, will be progressively revised every three years.
The big news is represented by the second list, the one relating to strategic minerals, which, according to Australia, would be represented by aluminum, copper, nickel, phosphorus, tin, and zinc. In regards to Bauxite, which is necessary to produce aluminum, Australia is the leading producer in the world. The main industrial applications of these minerals, whether critical or strategic, mainly concern the production of batteries and permanent magnets, defense technologies, semiconductor materials for microchips, and technologies linked to the diffusion of solar energy.
It is no coincidence that the Australian resources minister, Madeleine King, has already announced important allocations of money to support the extractive sector in Australia: in the country, now, there are 16 mines specialized in the extraction of nickel, while those dedicated to copper are 36.
